HMS Arlingham (M2603)

History
Name:	HMS Arlingham
Namesake:	Arlingham
Builder:	Camper and Nicholsons
Launched:	1 April 1953
Completed:	24 November 1953
Decommissioned:	3 September 1953
Fate:	Sold to Gibraltar Underwater Contractors 19 September 1978[1]
General characteristics
Class and type:	Ham class minesweeper
Type:	Minesweeper
Displacement:	120 long tons (122 t) standard 164 long tons (167 t) full load
Length:	100 ft (30 m) p/p 106 ft 6 in (32.46 m) o/a
Beam:	21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)
Draught:	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Paxman 12YHAXM diesels 1,100 bhp (820 kW)
Speed:	14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement:	2 officers, 13 ratings
Armament:	1 × Bofors 40 mm gun or Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Notes:	Pennant number(s): M2603 / IMS03

HMS Arlingham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers.

The names of these ships were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. This minesweeper was named after Arlingham in Gloucestershire.

In 1969, HMS Arlingham was rammed by a Spanish Customs launch near Gibraltar, which was later the subject of a formal complaint.

Further reading

• Blackman, Raymond V.B., ed. Jane's Fighting Ships 1952–1953. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953.

References