HMS Alresford

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HMS Alresford IWM FL 511.jpg
HMS Alresford in 1942
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Alresford
Builder Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon
Launched17 January 1919
Commissioned25 May 1919
Identification Pennant number = J06 / N06
FateSold 13 March 1947 for scrap Dohmen & Habets, Liege
General characteristics
Class and type Hunt-class minesweeper, Aberdare sub-class
Displacement800 long tons (813 t)
Length213 ft (65 m) o/a
Beam28 ft 6 in (8.69 m)
Draught7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range1,500  nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement74
Armament

HMS Alresford was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and survived the Second World War to be sold for scrap in 1947.

Contents

Design and description

The Aberdare sub-class were enlarged versions of the original Hunt-class ships with a more powerful armament. The ships displaced 800 long tons (810 t) at normal load. They measured 231 feet (70.4 m) long overall with a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.1 m). They had a draught of 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m). The ships' complement consisted of 74 officers and ratings. [1]

The ships had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Yarrow boilers. The engines produced a total of 2,200 indicated horsepower (1,600 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). They carried a maximum of 185 long tons (188 t) of coal [1] which gave them a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). [2]

The Aberdare sub-class was armed with a quick-firing (QF) four-inch (102 mm) gun forward of the bridge and a QF twelve-pounder (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun aft. [1] Some ships were fitted with six- or three-pounder guns in lieu of the twelve-pounder. [2]

Construction and career

HMS Alresford was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at their shipyard in Troon, Ayrshire, as Yard number 338, [3] and was launched on 17 January 1919. [4] The ship was commissioned on 13 May 1919, [5] and was completed on 26 May 1919. [3]

In August 1919, Alresford was listed as attached to the navigation school at Portsmouth, HMS Dryad, with a special complement. [6] She remained attached to the Navigation school in December 1920. [7] Alresford continued to carry out navigation training at Portsmouth throughout the inter-war years, [8] and remained attached to the navigation school in August 1939, on the eve of the Second World War. [9]

Alresford took part in Operation Dynamo.[ citation needed ]

On 19 August 1942, Alresford, now part of the 9th Minesweeping Flotilla, took part in the Dieppe Raid. [10] She crossed the English Channel as part of Group 13, with the minesweeper leading seven Free-French sub chasers carrying Royal Marine Commandos. [11] The sub chasers transferred their troops to seven LCAs and LCMs, but an attempt to land the commandos on White Beach, supported by the sub-chasers, was abandoned owing to heavy German fire. [12] Alresford took a badly damaged Landing craft tank (LCTs) under tow, [13] and, together with the destroyer Garth, escorted two groups of LCTs that had not landed their tanks back to Britain. [14]

Alresford was laid up in reserve at Milford Haven in January 1945, and on 13 March 1947 was sold to Dohmen & Habets of Belgium. [15]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Gardiner & Gray, p. 98
  2. 1 2 Cocker, p. 76
  3. 1 2 "Alresford". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  4. ↑ Dittmar & Colledge, p. 112
  5. ↑ "28: Arlesford (Po.)". The Navy List. December 1920. p. 725. Retrieved 2 June 2024– via National Library of Scotland.
  6. ↑ "III.—Local Defence and Training Establishments: Portsmouth". The Navy List. August 1919. p. 704. Retrieved 2 June 2024– via National Library of Scotland.
  7. ↑ "II.—Local Defence and Training Establishments, Patrol Flotillas, etc.: Portsmouth". The Navy List. December 1920. p. 704. Retrieved 2 June 2024– via National Library of Scotland.
  8. ↑ Watson, Graham (2 September 2015). "Between the Wars: Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployments 1919–1939". naval-history.net. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  9. ↑ "II.—Local Defence and Training Establishments, Patrol Flotillas, etc". The Navy List. September 1939. p. 241. Retrieved 3 June 2024– via National Library of Scotland.
  10. ↑ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 158
  11. ↑ Battle Summary No. 33 1959, pp. 13, 15, 48
  12. ↑ Battle Summary No. 33 1959, p. 31
  13. ↑ Battle Summary No. 33 1959, p. 28
  14. ↑ Battle Summary No. 33 1959, p. 32
  15. ↑ Worth 1992, p. 8

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References

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