HMS Smiter - Military Genealogy

Dates: 1943 -

The first vessel to bear the name of HMS Smiter was an escort carrier of some 11,240 tonnes, which operated during the Second World War. She started life as USS Vermilion, specially built for the US Bureau of Ships as an escort carrier. Commissioned as HMS Smiter on 27 September 1943, pendant no. D55, she had a complement of 646 and used geared turbines to drive her at a speed of 17 knots at 8500 shp. Just under 300 feet in length she carried 20 operational Mk XIV Spitfires armed with bombs, depth charges and torpedoes. Known to the Royal Navy (RN) as ’Woolworths’ these light unarmoured carriers were deployed either in convoys or as independent U-boat hunting groups. Smiter did not claim any successes against enemy submarines but was returned safely to the US Navy on 6 April 1946. This vessel eventually became the ’President Garcia’, a passenger liner which ran aground shortly before midnight on Thursday 13 July 1967 in Saints Bay, Guernsey, whilst in transit from Manila to Rotterdam.

The second HMS Smiter was a tank landing ship built by Yarrows and launched 7 October 1944, as the ’Esquimalt’ and carrying the name of HMS Smiter (LST.3514) 1947 to 1949 until she was wrecked off the coast of Portugal whilst under tow on the 25 April 1949.

The current HMS Smiter and third to bear the name, is an Archer Class P2000 Coastal Training Craft laid down and launched in 1985 (P272), completed and registered 22 Jan 1986 and commissioned 4 Sep 1986. On being accepted into service she served the Clyde Division of the Royal Naval Reserve until 11 Oct 1990. She transferred to the Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities Royal Naval Unit to replace HMS Attacker (P281), which had been called into service in Cyprus during the Gulf War. One of 14 in the class she was built by Watercraft Ltd, Shoreham.

HMS Smiter is based at Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde and serves the Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities Royal Naval Unit.

Unit History
Founded in 1972 and celebrating it’s 30th Anniversary in 2002, the Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities Royal Naval Unit is the second oldest in Britain, after Aberdeen. With students from the four main Universities in the West of Scotland; Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonia and Paisley, the Unit comprises 51 undergraduate Midshipmen, 8 Naval sponsored undergraduates and 7 permanent Unit Staff.

Based at the Officer Training Centre (OTC), University Place, the Unit is centrally located on the Glasgow University campus in the West End of Glasgow. The URNU has shared the OTC building for 15 years, having previously been located at TS Graham on the Clyde. The Unit’s Training Ship, HMS Smiter, is based in Faslane.