HMS ''Wintringham'' (M2777/IMS77) was a 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 ...

. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after

Wintringham Wintringham is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. Location The village is near the A64 road and east of Malton. Two long-distance footpath ...

. She remained in operational reserve in a land cradle at

Rosneath Rosneath (''Ros Neimhidh'' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited ...

on the Clyde until 1963. She was transferred to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

on 9 June 1966, arriving in Sydney as deck cargo on the merchant ship ''Gladstone Star'' on 29 July 1968. She was converted into a diving tender by Halvorsens, renamed HMAS ''Seal'' (DTV1001/Y298) and entered service in December 1968. ''Seal'' was decommissioned in 1988, sold into civilian service on 29 November 1989, and converted into the corporate luxury

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

TSMV ''Seal''. ''Seal'' was holed while at sea off the Western Australian coast and was then purposely run aground at Hidden Island, Western Australia on 1 May 2003.

References

* Blackman, R.V.B. ed. ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' (1953) Ham-class minesweepers Ships built on the Isle of Wight 1955 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names {{UK-minesweeper-stub