UK Defence Forum

^ HMS Atherstone (M38)

The Hunt class is a class of thirteen mine countermeasure vessels (MCMV) of the Royal Navy. As built, they combined the separate roles of the traditional minesweeper and that of the active minehunter in one hull, but later modifications saw the removal of mine-sweeping equipment. They have a secondary role as offshore patrol vessels.

Upon introduction in the early 1980s they were the largest warships ever built out of glass-reinforced plastic and are the last in operation to use the Napier Deltic diesel engine. All were built by Vosper Thornycroft in Woolston (except Cottesmore and Middleton, which were built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited on the River Clyde). Quorn was the last ship of the class launched.

The capabilities of the remaining eight vessels of the Hunt class have been significantly enhanced by the installation of Sonar Type 2193 and the NAUTIS 3 command system. The performance of Sonar 2193 exceeds that of any other mine hunting sonar in service in the world today and is capable of detecting and classifying an object the size of a football at a distance of up to 1,000 metres. In late 2007 Chiddingfold used the Seafox drone, the Royal Navy's mine disposal system, during Exercise Neptune Warrior off Scotland. Seafox is described by the MOD as a "state of the art fire and forget system, capable of destroying mines in depths of up to 300 metres".

Ship Names

The 'Hunt' class names originate from regional hunting groups within the United Kingdom, such as the Brecon Hunt.


1. HMS Brecon (M29) Commissioned 1980. (Decommissioned 2005. Now a static training ship at HMS Raleigh, Cornwall.)
2. HMS Ledbury (M30) Commissioned 1981.
3. HMS Cattistock (M31) Commissioned 1982.
4. HMS Cottesmore (M32) Commissioned 1983. (Decommissioned 2005. Sold to Lithuania 2008, recommissioned as 'Skalvis' (M53))
5. HMS Brocklesby (M33) Commissioned 1983.
6. HMS Dulverton (M35) Commissioned 1983. (Decommissioned 2004. Sold to Lithuania 2008, recommissioned as 'Kuršis' (M54))
7. HMS Middleton (M34) Commissioned 1984.
8. HMS Chiddingfold (M37) Commissioned 1984.
9. HMS Hurworth (M39) Commissioned 1985.
10. HMS Berkeley (M40) Commissioned 1986. (Decommissioned 2000. Sold to Greece 2001, recommissioned as 'Kallisto' (M36))
11. HMS Atherstone (M38) Commissioned 1987. (Decommissioned 14th December 2017, awaiting fate.)
12. HMS Bicester (M36) Commissioned 1988. (Decommissioned 2000. Sold to Greece 2001, recommissioned as 'Europa' (M62))
13. HMS Quorn (M41) Commissioned 1989. (Decommissioned 14th December 2017, sold to Lithuania 2020, awaiting recommissioning.)


Displacement: 750 t (740 long tons; 830 short tons)
Length: 60 m (196 ft 10 in)
Beam: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Draught: 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Propulsion: 2 shaft Napier Deltic diesel, 3,540 shp
Speed: 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Crew Complement: 45 (6 officers & 39 ratings)
Sensors and processing systems:
Radar Type 1007 I band
Sonar Type 2193
Electronic warfare and decoys:
SeaFox mine disposal system
Diver-placed explosive charges
Armament:
1 × 30mm DS30B
2 × Miniguns
3 × General purpose machine guns

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Jobs Boost as Winfrith Firm Strikes £28m Deal with Royal Navy to Supply Sophisticated Minesweeping Vessels

A DORSET-based marine technology company has landed a contract potentially worth £28 million to equip the Royal Navy with hi-tech minesweeping vessels that will help save lives.

Atlas Elektronik UK Ltd, based at Winfrith, will work with Babcock to supply an Autonomous Minesweeping Capability – unmanned surface vessels (USV) – that detonate mines.

The first phase of the contract awarded to Atlas Elektronik is £13 million. If successful it will be involved in other phases. The whole deal is worth £28 million.

Atlas employs 260 people and more posts will be created with this deal, the latest to be struck by the company.

Two of the unmanned ARCIMS mission systems have already been delivered to an overseas navy. They underwent trials off the Dorset coast.

The system will include autonomous “Sense & Avoid” capability to enable safe operations at sea. They can safely clear sea lanes from mines therefore removing the “man from the minefield”.

The ARCIMS mission system (based on a specially designed 11 metre vessel) can be transported easily. It can be operated from shore with the minimum of support or launched and recovered from an RN Hunt Class Mine Countermeasure Vessel.

The role of Atlas’s key partner Babcock will be to provide the equipment handling, launch and recovery systems, as well as the requisite structural design, platform system integration and support to the operational safety case. Babcock will also provide the operational training package.

The system will be integrated by BAE Systems within its NAUTIS command system.

Read More: http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/12962615.display/

The news on the future MCM is very welcome. The proposed system looks very promising, unmanned and modular which makes the engineer inside me very happy! looks as though the royal navy should maintain its world class standing here.

the Hunts also served operationally in the Gulf and swept for mines after the falklands war. Some of them were converted to Northern ireland Patrol Ships

HMS Atherstone returns to Portsmouth for Christmas after a three year deployment to the gulf. Her most recent crew joined the ship back in the summer.
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defenc ... -1-7127184

Slowing down/ deferring (infinitely?) the refits of Hunts has been put down to
A) no money overall, until the new financial year kicks in in April
B) there will be three casualties in the overall mine hunting fleet, and these facts would point to some Hunts

I emphasise that none of the above , other than the deferral, is factual, but perhaps someone has picked up some snippet?

If the Sandowns do not have the deck space to support USVs and UUVs, I'd keep all 8 Hunts

Repulse wrote:If the Sandowns do not have the deck space to support USVs and UUVs, I'd keep all 8 Hunts

Likewise. They can be a much more flexible platform, as well as a bit more endurance, a much better choice. A good platform for developing unmanned MCM before transitioning to MHCP in the late 20's

IMO if the choice is between Hunt and Sandown, I would keep the Hunt's.

Latest edition of warship world states that it will be 3 Sandowns that will be retired to get to the fleet of 12 MCMs, as new equipment comes online.

Repulse wrote:Latest edition of warship world states that it will be 3 Sandowns that will be retired to get to the fleet of 12 MCMs, as new equipment comes online.

Been waiting for this news, thanks for sharing.

The correct choice in my opinion, the hunts are much more flexible which makes them far better suited as unmanned MCM develops.

It does leave the sandows as a very small fleet though.

wonder could we get the greek and baltic ones back

marktigger wrote:wonder could we get the greek and baltic ones back

The Sandown Class is optimised for deep mine hunting, which the hunts are not, so probably the right choice to keep the mix for now.

True.
The Greek ones are also a long way behind the current RN specification.

wonder could we get the greek and baltic ones back

The Sandown Class is optimised for deep mine hunting, which the hunts are not

On the first one: if we are getting rid of three more, why do we need some back?

On the 2nd; yes, I seem to remember the radar/ sonar can do 2 1/2 times the depth that Hunts are limited to. Weren't the latter originally sweepers? Those ops have officially ended.
-- navy humour: the Hunts were sweepers, but the other class were built as (mine) hunters, to complement the capability offered by the Hunts

the hunts were built as dual role mine hunter/sweeper's.


but if they are the better option for new systems would the Greeks & Lithuanians swop theirs for sandowns and the returning hunts go through the refit process.

............

Today's UK-FR summit included the go ahead for the prototype phase of the unmanned MCM system. The contracts will follow later this year.

Dhabi meeting as British and UAE minehunters train in Gulf

A seafox robot submersible disappears into the waters of the Gulf as two Royal Navy minehunters demonstrate their prowess at hunting ‘what lies below’ with allies in the region.

HMS Middleton and Bangor left their base in Bahrain for the 300-mile hop to Mina Zayed – Abu Dhabi’s main port – to practise alongside comrades from the United Arab Emirates.

Both navies will be taking part in the world’s biggest test of mine warfare forces, International Mine Countermeasures Exercise, later this year, when warships, divers, underwater vehicles and anti-mine helicopters converge on the region to see how they can collectively respond to the threat of underwater explosive devices.

The UK stations four minehunters in Bahrain 24/7: two suited to finding mines in shallow waters (Middleton and her sister Chiddingfold), and two designed for deeper seas (Bangor and Penzance).

Read more: http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-la ... in-in-gulf

Sub hunter meets minehunter

A submarine hunting helicopter from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose has been supporting mine warfare training in the English Channel.

The airborne anti-submarine Merlin from 824 Naval Air Squadron teamed up with its surface counter-part for a series exercises to familiarise HMS Hurworth, a Hunt Class Mine Countermeasures Vessel (MCMV) based at Devonport Naval Base, with aviation procedures and practice winching techniques.

Overall the MCMV Fleet provide state of the art mine warfare expertise to the Royal Navy and its NATO allies, playing a vital part in the worldwide MCMV operations from the Middle East to the North Atlantic.

But before the ship and her crew can deploy, the ships company must be tested. HMS Hurworth is currently undergoing Operational Sea Training (OST) with Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-la ... minehunter

Hunt refits

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/hunt-cl ... fway-mark/

it would be good to refit Brecon and return her to service

New crew join the Cheery Chid in balmy Bahrain

Bahrain-based minehunter HMS Chiddingfold has new owners in the form of Crew 3 from the Hunt-class Mine Countermeasures Squadron.
They’ve flown out from their native Portsmouth to take charge of the ship into early 2017.

https://navynews.co.uk/archive/news/item/15195