HMS ''Etchingham'' 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

Etchingham Etchingham is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex in southern England. The village is located approximately southeast of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent and northwest of Hastings, on the A265, half a mile west o ...

in East Sussex. In the 1960s ''Etchingham'' and her sister ship, ''Cardinham'' were in service with the Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve, until the unit was disbanded on 31 March 1967.

References

*Blackman, R.V.B. ed. ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (1953) Ham-class minesweepers Royal Navy ship names 1957 ships {{UK-minesweeper-stub