HMS Cottesmore (M32)

HMS Cottesmore was a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1982 and converted in 1997 into a patrol vessel. The ship was declared surplus to requirement and put on the MoD list for disposal in 2004. In 2008 she was bought by Lithuania, along with Dulverton.

HMS Cottesmore in Lithuanian service as Skalvis (M53)
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Cottesmore
Builder: Yarrow Shipbuilders
Launched: 9 February 1982[1]
Sponsored by: Lady Buchanan, wife of Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Buchanan
Commissioned: 24 June 1983
Decommissioned: September 2005
Identification: Pennant number: M32
Fate: Sold to Lithuania
Lithuania
Name: Skalvis
Acquired: 2008
Commissioned: 2011
Identification: Pennant number: M53
Fate: In active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel
Displacement: 750 tons
Length: 60 m (200 ft)
Beam: 9.8 m (32 ft)
Draught: 2.2 m (7.2 ft)
Propulsion: 2 shaft Napier Deltic diesel, 3,540 shp (2,640 kW)
Speed: 17 knots (31 km/h)
Complement: 45 (6 officers & 39 ratings)
Sensors and
processing systems:
Sonar Type 2193
Armament:
  • 40 mm Bofors
  • 2 × Mk44 minigun
  • 3 × 7.62 mm general purpose machine guns
  • Mine counter measures equipment:
  • SeaFox mine disposal system
  • Diver-placed explosive charges

Lieutenant Commander Prince Andrew, Duke of York commanded Cottesmore from April 1993 until November 1994. She was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in September 2005. The ship's bell and other memorabilia were presented to the village of Cottesmore in Rutland.

The ship entered service with the Lithuanian Navy as M53 Skalvis. Thales was the prime contractor to upgrade the vessels with a technologically advanced minehunting system including the hull-mounted Sonar 2193 system, propulsion, command and control systems, and mine disposal systems.[2][3]

References

  1. "Hunt Class Minesweepers". Battleships-cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  2. British Embassy Vilnius (5 June 2013). "Lithuanian Navy Hunt Class Commissioning". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. "Thales reactivates minehunters for Lithuanian Navy". Thales Group. 15 July 2013. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2019.


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