HMS Middleton in Portsmouth | |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Middleton |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow, Scotland |
Launched | 27 April 1983 [1] |
Sponsored by | Lady Blake |
Commissioned | 4 July 1984 [2] |
Homeport | HMNB Portsmouth |
Identification |
|
Status | Ship in active service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel |
Displacement | 750 t (740 long tons; 830 short tons) [3] |
Length | 60 m (196 ft 10 in) |
Beam | 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in) |
Draught | 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in) |
Propulsion | 2 × Caterpillar C32 ACERT diesels [4] |
Speed | 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
Complement | 45 (6 officers & 39 ratings) |
Sensors and processing systems | Sonar Type 2193 |
Electronic warfare & decoys |
|
Armament |
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HMS Middleton is a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the British Royal Navy. As of 2021, she forms part of 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron operating out of HMS Jufair in Bahrain.
The ship was launched by Lord and Lady Blaker in 1983: Lady Blaker remains the patron of the ship. [6]
In 2009, HMS Middleton sailed for the Persian Gulf for a three-year deployment operating out of Bahrain; she returned to Portsmouth on 31 August 2012. [7]
In early 2013, Middleton entered refit in Portsmouth, the work package included replacing her 30-year-old Napier Deltic engines with new more fuel efficient Caterpillar C32 ACERT diesels. Following sea trials, Middleton rejoined the fleet in 2014 [8] and took part in that autumn's Exercise Joint Warrior off Scotland. [9]
On 9 November 2015, Middleton sailed from Portsmouth for a second three-year deployment in the Persian Gulf. [10] Alongside sister ship HMS Chiddingfold, the two Hunt-class ships form half of the Royal Navy's minehunter force permanently deployed in the region.
In 2018 Middleton returned to the UK, subsequently undergoing an upgrade to carry the Oceanographic Reconnaissance Combat Architecture (ORCA) system which assists vessels with a higher level of mine detection at greater stand-off distances. In mid-2021, Middleton returned to the Gulf accompanied by HMS Bangor to rejoin the other vessels of 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron operating out of HMS Jufair. Middleton and Bangor were to relieve their sister vessels HMS Brocklesby and HMS Shoreham, which were to return to the UK. [11]
Standing Royal Navy deployments is a list of operations and commitments undertaken by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy on a worldwide basis. The following list details these commitments and deployments sorted by region and in alphabetical order. Routine deployments made by the Navy's nuclear-powered submarines and their location of operations is classified.
HMS Enterprise, the tenth ship to bear this name, was a multi-role survey vessel - hydrographic oceanographic (SVHO) of the Royal Navy along with HMS Echo that made up the Echo class of survey vessels.
HMS Quorn, the third ship of this name, was a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 23 January 1988, as the last ship of her class.
The Sandown class is a class of fifteen minehunters built primarily for the Royal Navy by Vosper Thornycroft. The Sandown class also serve with the Royal Saudi Navy, the Estonian Navy, and the Ukrainian Navy. The first vessel was commissioned into Royal Navy service on 9 June 1989 and all the British ships were named after coastal towns and cities. Although the class had a primary mine countermeasures role, they have had a secondary role as offshore patrol vessels. As of early 2024, only one vessel of the class remains in active service with the Royal Navy.
HMS Bangor is a Sandown-class minehunter commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1999. Designed to hunt naval mines in depths of up to 200 m (660 ft) using the Sonar 2093 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) meaning that she can conduct mine clearance operations throughout the continental shelf. She is named after the Northern Ireland seaside city of the same name, and the second Royal Navy vessel to bear the name. As of January 2024, she was the last vessel of her class in active Royal Navy service.
HMS Grimsby was a Sandown-class minehunter of the British Royal Navy, serving from 1999–2022, and the second ship to bear the name.
HMS Ledbury, the second ship of the name, is a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the Royal Navy. She was launched in December 1979 and commissioned on 11 June 1981, the second ship of her class. She cost £65 million at time of building, which was at the time the most expensive cost-per-metre for any class of ship built by the Royal Navy. Most of this cost went into the research and development of Ledbury's glass reinforced plastic hull.
HMS Cattistock, the third ship of this name, is a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1981 and commissioned on 5 March 1982, the third ship of her class.
HMS Penzance was a Sandown-class minehunter commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1998. She was named after the seaside town of Penzance in Cornwall, and was the fourth vessel to bear the name. She was decommissioned in January 2024.
HMS Pembroke was a Sandown-class minehunter of the Royal Navy (RN), the second ship launched from the class' second batch, with several improvements over the first five built.
HMS Ramsey was a Sandown-class minehunter of the British Royal Navy. Like other vessels of the Sandown class, Ramsey was built of glass-reinforced plastic and other non-magnetic materials so that her hull does not trigger naval mines as easily as standard warships.
Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu (M270) is a Sandown-class minehunter of the Romanian Naval Forces. She was built as HMS Blyth (M111), for the Royal Navy, the eleventh of this class of twelve Single-Role Minehunters (SRMH) ships. She was laid down on 30 May 1999 by Vosper Thornycroft at their Woolston, Southampton shipyard, launched in May 2000 and entered service for the Royal Navy in February 2001. She was the second vessel to carry this name, the first being a Bangor-class minesweeper of the Second World War, wearing pennant number J15. Blyth served in the Middle East as part of the 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron.
HMS Shoreham was a Sandown-class minehunter of the British Royal Navy. She was the fifth vessel to bear the name. From 2018 to 2021, Shoreham was deployed at UKNSF Bahrain together with three other mine countermeasures ships as part of 9 Mine Countermeasures Squadron on Operation Kipion. In 2022 she was decommissioned and was transferred to Ukraine.
HMS Brocklesby is a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the British Royal Navy, her primary purpose is to find and neutralise sea mines using a combination of; Sonar, Mine Clearance Divers and the Seafox remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The class are the largest warships of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) construction, which gives the vessels a low magnetic signature. In addition to her mine countermeasures activities, Brocklesby acts as an offshore patrol vessel, undertaking coastal patrol and fisheries protection duties.
HMS Chiddingfold is a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of Britain's Royal Navy. She was launched in October 1983 by her sponsor, Lady Anne Kennon, and formally entered the service of the Royal Navy in October 1984. Chiddingfold is a minehunter, and her purpose is to find and destroy mines, not only in a time of war but also in peacetime. There are about a quarter of a million mines still active from the Second World War alone and they pose a major threat to both military and civilian ships. Chiddingfold is able to enter some types of minefields without magnetic mines detonating because she is made of glass-reinforced plastic, and all fixtures within the ship are made of non-ferrous metals, keeping the ship's magnetic signature to the bare minimum.
HMS Atherstone was a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the Royal Navy, the third ship to bear the name. Built by Vosper Thornycroft shipbuilders at Woolston, Southampton, it was launched on 1 March 1986 by Amy Jarvis, the wife of Pat Jarvis, CB, the Deputy Controller of the Navy at the Ministry of Defence, and commissioned on 17 January 1987. It was the tenth ship of its class.
The United Kingdom Naval Support Facility is a Royal Navy base established in Bahrain on 13 April 1935, as part of the port at Mina Salman. In 1950, the United States Navy leased space in HMS Jufair and following Bahraini independence in 1971, took over the base. On 6 December 2014, it was announced that HMS Jufair would be reestablished as a permanent Royal Navy base. On 5 April 2018, the UK Naval Support Facility was officially opened by the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and The Duke of York, representing the United Kingdom.
The 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron is a front-line squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for mine warfare in the Persian Gulf region. The squadron is based in Bahrain and, as of 2023, is equipped with three mine countermeasure vessels and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship.