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 and the Estonian Navy. The first vessel was commissioned into Royal Navy service on 9 June 1989 and all the British ships are named after coastal towns and cities. They have a secondary role as offshore patrol vessels.
The Ton class were coastal minesweepers built in the 1950s for the Royal Navy, but also used by other navies such as the South African Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. They were intended to meet the threat of seabed mines laid in shallow coastal waters, rivers, ports and harbours, a task for which the existing ocean-going minesweepers of the Algerine-class were not suited.
HMS Bassingham was one of 93 ships of the Ham class of inshore minesweepers, of which HMS Inglesham was the first. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Bassingham in Lincolnshire. She was built by Vospers Ltd. of Portsmouth, which later became Vosper-Thorneycroft and was commissioned in October 1953. She displaced 164 tons fully laden and was armed with one 40 mm Bofors gun.
The Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) was a uniformed, unarmed, civilian volunteer service, administered and trained by the Royal Navy to operate in the ports and anchorages of the United Kingdom in an emergency. Although the abbreviated title would logically have been RNAS this abbreviation had long been taken by the various Royal Naval Air Stations, so RNXS it was. It maintained training units, and vessels at most major ports in the UK. and was formed in 1963 from the amalgamation of the Royal Naval Mine-watching Service (RNMWS) and Admiralty Ferry Crew Association in response to the perceived nuclear threat to British ports. The service was disbanded on 31 March 1994 due to Ministry of Defence (MOD) cuts. Most vessels from its fleet were transferred to the Royal Navy or sold, with the exception of XSV Loyal Volunteer, which was struck by a ro-ro ferry while berthed in Ipswich Harbour and was later scrapped.
USS Chickadee (AM-59) was an Auk-class minesweeper of the United States Navy, named after the Chickadee, a family of small passerine birds which appear in North America and Africa.
The Belgian Navy, officially the Belgian Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium.
HMS Dittisham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers built for the British Royal Navy. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Dittisham in Devon.
HMS Greetham was one of 93 ships of the Ham class of inshore minesweepers. All ships in this class had names chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was built by the firm of Herd & McKenzie in Buckie, Moray and was named after Greetham, Lincolnshire. Entering service in 1955, the vessel was transferred to the Libyan Navy in 1962 on loan and permanently in 1966. Renamed Zuara, the minesweeper was used as a patrol vessel until 1973. Zuara was sold to Captain Morgan Cruises of Malta for commercial use and renamed Lady Davinia. The ship was taken out of service in 2007 and laid up at Sliema Creek. Lady Davinia sank at her moorings in 2008 and for a short time became a diving attraction but in 2011 the wreck was partially broken up after being named a navigational hazard.
HMS Halsham was one of 93 ships of the Ham class of inshore minesweepers of the Royal Navy. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Halsham in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
HMS Mersham was a Ham-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. All ships of the class were named after villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Mersham in Kent. Constructed at Appledore, in Devon, Mersham was launched in April 1954 and completed in January 1955. In April 1955, the ship was transferred to the French Navy and in French service, was known by its pennant number, M773, until it was renamed Violette in 1964. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the vessel undertook minesweeping duties from Brest in Brittany, before being laid up in 1965. In 1974, the ship was transferred to the Gendarmerie and undertook patrol duties until finally being decommissioned in 1987.
HMS Portisham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers.
HMS Powderham was one of 93 ships of the Ham class of inshore minesweepers named after villages ending in -ham, in this case Powderham in Devon. She was launched on 27 November 1958 by J. Samuel White & Company Ltd, Cowes and commissioned in 1959. She was allocated pennant number M 2720.
The Echo class was a class of inshore survey vessels built for the British Royal Navy in 1958–1959. The class was designed to operate in close waters such as harbour approaches, shipping lanes, rivers and estuaries. Together, the ships of this class formed the Royal Navy's Inshore Survey Squadron.
HMCS Chaleur was a Bay-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy for three and a half months in 1954 before being sold to the French Navy to become La Dieppoise. The ship was named for Chaleur Bay, located between Quebec and New Brunswick. Her name was given to her replacement, Chaleur (MCB 164). As La Dieppoise, the vessel served as a coastal patrol vessel in the France's Pacific Ocean territories. The ship was taken out of service in 1987.
USS Swift (AM-122) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
HMCS Miramichi was a Bay-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and the French Navy. She was named Miramichi Bay, located at the mouth of the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. Entering service in 1954, the vessel served in the Royal Canadian Navy for only a few months before transferring to the French Navy. Renamed La Lorientaise, the ship was used as a minesweeper before converting to a patrol vessel in 1973. The ship was discarded in 1986.
Vulcain (M611) is a Vulcain-class minesweeper of the French Navy. She is classed by the French Navy as a BBPD type vessel and is used as a base ship for clearance divers. She is based in Cherbourg Naval Base, in Cherbourg, France, and is run by the 1st GPD Groupement de Plongeurs démineurs, a group of French Army clearance divers. Since 16 May 1987, she has been symbolically linked with the town of Honfleur. The personnel on board usually comprises 12 divers, 1 medical officer and 1 nurse.
The Léopard-class training ships are a class of sea vessels built for the Marine Nationale to train French officer-candidates in basic seamanship. There are eight of these vessels built. They were built by La Perrière in Lorient, Ateliers et Chantiers de la Manche (ACM) in Saint-Malo, and Société Française de Construction Navale (SFCN). These vessels have a secondary role of anti-pollution work and coastal patrol, and are still in active service as of 2022.
HMCS Thunder was a Bay-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Cold War. The ship was named for Thunder Bay. This was the third vessel to carry the name and the second in the class, replacing a previous vessel sold to France. The minesweeper entered service in 1957 and was paid off in 1997.
HMCS Fundy was a Bay-class minesweeper that was constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Cold War. The minesweeper entered service in March 1954 and was transferred later that month to the French Navy. Renamed La Dunkerquoise, the ship was converted to a territorial patrol vessel in 1973 and remained in service until 1984. La Dunkerquoise was discarded in 1986.
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