HMS Cottesmore in Lithuanian service as Skalvis (M53)
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Cottesmore
BuilderYarrow Shipbuilders
Launched9 February 1982[1]
Sponsored byLady Buchanan, wife of Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Buchanan
Commissioned24 June 1983
DecommissionedSeptember 2005
IdentificationPennant number: M32
FateSold to Lithuania
Lithuania
NameSkalvis
Acquired2008
Commissioned2011
IdentificationPennant number: M53
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class and typeHunt-class mine countermeasures vessel
Displacement750 tons
Length60 m (200 ft)
Beam9.8 m (32 ft)
Draught2.2 m (7.2 ft)
Propulsion2 shaft Napier Deltic diesel, 3,540 shp (2,640 kW)
Speed17 knots (31 km/h)
Complement45 (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

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.

When introduced, the Hunt-class vessels were the largest warships ever built out of glass-reinforced plastic.[2] All were built by Vosper Thornycroft in Woolston, Hampshire except Cottesmore and Middleton, which were built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited on the River Clyde.

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.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Hunt Class Minesweepers". Battleships-cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships. Annapolis: US Naval Institute Press. 1996. p. 542. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  3. ↑ British Embassy Vilnius (5 June 2013). "Lithuanian Navy Hunt Class Commissioning". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. ↑ "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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