HMS Brigham (M2613)

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Brigham
Namesake Brigham
BuilderBerthon Boat Company
Launched4 December 1953
Completed22 December 1953
FateSold 1968
General characteristics
Class and type Ham class minesweeper
Type Minesweeper
Displacement
  • 120 long tons (122 t) standard
  • 164 long tons (167 t) full load
Length
  • 100 ft (30 m) p/p
  • 106 ft 6 in (32.46 m) o/a
Beam21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)
Draught5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 shaft Paxman 12YHAXM diesels
  • 1,100 bhp (820 kW)
Speed14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement2 officers, 13 ratings
Armament1 × Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 or Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Notes Pennant number(s): M2613 / IMS13

HMS Brigham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers.

Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Brigham in Cumbria.

The ship's bell is now in St Bridget's Church of England Primary School, Brigham, where it was used as a fire alarm until a more modern fire alarm system was installed.

Brigham was sold to Australian interests in 1968 and renamed MV Brigham. Refitted in Southampton as a prospective ferry she sailed with a crew of ten (via Las Palmas, Monrovia, Cape Town, Durban, Mauritius, and Albany) to Port Lincoln, South Australia, arriving on 24 December 1969 after a 16-week voyage, including a lengthy stop in Cape Town.

Sold in 1970 to the Australian company Southern Concrete, and taken to Adelaide for a full refit. Whilst in Adelaide the company experienced financial difficulties and the vessel had the distinction of being the first vessel in many decades to have a warrant pinned to her mast for non-payment of harbour dues.

Sold to NT fishing company sometime after and last heard of in the late 1970s being used as a prawn trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria. [1]

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References

  1. "oldships.org.uk". www.oldships.org.uk.