HMS Albury

HMS Albury was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and survived the Second World War to be sold for scrap in 1947.

Albury in December 1942
History
United Kingdom
Builder: Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon
Launched: 21 November 1918
Commissioned: 17 February 1919
Fate: Sold 13 March 1947 for scrap Dohmen & Habets, Liege
Notes: Pennant number: J41
General characteristics
Class and type: Hunt-class minesweeper, Aberdare sub-class
Displacement: 800 long tons (813 t)
Length: 213 ft (65 m) o/a
Beam: 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m)
Draught: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range: 1,500 nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement: 74
Armament:

Design and description

The Aberdare sub-class were enlarged versions of the original Hunt-class ships with a more powerful armament. The ships displaced 800 long tons (810 t) at normal load. They measured 231 feet (70.4 m) long overall with a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.1 m). They had a draught of 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m). The ships' complement consisted of 74 officers and ratings.[1]

The ships had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Yarrow boilers. The engines produced a total of 2,200 indicated horsepower (1,600 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). They carried a maximum of 185 long tons (188 t) of coal[1] which gave them a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2]

The Aberdare sub-class was armed with a quick-firing (QF) four-inch (102 mm) gun forward of the bridge and a QF twelve-pounder (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun aft.[1] Some ships were fitted with six- or three-pounder guns in lieu of the twelve-pounder.[2] Albury was fitted with a single six-pounder gun in 1931,[3] but by 1939 was listed as having an armament of 1 × 4 inch and 1 × 12-pounder gun.[4]

Construction and career

HMS Albury was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company at their shipyard in Troon, Ayrshire. She was launched on 21 November 1918,[5] and commissioned on 17 February 1919.[6][7] On 21 November 1919, Albury was laid up in reserve at the Nore.[8]

Albury served in the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla in Home waters from 1927 to 1935.[9] In 1939 Albury was in reserve at Malta, part of the 3rd Minesweeper Flotilla.[10][11] On 3 March 1940, Albury was one of five minesweepers ordered back to British waters from the Mediterranean, joining the 5th Minesweeping Flotilla at Harwich on 2 April 1940.[12][13][14] She took part in the Dunkirk evacuation, Operation Dynamo, from 28 May–4 June 1940, carrying out six evacuation trips and landing 1851 evacuees back in Britain.[15] By June 1941, Albury was part of the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla.[16] On 7 November that year, she was attacked by German bombers off the East coast of Scotland. She was near missed by German bombs, which caused minor machinery damage, which took five weeks to repair.[17][18]

On 19 January 1942 Albury was involved in a collision with HMS Sutton, another Hunt-class minesweeper, and took serious damage.[19] On 6 June 1944, Albury, still part of the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla, took part in Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.[10]

From January 1945, Albury was laid up as part of the Reserve Fleet at Falmouth, and on 13 March 1947 was sold to Dohman & Habets of Liége, Belgium for Mercantile conversion.[20]

Pennant numbers
Pennant Number Date
T9/January 1919[5]
G64November 1919[5]
N411939[21]
J411940[21]

See also
  • Albury is the name of a number of places in England

Notes
  1. Gardiner & Gray, p. 98
  2. Cocker, p. 76
  3. Parkes, p. 80.
  4. "Albury. (Ch.)". The Navy List. February 1939. p. 215.
  5. Dittmar & Colledge, p. 112.
  6. Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Albury (J 41): Minesweeper of the Hunt Class". uboat.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  7. Worth p. 7
  8. "23a Albury (Ch.)". The Navy List. December 1920. p. 724.
  9. Watson, Graham. "Between the Wars: Royal Navy Organisation and Ship Deployments 1919–1939". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  10. "NMM, vessel ID 379655" (PDF). Warship Histories, Vol V. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  11. "VI.—Mediterranean". The Navy List. February 1939. p. 206.
  12. Kindell, Don. "Royal Navy Ships, September 1939". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  13. Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, April 1940 (Part 1 of 4): Monday 1st – Sunday 7th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. Watson, Graham. "Organisation of the Royal Navy 1939–1945". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  15. Winser, pp. 16, 81.
  16. Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, June 1941 (Part 1 of 2): Sunday 1st – Saturday 14th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  17. Kindell, Don. "Naval Events, November 1941 (Part 1 of 2): Saturday 1st – Friday 14th". British and Other Navies in World War 2 Day-by-Day. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  18. H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action p. 302.
  19. Mason, Geoffrey B. "HMS Sutton (N 78) - Old Hunt-class Minesweeper". Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  20. Worth p. 8.
  21. Lenton & Colledge pp. 193, 199.

References
  • Cocker, M. P. (1993). Mine Warfare Vessels of the Royal Navy: 1908 to Date. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-328-4.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Dittmar, F.J. & Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action: 3rd. SEPT. 1939 to 2nd. SEPT. 1945 (PDF). Admiralty. 1952. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  • Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J. (1973). Warships of World War II (Second ed.). London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0403-X.
  • Parkes, Oscar (1973) [First published 1931 by Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd: London]. Jane's Fighting Ships 1931. Newton Abbot, UK: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5849-9.
  • Winser, John de S. (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6.
  • Worth, Jack (1992). British Warships Since 1945: Part 4: Minesweepers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 0-907771-12-2.
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