The following information is brief; any further information would be much appreciated:
HMS Seahawk situated at Ardrishaig in Scotland was commissioned on the 1st January 1941. The role of Seahawk was that of a training establishment with a compliment of various motor launches provided for that purpose. These included Fairmile B types, MASBs, a harbour defence launch, a small survey motor launch and others (there was no numbered Flotilla here). The base occupied the existing jetty and harbour facilities, much still exists to-day.
HMS Seahawk was a tender for HMS Nimrod situated at Campbeltown further down Loch Fyne.
ASDIC or SONAR was the reason for HMS Seahawk creation. The original ASDIC school was situated at HMS Osprey at Portland. But due to the unwanted attention of the Luftwaffe a move North became necessary. The area of Loch Fyne was chosen and Campbeltown became HMS Nimrod in 1940. The base at Campbeltown also catered for many other Naval services and the pier and associated buildings at Ardrishaig were taken over and HMS Seahawk was opened in 1941.
Due to the top secrete nature of ASDIC very little of HMS Seahawk or HMS Nimrod came to light during the war years. At both bases a full course for ASDIC operators was run, HMS Seahawk was used also to work up Coastal Forces craft manned by the operational crews who would then be posted to one of the Light Coastal Forces bases around the UK coast then later to the Mediterranean or the Far East. The resident craft of HMS Seahawk also had a rolling crew list as seamen would be sent to be trained in their various duties then would be sent onto operational service. Most of the First Lieutenants (Jimmy the one) hoping to get their second stripe and a boat of their own. The skipper of HMML 115 Lieutenant Oswald Birrell Deiter served on board from 1941 to 1945.
As well as training many hundreds perhaps thousands of ASDIC operators the boats of HMS Seahawk carried out joint training with the Home Guard and later trained with the X Craft, miniature submarines. Some of which attacked the Battle Ship Tirpitz held up in Altenfjord Norway.
The anti submarine training was carried out down Loch Fyne and around the waters of Inchmarnock. One of the regular submarines used in this training was H33.Also spending some time there, were the Dutch submarines O9 and O10. These submarines fulfilled a dual purpose in that the ASDIC operators and boat crews gained practice at finding submarines and the submarine skippers gained experience before being given an operational posting.
Seahawk paid off on 4th November 1944.
