HMS ''Berkeley'' was a of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. She was sold to the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...

in 2001 and was commissioned as HS ''Kallisto''. On 27 October 2020, she was cut in two in a collision with a

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

Description

The Hunt class was designed as being capable of both conventional

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

and minehunting, and following on from the success of the experimental glass-reinforced plastic (GRP)-hulled minesweeper/minehunter , were also built from GRP in order to reduce their magnetic signature, being the largest GRP-hulled ships built at the time of construction. The Hunts were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and at the waterline, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was normal and full load. As built, they were powered by two Ruston-Paxman Deltic 9-59K

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s rated at each, which drove two propeller shafts, giving a speed of . An additional Deltic diesel engine could be used to either drive a

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Go ...

powering a magnetic sweep, or a slow-speed hydraulic drive for the propellers for use during minehunting, which could give a speed of or a

bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...

. In addition, the ships were fitted with three Foden

diesel alternator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression- ...

s to generate electrical power for ship's systems. The original design armament for the ships was a single 40 mm gun, which was later replaced by a 30 mm Oerlikon KCB cannon on a stabilised DS30 mount, with ''Berkeley'' being fitted with the DS30 by 1990. Two 20 mm Oerlikon cannon could also be fitted. For minehunting, the ships would use Type 193M sonar to locate potential mines, which could then be investigated and if necessary destroyed by two PAP-104 remotely controlled submersibles or divers. The ship also carried magnetic, acoustic or Oropesa sweeps. The ship had a crew of 45 (6 officers and 39 other ranks).

History

She was the twelfth of the thirteen Hunt-class vessels, and was built as Yard No.4256 by Vosper Thorneycroft shipbuilders at

Woolston Woolston may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Woolston, Cheshire, a village and civil parish in Warrington * Woolston, Devon, on the list of United Kingdom locations: Woof-Wy near Kingsbridge, Devon * Woolston, Southampton, a city suburb in Ham ...

, Southampton. The ship was ordered on 4 June 1985 and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 9 September 1985, and was launched on 3 December 1986 by Lady Gerken, the wife of Vice Admiral Sir

Robert Gerken Vice Admiral Sir Robert William Frank Gerken (11 June 1932 – 20 December 2022) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as Flag Officer, Plymouth. Naval career Educated at Chigwell School, the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and the Roy ...

, former Flag Officer Plymouth. ''Berkeley'' was commissioned on 14 January 1988, and after

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, was assigned to the 1st Mine Countermeasures Squadron based at

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

, Scotland. In 1990, she was part of the 3rd Mine Countermeasures Squadron. She took part in mine clearance operations in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

following the 1st Gulf War and later was involved in fishery protection duties in UK waters. She was sold to the

, then handed over and commissioned as ''Kallisto'', after the mythological nymph of that name, on 28 February 2001. On 27 October 2020, after sailing from

Salamis Naval Base The Salamis Naval Base ( el, Ναύσταθμος Σαλαμίνας) is the largest naval base of the Hellenic Navy. It is located in the northeastern part of Salamis Island (Cape Arapis), Greece and in Amphiali and Skaramangas. It is close to t ...

, HS ''Kallisto'' was severely damaged in a collision in the

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf (Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Co ...

with the Portuguese-flagged container ship , which had just departed from the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

. ''Kallisto'' was cut in two, with two of her 27 crew injured, and the stern section sank. Her bow section developed a severe list and was taken in tow for the naval base.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkeley (M40) Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels 1986 ships Kallisto Maritime incidents in 2020 Ships built in Southampton Shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea