HMS Saltash (J62)
{{other ships|HMS Saltash}}
{{short description|Minesweeper of the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= HMS Belvoir (1917) IWM SP 109.jpg |Ship caption=Sister ship HMS Belvoir c. 1917–1918 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg | Ship name = HMS Saltash (J62) | Ship owner = | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = May 1917 | Ship builder = Murdoch and Murray | Ship laid down = 5 September 1917 | Ship launched = 25 June 1918 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = January 1945 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours =*Dunkirk 1940
| Ship fate = Sold for Scrap, July 1947 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= (1939) |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 Saltash (J62) 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 had a length between perpendiculars of {{convert|220|ft|m|1}} and measured {{convert|231|ft|m|1}} long overall. The Aberdares had a beam of {{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|1}} and 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.
Construction and career
Saltash, named after the town of Saltash in south-east Cornwall, was built by Murdoch and Murray of Port Glasgow, launched 25 June 1918 and served through the last few months of World War I as well as through all of World War II. She was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk, during which, on 1 June 1940, she took on board the crew of HMS Havant, that ship having been heavily damaged by German aircraft after they had successfully evacuated some 3,000 troops themselves.
Saltash later returned to northern France as part of the Normandy landings in 1944. She was decommissioned on 13 March 1947.
A fictitious HMS Saltash appears in Nicholas Monsarrat's novel of the Royal Navy during World War II, The Cruel Sea.
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 |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|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Commonwealth Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Winser|first=John de D.|title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=1999|isbn=0-905617-91-6}}
External links
- [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-22MS-OldHunt-Saltash.htm Chronologies of War Service of Royal Navy Warships]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110526061524/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=16767 Clydebuilt Database]
{{Hunt class minesweeper (1916)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltash (J62)}}