HMS ''Asheldham'' was one of 93 ships of the 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

Asheldham Asheldham is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about southeast of Maldon and is east-southeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Maldon and the parliamentary constituency of Maldon & ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. HMS ''Asheldham'' (

Pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

M2604) was a member of the first series of ''Ham''-class minesweepers, with composite wood and aluminium construction. It was built by

Philip and Son Philip and Son (also Philip & Son) was a shipbuilder in Kingswear, near Dartmouth, Devon, England. Operating from 1858 until the late 1990s, the company provided employment opportunities for nearly 141 years for many people of Dartmouth. It was ...

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

and was completed on 9 September 1953.Gardiner and Chumbley, 1995, p. 541.Worth 1986, p. 123. ''Asheldham'' served as part of the 232nd Mine Sweeper Squadron at

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

in Essex from 1954 to 1956, after which it was placed into reserve.Worth 1986, pp. 2, 125. The ''Ham'' class had proved too small to carry modern minesweeping equipment and most of the class were withdrawn from use or transferred to secondary roles. The ship was transferred to the Royal Malayan Navy on 1 April 1958, being renamed ''Sri Perlis''.Worth 1986, p. 125. Following transfer, ''Sri Perlis'' 40mm Bofors gun and minesweeping gear was removed and replaced by three 20 mm Oerlikon cannon,Blackman 1960, p. 82. although the minesweeping gear was later re-fitted, with the ship retaining a single Oerlikon gun.Blackman 1962, p. 162.

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* * * * * Ham-class minesweepers Ships built in Dartmouth 1953 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names Ham-class minesweepers of the Royal Malaysian Navy {{malaysia-stub