Fort Matilda is a suburb at the far western edge of

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. Its name comes from a coastal battery built on Whiteforeland Point 1814–1819 to defend the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

History

In 1862 the Confederate paddle steamer collided with ''Chanticleer'' and sank off Fort Matilda. There was no loss of life. The site of the wreck is designated as a Historic Marine Protected Area. Fort Matilda_station

The suburb is served by Fort Matilda railway station which was built for the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

in 1889. In the 1890s the fort was renovated with the addition of a pier to support a

minefield A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

which had been built offshore, and refurbished again in 1902–1904. A Royal Naval Torpedo Factory was opened in Fort Matilda in 1910–1912 which was designed to be the principal centre of

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

manufacture and development in Britain. The location sits on the opposite side of the

from the

Holy Loch The Holy Loch ( gd, An Loch Sianta/Seunta) is a sea loch, a part of the Cowal peninsula coast of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there af ...

, which was used as a torpedo testing range. The pier at Fort Matilda was widely used by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as an unloading point for supplies destined for the base on the Holy Loch. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the military base was the headquarters of the Renfrewshire Fortress Engineers. The fort was demolished shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the torpedo factory closed in 1951 when production was moved to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

Today

Today Fort Matilda is a mostly residential suburb of villas and town houses between

and

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is ...

town centres. It is home to the largest confectionery factory in Scotland, Buchanan's, Greenock Wanderers rugby club, and the Royal West of Scotland Amateur boating club. Battery Park in the area also plays host to the Gourock Highland Games.

References

{{coord, 55.9589, N, 4.7953, W, region:GB_scale:100000, display=title Neighbourhoods of Inverclyde Greenock Military history of Greenock