HMS ''Abbotsham'' was one of 93 ships of the
''Ham'' class of inshore
minesweepers
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
.
Their names were all chosen from villages ending in ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after
Abbotsham
Abbotsham (pronounced Abbotsam) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. In 2001 its population was 434 increasing at the 2011 census to 489.
Amenities
Abbotsham no longer has a Post Office and General Store but remains ...
in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. ''Abbotsham'' was one of the third series of ''Ham''-class minesweepers, with an all-wooden hull, and was built by William Blackmore, completing on 10 January 1957.
[Gardiner and Chumbley, 1995, p. 541.][Worth 1986, p. 123.]
The ''Ham'' class proved to be too small to carry modern minesweeping gear, and like many of the class, ''Abbotsham'' was quickly placed in operational reserve, entering this state in November 1957. She remained in operational reserve at
Rosneath
Rosneath (''Ros Neimhidh'' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited ...
until 1966, when she was placed on the disposal list, the ship being sold in 1967.
[Worth 1986, p. 125.]
See also
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List of ship names of the Royal Navy
This is an alphabetical list of the ''names'' of all ships that have been in service with the Royal Navy, or with predecessor fleets formally in the service of the Kingdom of England or the Commonwealth of England. The list also includes ficti ...
*
*
References
Bibliography
*Blackman, R.V.B. ed. ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (1953)
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External links
Details at the Ton-class Association site
Ham-class minesweepers
1955 ships
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