The HMS Osprey training school

The impressive Convalescent Homes were a complex of buildings that stood from the 1860s until they were largely demolished in the 1970s (pictured)- only the council building now known as Dolphin Hall still stands on the site today. These had a role to play in both World Wars. During the First World War they served as an Army hospital, while during the second they were part of an anti-submarine training school known as HMS Osprey. Naval officers were sent here to learn how to use and operate a device named the ‘dome’ that was attached to the hulls of ships and used electric pulses to detect the dreaded German U-boats. This training could take as little as two weeks, after which they would be drafted. During this time the male officers were accommodated in the Glenmorag Hotel: there were also Wrens stationed in the town.

At one point during the war the German propagandist and radio presenter ‘Lord Haw Haw’ announced that HMS Osprey had been destroyed. This was one of various instances where naval buildings (or ‘stone frigates’ as they were known) were supposedly sunk by enemy forces!

Before the regular use of anti-submarine technology Atlantic convoys were being decimated with huge losses of tonnage and lives. The training at HMS Osprey was vital in counteracting this- some say that the Battle of the Atlantic was won in Dunoon!

Find out more at Dunoon Castle House Museum

More information on visiting the area can be found here.