Hunt Class (1978)

Hunt class

HMS Ledbury (M30) at Portsmouth, 2007

Ship data country  United Kingdom (since 1979) Greece (since 2001) Lithuania (since 2011)     Ship type Anti-mine vehicle Shipyard * Vosper Thornycroft Yarrow Launch of the type ship 1978 Units built 13 period of service Since 1979

Ship dimensions and crew length 60 m ( Lüa ) width 9.80 m Draft Max. 2.20 m displacement 762 t   crew 45 men

Machine system machine 2 Napier Deltic diesel engines with a total of 3540 WPS (original) Top speed 17 kn (31 km / h)

Armament 1 × 40 mm Bofors Mark 9 MK (originally) / 1 × 30 mm MSI DS-30B MK (after conversion) Drones / ROV (Seafox, 2 ECA PAP 104) Mine clearing equipment (MS 14 magnetic loop, Sperry MSSA acoustic generator, Orospesa K8 search equipment) Sensors Sonar Type 2193 (after conversion)

The Hunt class is a class of anti-mine vehicles or minehunters used by the British Royal Navy since 1979 . A secondary task of the boats is their use as patrol boats . It is already the third Hunt class of the British naval forces.

history

At the end of the 1970s, the Royal Navy began to equip a new class of ship for mine defense. The first of these ships was the HMS Brecon , which entered service on December 18, 1979. While the class was given the traditional name Hunt class , the 13 units were named after localities. The boats were built by Vosper Thornycroft except for HMS Cottesmore and HMS Middleton , which were launched at Yarrow .

Some other states later took over used boats from the United Kingdom . In 2001, two boats were acquired by Greece . In addition, Lithuania bought two launched boats in November 2008 for around 55 million euros. These were propulsion, communication and weapon technology, u. a. by Thales , completely modernized before they arrived in their new home port Klaipėda during the winter of 2010/2011 . They belong to the Lithuanian anti-mine squadron , which forms the Lithuanian part of the Baltic Naval Squadron . The official act for the handover and commissioning of both ships took place on May 18, 2013. However, they have been taking part in various maneuvers regularly since 2011.

Currently (as of April 2014), with the exception of HMS Brecon , which is based as a training ship in Torpoint, all units are in active service with the naval forces of the three countries.

technology

At the time of construction, the Hunt-class boats were the largest boats ever built with a GRP hull and the last use of the Napier Deltic diesel engine. At a speed of 12 knots, the range of the boat is 3,000 nautical miles.

The capabilities of the remaining units in British service have now been significantly improved. These include a new type 2193 mine hunting sonar and a NAUTIS 3 guidance system. Type 2193 is said to be the world's most powerful mine-hunting sonar, which can detect and classify objects up to the size of a soccer ball at a distance of 1,000 meters. Another innovation is the Seafox system, a fully autonomous system for mine destruction, which can fight mines up to 300 meters deep.

units

 United Kingdom

The remaining units are mainly based in Portsmouth in the south of England .

Identifier	Surname	Launch	In service	Off-duty	Whereabouts
M29	HMS Brecon	1978	18th December 1979	July 19, 2005	Training ship in Torpoint, Cornwall
M30	HMS Ledbury	December 1979	June 11, 1981		active
M31	HMS Cattistock	January 22, 1981	March 5, 1982		active
M32	HMS Cottesmore	February 9, 1982	June 24, 1983	September 2005	to Lithuania ( Skalvis )
M33	HMS Brocklesby	January 12, 1982	3rd February 1983		active
M34	HMS Middleton	April 27, 1983	4th July 1984		active
M35	HMS Dulverton	1982	1983	2004	to Lithuania ( Kuršis )
M36	HMS Bicester	June 4th 1985	1988	2000	to Greece ( Europe )
M37	HMS Chiddingfold	October 1983	October 1984		active
M38	HMS Atherstone	March 1, 1986	17th January 1987	December 14, 2017	hung up
M39	HMS Hurworth	September 25, 1984	2nd July 1985		active
M40	HMS Berkeley	3rd December 1986	1986	2000	to Greece ( Callisto )
M41	HMS Quorn	January 23, 1988	1989	December 14, 2017	launched, to Lithuania

 Greece

Greece acquired two boats in 2001, both of which are based in Salamis .

Identifier	Surname	In service	Off-duty	Whereabouts
M62	Europe (ΕΥΡΩΠΗ)			active
M63	Callisto (ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΩ)			active

 Lithuania

Lithuania acquired two boats in 2008, which were modernized in winter 2010/2011 and are based in Klaipėda.

Identifier	Surname	In service	Off-duty	Whereabouts
M53	Skalvis	2011		active
M54	Kuršis	2011		active

Web links

• Royal Navy website about the Hunt class (English)
• Homepage of the Lithuanian Naval Forces about the mine defense squadron there (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Article on the official commissioning in Lithuania ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  
2. ↑ Ministry of Defense press release on the "Amber Hope 2011" maneuver