HMS Abdiel (N21)

HMS Abdiel was a Royal Navy minelayer that saw service during the Cold War.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Abdiel.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Abdiel (N21)
Ordered: June 1965
Builder: Thornycroft
Laid down: 23 May 1966
Launched: 22 January 1967
Commissioned: 17 October 1967
Decommissioned: 1988
Refit: 1977, 1981
Fate: Scrapped 1988
General characteristics [1]
Displacement:
  • 1375 t standard
  • 1460 t full load
Length: 265 ft (81 m)
Beam: 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draught: 10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 shafts, 2 eighteen-cylinder Paxman Ventura diesels
  • 2,960 bhp (2,210 kW)
Speed: 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement: 98
Sensors and
processing systems:		 Type 978 radar
Armament:

Abdiel was ordered from Thornycroft in June 1965. She was laid down at Thornycroft's Woolston shipyard on 23 May 1966[3] and launched 22 January 1967. She was commissioned on 17 October 1967.[1] Her pennant number was N21.[3]

Minelayer

Abdiel was designated by the Ministry of Defence as an "exercise minelayer" and her official role was to train Royal Navy personnel in minelaying operations using test/dummy naval mines, not to lay offensive mines operationally. She was fully capable of laying offensive mines during wartime.[4]

MCM support ship

Abdiel fulfilled an additional role as a support ship for mine countermeasure vessels. She served in this capacity with the Armilla Patrol from 1987 to 1988. During this deployment, the air conditioning units aboard ship proved insufficient for the climate and additional units had to be dispatched.[5]

Refits
  • 1977
  • 1981

Abdiel was paid off in 1988 and sold for scrapping. After her disposal, the Royal Navy had no dedicated minelaying vessel, although provisions were made for "suitably modified vessels" to undertake the work as required.[6]

Media

Abdiel appears in the Royal Navy instructional film 'Minelaying' (Admiralty catalogue no. A2788) produced in 1976. Classified as restricted at the time of its release, the film is now unrestricted and available on archive DVD collections and the Internet.

References
  1. Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 542.
  2. Couhat and Baker 1986, p. 202
  3. Moore 1985, p. 630.
  4. "Statement on Royal Navy mine-laying capability". House of Commons. Historic Hansard. 22 March 1988. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  5. "Debate on 1987 Defense Estimates". House of Commons. Historic Hansard. 28 October 1987. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  6. "Statement regarding paying off of HMS Abdiel". Written-Answers. Historic Hansard. 29 June 1988. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  • Couhat, Jean Labayle and A.D. Baker. Combat Fleets of the World 1986/87. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1986. ISBN 0-85368-860-5.
  • Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  • Moore, John. Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1985. ISBN 0-7106-0814-4.
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