HMS Neasham (M2712)
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | MS Neasham |
| Namesake: | Neasham |
| Builder: | J. Samuel White |
| Launched: | 14 March 1956 |
| Completed: | 15 November 1957 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Australia 1968 |
| Notes: | Pennant number(s): M2712 / IMS49 |
| Career (Australia) |  |
| Name: | HMAS Porpoise |
| Acquired: | 1968 |
| Fate: | Sold 1989 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ham-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 120 tons standard 164 tons full |
| Length: | 106 ft 6 in (32.46 m) |
| Beam: | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Draught: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft Paxman 12YHAXM diesels, 1,100 bhp (820 kW) |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 2 officers, 13 ratings |
| Armament: | 1 × 40 mm Bofors / 20 mm Oerlikon gun |
HMS Neasham (M2712/IMS49) was a Ham-class minesweeper for the Royal Navy. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Neasham in County Durham.
Despite being completed on 15 November 1957, Neasham was held in operational reserve in a land cradle at Rosneath on the Clyde until 1967. She was then transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, arriving in Sydney as deck cargo on the merchant ship Gladstone Star on 29 July 1968.[1] After a period at the RAN base at Garden Island, she was converted into a diving tender and renamed HMAS Porpoise (DTV 1002/Y.280) on 13 June 1973.
Porpoise was sold in 1989.
References
- Blackman, R.V.B. ed. Jane's Fighting Ships (1953)
