HMS ''Swindon'' was a Hunt-class

minesweeper 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 ...

of the ''Aberdare'' sub-class built for 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 ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and was sold into civilian service in 1921.

Design and description

The ''Aberdare'' sub-class were enlarged versions of the original Hunt-class ships with a more powerful armament. The ships displaced at normal load. They had a

length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

of and measured

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 ...

. The ''Aberdare''s had a beam of and a draught of . The ships' complement consisted of 74 officers and ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 98 The ships had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two

Yarrow boiler Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships. The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...

s. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . They carried a maximum of of coal which gave them a range of at .Cocker, p. 76 The ''Aberdare'' sub-class was armed with a quick-firing (QF) gun forward of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and a QF twelve-pounder (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun aft. Some ships were fitted with six- or three-pounder guns in lieu of the twelve-pounder.

Construction and career

''Swindon'' was renamed from HMS ''Bantry'' in 1918 to avoid any conflict between the vessel name and a coastal location. In 1921 she was sold off and converted to a coastal passenger/freight steamer by the Coaster Construction Co of Montrose, Scotland for the Union Steamship Co of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. She was laid up and sold to Coast Ferries in 1951, then scrapped at

Gambier Island Gambier Island is an island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. It is about in size and is located about north of the Horseshoe Bay community and ferry terminal in westernmost West Vancouver. A rugged and sparsely populate ...

, BC in 1952.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swindon Hunt-class minesweepers (1916) Royal Navy ship names 1918 ships

Design and description

Construction and career

See also

Notes

References