| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMS Brigham |
| Namesake | Brigham |
| Builder | Berthon Boat Company |
| Launched | 4 December 1953 |
| Completed | 22 December 1953 |
| Fate | Sold 1968 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Ham class minesweeper |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 21 ft 4 in (6.50 m) |
| Draught | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h) |
| Complement | 2 officers, 13 ratings |
| Armament | 1 × Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun or Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
| Notes | Pennant number(s): M2613 / IMS13 |
HMS Brigham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers.
Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Brigham in Cumbria.
The ship's bell is now in St Bridget's Church of England Primary School, Brigham, where it was used as a fire alarm until a more modern fire alarm system was installed.
Brigham was sold to Australian interests in 1968 and renamed MV Brigham. Refitted in Southampton as a prospective ferry she sailed with a crew of ten (via Las Palmas, Monrovia, Cape Town, Durban, Mauritius, and Albany) to Port Lincoln, South Australia, arriving on 24 December 1969 after a 16-week voyage, including a lengthy stop in Cape Town.
Sold in 1970 to the Australian company Southern Concrete, and taken to Adelaide for a full refit. Whilst in Adelaide the company experienced financial difficulties and the vessel had the distinction of being the first vessel in many decades to have a warrant pinned to her mast for non-payment of harbour dues.
Sold to NT fishing company sometime after and last heard of in the late 1970s being used as a prawn trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria.[1]
References
- ↑ "oldships.org.uk". www.oldships.org.uk.
- Blackman, R. V. B. ed. Jane's Fighting Ships (1953)