HMS ''Petersham'' was a of the

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 ...

. The names in the class were all chosen from British villages ending with ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after Petersham in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. ''Petersham'' was one of fifteen Ham-class minesweepers financed by the United States for the French Navy under the Mutual Assistance Pact. The whole group were commissioned with the hull number only, in this case ''M782''. It was not until 22 February 1964 that she was renamed ''Capucine'', ( Nasturtium), when the class were given floral-themed names. ''Capucine'' was based at

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

in the 16th Minesweeper Division, and saw active service on national and multi-national operations. In 1960 she participated in a

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, along with other shallow-draught minesweepers. In January 1965 she was mothballed at Cherbourg, in reserve. In July 1970 ''Capucine'' was re-commissioned as a training vessel with the same name and, on 1 June 1973, re-classified as an auxiliary vessel (A738). Following a number of pollution incidents, particularly the ''Amoco Cadiz'' oil spill in 1978, the ship was additionally involved in maritime surveillance off

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of governm ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. ''Capucine'' was taken out of service in April 1984, the Ham-class ships being replaced by eight new s. On 25 September 1984 she was relocated to the naval cemetery at

Landévennec Landévennec (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Geography Landévennec is located on the Crozon peninsula, southeast of Brest.The river Aulne forms a natural boundary to the east. ...

with some of her siblings. In 1985 she was sold and broken up at

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References

Ham-class minesweepers Ships built on the River Clyde 1955 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names Ham-class minesweepers of the French Navy {{france-mil-ship-stub