Sandown Class
Hms Grimsby
Hms Grimsby (M108) is the eighth of twelve
Sandown Class Single Role Mine hunter.
The first vessel was commissioned into Royal Navy service on 9 June 1989
and all the British ships are named after coastal towns and cities.
These small (53 m) fibreglass vessels are single
role mine hunters (SRMH) rather than minesweepers. Twelve ships were built for
the Royal Navy and three ships were exported to Saudi Arabia. Three Royal Navy
vessels were decommissioned following the Strategic Defence Review in 2003; Sandown (January 2005), Inverness
(April 2005) and Bridport (July
2004). A further ship, Cromer,
was decommissioned and transferred to a training role at the Britannia Royal
Naval College
in Dartmouth in
2001 as Hindostan.
The three decommissioned vessels were sold to Estonia in September 2006. They were re-equipped with TCS (Tactical Control System) and the Atlas Elektronik Seafox ROV for mine disposal. The sonar system will be also be updated. The first ship (ex Sandown), delivered in 2007, has been named Admiral Cowan, the second (ex-Inverness), was delivered in 2008 and named Sakala and the last (ex-Bridport) named Ugandi in 2009.
Hms Grimsby is seen here outboard of Hms Pembroke and fwd of Hms Echo..
