HMS Albury
{{short description|Royal Navy minesweeper}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Albury (J41) IWM FL 390.jpg |Ship caption=Albury in December 1942 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag=File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg |Ship name= |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=21 November 1918 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=17 February 1919 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification=Pennant number: J41 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold 13 March 1947 for scrap Dohmen & Habets, Liège |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Hunt-class minesweeper, Aberdare sub-class |Ship displacement={{convert|800|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} |Ship length={{convert|213|ft|m|abbr=on}} o/a |Ship beam={{convert|28|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|7|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship power=*2 × Yarrow boilers
|Ship propulsion=*2 shafts |Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|1500|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}} |Ship complement=74 |Ship armament=*1 × QF QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII gun }} |
HMS Albury was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and survived the Second World War to be sold for scrap in 1947.
Design and description
The Aberdare sub-class were enlarged versions of the original Hunt-class ships with a more powerful armament. The ships displaced {{convert|800|LT|t}} at normal load. They measured {{convert|231|ft|m|1}} long overall with a beam of {{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|1}}. They had a draught of {{convert|7|ft|6|in|m|1}}. 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 boilers. The engines produced a total of {{convert|2200|ihp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}. They carried a maximum of {{convert|185|LT|t|0}} of coal which gave them a range of {{convert|1500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}.Cocker, p. 76
The Aberdare sub-class was armed with a quick-firing (QF) {{Convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0|spell=in}} gun forward of the bridge 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. Albury was fitted with a single six-pounder gun in 1931,Parkes, p. 80. but by 1939 was listed as having an armament of 1 × 4 inch and 1 × 12-pounder gun.{{cite news|title=Albury. (Ch.)|date=February 1939|page=215|journal=The Navy List |url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=92653074}}
Construction and career
HMS Albury was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at their shipyard in Troon, Ayrshire. She was launched on 21 November 1918,Dittmar & Colledge, p. 112. and commissioned on 17 February 1919.{{cite web|last=Helgason|first=Guðmundur|title=HMS Albury (J 41): Minesweeper of the Hunt Class|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6513.html|publisher= uboat.net|access-date=15 January 2016}}Worth p. 7 On 21 November 1919, Albury was laid up in reserve at the Nore.{{cite news|title=23a Albury (Ch.)|date=December 1920|page=724|journal=The Navy List |url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=94468400}}
Albury served in the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla in Home waters from 1927 to 1935.{{cite web|last=Watson|first=Graham|title=Between the Wars: Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployments 1919–1939|publisher=Naval-History.net|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGW-RNOrganisation1919-39.htm#10|access-date=15 January 2016}} In 1939 Albury was in reserve at Malta, part of the 3rd Minesweeper Flotilla.{{cite web|url=http://www.rmg.co.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_v.pdf|title=NMM, vessel ID 379655|work=Warship Histories, Vol V|publisher=National Maritime Museum|access-date=15 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030115558/http://www.rmg.co.uk/upload/pdf/Warship_Histories_Vessels_v.pdf|archive-date=30 October 2013|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|title=VI.—Mediterranean|journal=The Navy List|date=February 1939|page=206|url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=92652966&mode=fullsize}} On 3 March 1940, Albury was one of five minesweepers ordered back to British waters from the Mediterranean, joining the 5th Minesweeping Flotilla at Harwich on 2 April 1940.{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Royal Navy Ships, September 1939|work= British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day |publisher=Naval-History.net|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3909-04RN.htm|access-date=15 January 2016}}{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Naval Events, April 1940 (Part 1 of 4): Monday 1st – Sunday 7th |work= British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day |publisher=Naval-History.net|url= http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4004-13APR01.htm|access-date=15 January 2016}}{{cite web|last=Watson|first=Graham|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGW-RNOrganisation1939-45.htm|title=Organisation of the Royal Navy 1939–1945|publisher=Naval-History.net|access-date=15 January 2016}} She took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo, from 28 May–4 June 1940, carrying out six evacuation trips and landing 1851 evacuees back in Britain.Winser, pp. 16, 81. By June 1941, Albury was part of the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla.{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Naval Events, June 1941 (Part 1 of 2): Sunday 1st – Saturday 14th |work= British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day |publisher=Naval-History.net|url= http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4106-33JUN01.htm|access-date=15 January 2016}} On 7 November that year, she was attacked by German bombers off the East coast of Scotland. She was near missed by German bombs, which caused minor machinery damage, which took five weeks to repair.{{cite web|last=Kindell|first=Don|title=Naval Events, November 1941 (Part 1 of 2): Saturday 1st – Friday 14th |work= British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day |publisher=Naval-History.net|url= http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4111-38NOV01.htm|access-date=15 January 2016}}H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action p. 302.
On 19 January 1942 Albury was involved in a collision with HMS Sutton, another Hunt-class minesweeper, and took serious damage.{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |title=HMS Sutton (N 78) - Old Hunt-class Minesweeper |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-22MS-OldHunt-Sutton.htm |access-date=15 January 2016 |work=Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2 |publisher=Naval-History.net}}
D-Day and the invasion of Normandy
On 6 June 1944, Albury, still part of the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla, took part in Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.
The 4th Flotilla Group was tasked with sweeping the path ahead of D-Day and in support of the US forces landing at Omaha and Utah beaches. The ship was the first to return to England laden with the dead and wounded from the landings.{{Cite web |title=Gibraltarians at D-Day and the Battle of Normandy |url=https://www.chronicle.gi/gibraltarians-at-d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy/ |access-date=2024-06-06 |language=en}}
From January 1945, Albury was laid up as part of the Reserve Fleet at Falmouth, and on 13 March 1947 was sold to Dohman & Habets of Liège, Belgium for mercantile conversion.Worth p. 8.
Pennant numbers
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left" | Date |
| T9/ | January 1919 |
| G64 | November 1919 |
| N41 | 1939Lenton & Colledge pp. 193, 199. |
| J41 | 1940 |
See also
- Albury is the name of a number of places in England
Notes
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Cocker|first=M. P.|title=Mine Warfare Vessels of the Royal Navy: 1908 to Date|publisher=Airlife Publishing|location=Shrewsbury, England|year=1993|isbn=1-85310-328-4}}
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book|last1=Dittmar|first1=F.J.|last2=Colledge|first2=J.J.|title=British Warships 1914–1919|year=1972|publisher=Ian Allan|location=Shepperton, UK|isbn=0-7110-0380-7|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|title=H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action: 3rd. SEPT. 1939 to 2nd. SEPT. 1945|year=1952|publisher=Admiralty|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Ships%20Damaged%20or%20Sunk%20by%20Enemy%20Action_opt_0.pdf|access-date=15 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610105459/http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Ships%20Damaged%20or%20Sunk%20by%20Enemy%20Action_opt_0.pdf|archive-date=10 June 2016|url-status=dead}}
- {{cite book|last1=Lenton|first1=H.T.|last2=Colledge|first2=J.J.|title=Warships of World War II|edition=Second|year=1973|location=London|publisher=Ian Allan|isbn=0-7110-0403-X}}
- {{cite book|last=Parkes|first=Oscar|title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1931|year=1973|orig-year=First published 1931 by Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd: London|publisher=David and Charles|location=Newton Abbot, UK|isbn=0-7153-5849-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Winser|first=John de S.|title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|date=1999|isbn=0-905617-91-6}}
- {{cite book|last=Worth|first=Jack |title=British Warships Since 1945: Part 4: Minesweepers|year=1992|publisher=Maritime Books|location=Liskeard, UK|isbn=0-907771-12-2}}
{{Hunt class minesweeper (1916)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albury}}
Category:Hunt-class minesweepers (1916)