 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSScotia |
| Commissioned | August 1903 |
| Status | Currently operational |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Stone frigate |
HMSScotia is one of the newestRoyal Naval Reserve units, formed in 1958, and currently recruiting from the east ofScotland. The unit inhabits spacious, modern accommodation with excellent facilities, headquartered inRosyth Naval Dockyard. The unit has excellent communication links by road, rails and air.[1]
The unit, despite being relatively new, has tradition rooted in the very cradle ofVolunteer Reserve activity in Scotland. In August 1903the Admiralty appointed the first twoCommanding Officers of the thenRNVR to form divisions inLondon and onthe Clyde.
Lieutenant Commander (later Commodore)The Duke of Montrose raised the Clyde Division based inGlasgow, and the division rapidly expanded across Scotland, first toDundee onboard the sailing frigate,HMSUnicorn, and then toEdinburgh, onboard the monitor, renamedHMSClaverhouse. These two East Coast divisions were, many years later, to form the heart of the modern HMSScotia.
Under the 1994 defence review all three of these original Scottish Sea Training Centres, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, were combined into two units of a different type, HMSScotia inFife andHMSDalriada inGreenock. Both of these had been units formed in theCold War to support nearby naval headquarters, and both were rapidly expanded to accommodate the closing units. In the case ofScotia, this required a complete rebuild.
An important 'first' has been the establishment ofScotia's Satellites. AlthoughScotia is a large and vigorous unit, it was recognised that its distance from the city centres of Edinburgh and Dundee was inhibiting recruitment at a time when the Royal Navy's demand for reservists was growing.
Scotia became the testbed for a scheme to extend the RNR footprint with the first satellite unit, the Tay Division of HMSScotia in Dundee, which started training in 1999 and rapidly established itself as the national benchmark. It was soon followed by anotherScotia satellite, Forth Division, in Edinburgh.
It was as a direct result of these efforts in expansion thatScotia was awarded the "Director's Trophy" in 2001.
Forth Division in Edinburgh closed in 2004.
56°01′59″N3°26′56″W / 56.033°N 3.449°W /56.033; -3.449
