Name HMS Alresford Displacement 800 long tons (813 t) Length 70 m | Commissioned 25 May 1919 Launched 17 January 1919 Draft 2.29 m | |
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Fate Sold 13 March 1947 for scrap Dohmen & Habets, Liege Notes Pennant number = J06 / N06 Class and type Hunt-class minesweeper, Aberdare sub-class Builder Ailsa Shipbuilding Company | ||
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.
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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.
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 which gave them a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
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. Some ships were fitted with six- or three-pounder guns in lieu of the twelve-pounder.
Construction and career
HMS Alresford was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at their shipyard in Troon, Ayrshire. In 1936–38, she was a tender to the navigation school, HMS Dryad, and was used for local running in the Portsmouth area, training officers in pilotage. Alresford took part in the Dieppe Raid and the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo.