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History:
HMS Greetham
(IMS34) Launched in 1955 Pennant Number M2632 and
completed in 1955. Built by Herd & Mckenzie and
the parent firm who were responsible for supervising the
constructions was Samuel White of Cowes, Isle of White.
The HMS
Greetham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore
minesweepers, their names were all chosen from villages
ending in -ham. This minesweeper was named after
Greetham, Lincolnshire or Greetham, Rutland.
These inshore minesweepers were built in three slightly
different sub-groups, the first sub-group being
distinguished by pennant numbers beginning with 26- and
the second and third sub-groups being distinguished by
pennant numbers beginning with 27-. The 26- group were
of composite construction (wood and non-ferrous metals
and the 27- group were all-wooden, of which the third
sub-group differed by having a prominent rubbing strake
around the hull and slightly enlarged dimensions.
The vessels displaced 164 tons fully laden and were
armed with one 40 mm Bofors or 20 mm Oerlikon gun. They
were 32.5 metres long overall by 6.4 metres beam. The
construction was of wood to minimise magnetic signature.
The crew complement was 15, rising to 22 in wartime.
The engines of this class were Paxman diesels, some of
which were built under licence by Ruston and Hornsby of
Lincoln. Each vessel had: two 12YHAXM (intercooled) for
main propulsion, rated 550 bhp at 1,000 rpm, plus one
12YHAZ for pulse generation. Maximum speed was 14 knots
(26 km/h) dropping to 9 knots (17 km/h) when mine
sweeping. |
