History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Shoulton
Ordered17 June 1952
BuilderMontrose Dockyard
Launched10 September 1954
Decommissioned23 November 1979
FateSold for scrapping on 2 February 1981
General characteristics
Class and typeTon-class minesweeper
Displacement440 tons
Length152 ft (46 m)
Beam28 ft (8.5 m)
Draught8 ft (2.4 m)
PropulsionOriginally Mirrlees diesel, later Napier Deltic, producing 3,000 shp (2,200 kW) on each of two shafts
Speed15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement33
Armament

HMS Shoulton (M1182) was a Ton-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. Constructed by the Montrose Shipyard in Montrose, Scotland and launched on 10 September 1954, the minesweeper was converted into a prototype minhunter in 1957. The vessel was used as a test bed in the mid-1960s for new propulsion technologies. Shoulton was among the vessels assigned to salvage operations following the Aer Lingus Flight 712 crash off Rosslare. In 1977, Shoulton took part in the naval review marking the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II and was paid off on 23 November 1979. The ship was sold for scrap in 1981 and broken up at broken up in Blyth.

Construction and design

Shoulton was ordered on 17 June 1952 and was launched at Montrose Shipyard, Montrose, Scotland on 10 September 1954.[1] She was completed on 16 November 1955, commissioning with the pennant number M1182.[2]

Shoulton was 152 feet (46.33 m) long overall and 140 feet (42.67 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 28 feet 9 inches (8.76 m) and a draught of 8 feet 3 inches (2.51 m). Displacement was 360 long tons (370 t) normal and 425 long tons (432 t) deep load.[3] Like all the Ton class, the ship had an aluminium-framed wooden hull. She was powered by a pair of Napier Deltic diesel engines which drove two shafts, giving a total of 3,000 shaft horsepower (2,200 kW) and a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[1][4] 45 tons of fuel were carried, giving a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).[3][4]

Armament consisted of a single Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun forward and two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon aft.[3][4] Minesweeping equipment included wire sweeps for sweeping moored contact mines and acoustic or magnetic sweeps for dealing with influence mines.[5] Unlike earlier ships of the class, Shoulton was fitted with an enclosed bridge.[4]

Service

In 1957, Shouton was converted into a prototype minehunter by Vosper Thornycroft at their Woolston, Southampton works.[6] In November 1960, Shouton was part of the 50th Mine Sweeping Squadron and in July 1963 joined the First Minesweeping Squadron[lower-alpha 1] as the Senior Officer's ship.[6] From 1965 to 1967, Shouton was refitted with a prototype pump-jet propulsor.[6] The installation was successful, proving resistant to damage (managing to survive a railway sleeper entering the pump-jet without damage to the propulsor), and paved the way for pump-jets being used on the Royal Navy's nuclear submarines.[5] Shoulton together with sister ships Clarbeston and Invermoriston, took part in salvage operations following the crash of an Aer Lingus Vickers Viscount airliner off Rosslare.[6]

On 28 July 1977, Shoulton took part in the Review of the Fleet at Spithead commemorating the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II as part of the 3rd Mine Countermeasures Squadron (3rd MCMS).[6] She transferred to the 2nd Mine Countermeasures Squadron (2 MCMS) in January 1979 and paid off for the last time at Portsmouth on 23 November 1979.[8]

Shoulton was sold for scrapping on 2 February 1981[9] and was broken up in Blyth from 17 April 1981.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ The First Minehunting Squadron according to the Ton Class Association.[7]

Citations

  1. 1 2 Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, pp. 540–541
  2. ↑ Worth 1986, p. 78
  3. 1 2 3 Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 539
  4. 1 2 3 4 Blackman 1962, p. 282
  5. 1 2 Brown & Moore 2012, pp. 130–131
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Worth 1986, p. 112
  7. ↑ "Shoulton M1182". Ton Class Association. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Shoulton pays off" (PDF). Navy News. January 1980. p. 15. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 321

References

  • Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1962). Jane's Fighting Ships 1962–63. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.
  • Brown, D. K.; Moore, George (2012). Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship Design Since 1945. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-150-2.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen, eds. (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  • Worth, Jack (1986). British Warships Since 1945: Part 4: Minesweepers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 0-907771-12-2.
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