HMIS Rajputana (J197)
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=India |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|India|naval 1928}} |Ship name=Rajputana |Ship ordered=24 August 1940 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Lobnitz & Co. |Ship laid down=21 June 1941 |Ship launched=31 December 1941Lenton and Colledge 1973, p. 203. |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=30 April 1942 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=1961 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Scrapped 1961 |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|673|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} standard
|Ship length={{convert|189|ft|m|abbr=on}} o/a |Ship beam={{convert|28|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|10|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship power=*{{convert|2400|ihp|abbr=on|lk=in}} |Ship propulsion=*2 shafts |Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|2800|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}} |Ship complement=60 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*1 × single QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun
}} |
HMIS Rajputana (J197) was a {{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper}}s built for the Royal Navy, but transferred to the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during the Second World War.
Design and description
The Bangor class was designed as a small minesweeper that could be easily built in large numbers by civilian shipyards; as steam turbines were difficult to manufacture, the ships were designed to accept a wide variety of engines. Rajputana displaced {{convert|673|LT|t}} at standard load and {{convert|860|LT|t}} at deep load. The ship had an overall length of {{convert|189|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|28|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|10|ft|6|in|m|1}}.Lenton, pp. 253–54 The ship's complement consisted of 60 officers and ratings.Chesneau, p. 64
She was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines (VTE), each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of {{convert|2400|shp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}. The ship carried a maximum of {{convert|160|LT|t|0}} of fuel oil that gave her a range of {{convert|2800|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.Lenton, p. 254
The VTE-powered Bangors were armed with a QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun and a single QF 2-pounder (4 cm) AA gun or a quadruple mount for the Vickers .50 machine gun. In some ships the 2-pounder was replaced a single or twin 20 mm Oerlikon AA gun, while most ships were fitted with four additional single Oerlikon mounts over the course of the war. For escort work, their minesweeping gear could be exchanged for around 40 depth charges.
Construction and career
HMIS Rajputana was ordered from Lobnitz & Co. originally for the Royal Navy as HMS Lyme Regis in 1940. However, before she was launched, she was transferred to the Royal Indian Navy and eventually commissioned as Rajputana.{{cite web|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/7983.html |title=HMS Lyme Regis (i) (J 197) of the Royal Navy - British Minesweeper of the Bangor class - Allied Warships of WWII |publisher=uboat.net |access-date=2015-08-25}} She was a part of the Eastern Fleet, and escorted numerous convoys between Africa, British India and Australia in 1943-45.{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1943a.htm |title=Eastern Fleet War Diary 1943 |publisher=Naval-history.net |access-date=2015-08-25}}{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWD-EF1944-11.htm |title=East Indies Fleet War Diary 1944 |publisher=Naval-history.net |date=1944-12-30 |access-date=2015-08-25}} She took part in Operation Dracula, the invasion of Rangoon, in May 1945,Collins 1964, p. 311. and in September 1945, carried out minesweeping operations off Singapore prior to the formal surrender of Japanese forces in South East Asia.Collins 1964, pp. 318–319.
=Post-war service=
In 1947, the Partition of India resulted in the Royal Indian Navy being split between India and Pakistan. Of eight Bangor-class minesweepers in the pre-partition navy, four were transferred to Pakistan, with Rajputana one of the ships that remained in the Royal Indian Navy, which was renamed the Indian Navy in 1950.Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 171.
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Collins|first= J.T.E.|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/index.html|title=The Royal Indian Navy, 1939–1945|series= Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War|location= New Delhi, India|publisher= Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan)|year= 1964}}
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Chumbley|editor2-first=Stephen|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995|year=1995|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland, USA|isbn=1-55750-132-7}}
- {{cite book|last1=Lenton|first1=H.T.|last2=Colledge|first2=J.J.|title=Warships of World War II|year=1973|publisher=Ian Allan|location=London|isbn=0-7110-0403-X}}
{{Bangor class minesweeper}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajputana (J197)}}
Category:Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Indian Navy