HMS Spartiate

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HMS Spartiate was a World War II Royal Navy shore establishment based in the St Enoch Hotel, Glasgow. The hotel was located on the eastern side of St Enoch Square and formed the grand frontage of the St Enoch railway station. Both were demolished in 1986, to make way for the St Enoch shopping centre which opened in 1989.

History of the Spartiate name

A Spartiate was a male of Sparta with full citizenship, and the Spartiates were the elite warrior class of the rigidly hierarchical Spartan society. Use of the name by the Royal Navy dates back to the capture of a French vessel, originally Sparti, a 74 gun third rate ship of the line captured from the French at the Battle of the Nile (1798), which then fought at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) for the British. Captured ships were invariably pressed into service by their captors, and since sailors were generally superstitious, the name was retained. Naval tradition dictated that once a ship had been captured so too was the name, which would then be reused on new ships or shore establishments.

World War II

HMS Spartiate appears to have been responsible for security and safety on the River Clyde, which it maintained by means of river patrols. While the headquarters was based in Glasgow, the patrols were based along the river, and this may account for reports which place HMS Spartiate at locations other than Glasgow, including Helensburgh.^[1]

The river patrols were carried out using requisitioned motor launches, many of which were built by John A Silver of Roseneath.^[2] Patrols were based at Renfrew, Bowling and East Quay wet dock in Greenock/Port Glasgow, and patrolled the the river on a regular basis, maintaining a fire watch and lookout for enemy mines, in addition to their basic security and safety duties.

There are no specific details regarding dates or locations, but a number of references have been noted in wartime reminiscences stating that the base was initially named HMS Orlando, and only became HMS Spartiate at some later stage of the war.^[3]^[4]

HMS Spartiate II and HMS Tullichewan

The Spartiate name was used to identify a second facility. HMS Spartiate II was a training base for WRNS from 1942 to 1944, located at Tullichewan Castle Camp, Balloch, Loch Lomond.

An interesting observation has arisen from reading a number of wartime reminiscences, it seems that many WRENs from Tullichewan appear to have gone to Bletchley Park, the wartime decoding centre known as Station X.

Having completed its service as a training facility, the base was renamed HMS Tullichewan and was used as a holding base for Combined Operations personnel. Commissioned March 10, 1945 and paid off June 10, 1946.