HMS Quorn (M41)

Last updated

HMS Quorn is pictured as she departs from Portsmouth. MOD 45139064.jpg
HMS Quorn in 2001
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Quorn
Operator Royal Navy
Builder Vosper Thornycroft
Launched23 January 1988
Sponsored byLady Rosemary Thompson
Commissioned1989
Decommissioned14 December 2017
Identification
FateSold to Lithuania April 2020
General characteristics
Class and type Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel
Displacement750 t (740 long tons; 830 short tons) [1]
Length60 m (196 ft 10 in)
Beam9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Draught2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Propulsion2 shaft Napier Deltic diesel, 3,540 shp
Speed17  kn (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement45 (6 officers & 39 ratings)
Sensors and
processing systems
Sonar Type 2193
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • SeaFox mine disposal system
  • Diver-placed explosive charges
Armament
Entering Portsmouth Harbour, October 2008 HMS Quorn inbound to Portsmouth BB.jpg
Entering Portsmouth Harbour, October 2008

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.

Contents

Operational history

On 18 March 2007, she was presented with the Freedom of the Borough scroll in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. [2]

From May 2011 to September 2014, Quorn was deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of the Royal Navy's permanent presence in the region. Based in Bahrain, Quorn's crew changed every eight months enabling the ship to remain on station for a prolonged period without the costs associated with returning to the United Kingdom. During the deployment, Quorn was "twinned" with American minehunter USS Devastator. [3]

Quorn spent the late spring and summer of 2015 on deployment in northern European waters, including the Baltic Sea as part of Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One (SNMCMG1). During the deployment, she took part in Exercise Joint Warrior off Scotland, BALTOPS 2015 alongside HM Ships Iron Duke and Ocean and Kiel Week before returning to Portsmouth in July. [4]

After spending a period alongside in extended readiness, Quorn was lifted out of the water into the "Minor War Vessels Centre of Specialisation"; the former shipbuilding hall at HMNB Portsmouth in December 2016. [5] However, in October 2017 it was revealed that her planned refit would not take place, and Quorn would be decommissioned on 14 December 2017. [6]

Lithuanian Navy

On 30 April 2020 Defence Equipment Services announced she had been sold for £1 million to the Lithuanian Navy. [7] [8] In July 2022 the Ministry of Defence announced that Harland & Wolff Appledore had been awarded the £55 million contract to renovate and restore the ship to an operational state. [9]

Affiliations

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HMS <i>Cattistock</i> (M31)

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 <i>Pembroke</i> (M107)

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HMS <i>Inverness</i> (M102) 1990 United Kingdom ship; also used by Estonian Navy

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HMS <i>Brocklesby</i> (M33)

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HMS <i>Middleton</i> (M34)

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HMS <i>Chiddingfold</i> (M37) Hunt-class mine countermeasures ship

HMS Chiddingfold is a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the British 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 the mines detonating. This is 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 <i>Atherstone</i> (M38)

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.

HMS <i>Cottesmore</i> (M32)

HMS Cottesmore was a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1982 and converted in 1997 into a patrol vessel. The ship was declared surplus to requirement and put on the MoD list for disposal in 2004. In 2008 she was bought by Lithuania, along with Dulverton.

EML <i>Admiral Cowan</i> 1988 Estonian ship

EML Admiral Cowan (M313) is a Sandown-class minehunter. Formerly HMS Sandown, lead ship of her class of the Royal Navy, she is now an Estonian Navy ship. Renamed EML Admiral Cowan, she is the flagship of the Estonian Navy and part of the Estonian Navy's mine sweeping flotilla. Admiral Cowan is the lead vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the first of the three modernised Sandown class minehunters received.

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References

  1. "Hunt Class Mine Countermeasures Vessels - Specifications". GlobalSecurity.org . 11 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  2. "Freedom of the Borough". Melton Borough Council . Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. "HMS Quorn sails home to Portsmouth after three years in gulf". Royal Navy. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. "HMS Quorn returns to Portsmouth after busy NATO deployment". Royal Navy. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. "Minehunters go undercover as Quorn and Atherstone begin revamp". Royal Navy. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  6. Reid, Nick (27 October 2017). "Royal Navy ship that carries town's name to be scrapped". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  7. "Sale of mine-hunting vessel to Lithuania could generate contract for British shipbuilding firm". Defence Equipment Support. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  8. Brief News Ships Monthly July 2020 page 17
  9. "Devon yard awarded £55m work to overhaul ship for Lithuania". UK Defence Journal. 14 July 2022.
  10. "Ipswich to get another warship". Ipswich Star . 4 February 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2019.