Ham-class minesweeper: Difference between revisions

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The '''Ham class''' was a [[ship class|class]] of inshore [[minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]]s (IMS), known as the Type 1, of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Navy]]. The class was designed to operate in the shallow water of [[river]]s and [[Estuary|estuaries]]. All of the ships in the class are named for British place names that end with [[List of generic forms in British place names|-"ham"]]. The parent firm that was responsible for supervising construction was [[J. Samuel White|Samuel White]] of [[Cowes]], Isle of Wight.

Unlike traditional [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]], they were not equipped for sweeping moored or magnetic mines. Their work was to locate individual mines and neutralise them. This was a then new role, and the class was configured for working in the shallow water of [[river]]s, [[Estuary|estuaries]] and [[shipping channel]]s.

The class consisted of 93 ships, launched between 1954 and 1959. {{HMS|Inglesham|M2601|6}} was the first. They were built in three slightly different sub-groups, the first sub-group, the 26-group, is distinguished by [[pennant number]]s 26xx, and the second and third sub-groups, the 27-group, are distinguished by pennant numbers 27xx. The 26-group was of wood and [[non-ferrous metal]] composite construction and the 27-group was of all-wood construction. The third sub-group is distinguished by a prominent rubbing strake around the hull and slightly larger dimensions.

The vessels displaced 164{{nbspconvert|164|LT}}[[long ton|tons]] fully laden and were armed with one [[Bofors 40 mm gun|40 mm Bofors]] or [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Oerlikon]] gun. They were {{convert|32.5|m}} long overall with a {{convert|6.4|m|adj=on}} beam. The construction was of wood to minimise magnetic signature. The crew complement was 15, rising to 22 in wartime.

The engines of this class were [[Paxman (engines)|Paxman]] [[diesel engine|diesels]], some of which were built under licence by [[Ruston (engine builder)|Ruston and Hornsby]] of [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]]. Each vessel had: two 12YHAXM (intercooled) for main propulsion, rated at {{convert|550|bhp|abbr=on|lk=in}} at 1,000 rpm, plus one 12YHAZ for pulse generation. Maximum speed was {{convert|14|kn}} dropping to {{convert|9|kn}} when mine sweeping.

The class shared the same basic hull as the {{sclass2-|Ley|minehunter}} and the {{sclass-|Echo|survey ship (1957)|0}} inshore survey craft.

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==Ships==