HMS Cardinham (M2615)

HMS Cardinham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers. Her name is commonly misspelled as Cardingham, but she was named after the village of Cardinham in Cornwall. Her cap tally and lifebelts displayed the name Cardinham.

History
Name: HMS Cardinham
Namesake: Cardinham
Builder: Herd & McKenzie
Launched: 24 June 1952
Completed: 17 July 1953
Fate: Sold for breaking, 1967
General characteristics
Class and type: Ham class minesweeper
Type: Minesweeper
Displacement:
  • 120 long tons (122 t) standard
  • 164 long tons (167 t) full load
Length:
  • 100 ft (30 m) p/p
  • 106 ft 6 in (32.46 m) o/a
Beam: 21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)
Draught: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 shaft Paxman 12YHAXM diesels
  • 1,100 bhp (820 kW)
Speed: 14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement: 2 officers, 13 ratings
Armament: 1 × Bofors 40 mm gun or Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Notes: Pennant number(s): M2615 / IMS15

Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Cardinham.

Career

Cardinham was one of the flotilla sent to Malta for the Suez campaign. Crossing the English Channel took several attempts until the weather eased. An earlier crossing by small ships led to some having the front of their chartrooms stove in, flooding the forepart and unfortunate descents.

Malta was reached without incident. However, when the Commodore chose Cardinham to evaluate the capability of streaming sweeps in moderately rough conditions, it was decided that the sweepers were too small actually to go to Suez, which was much regretted. They were intended to clear the canal before heavy ships cleared the area.

Anticipation was aroused when boxes containing 'anti-tank weapons' arrived. Investigation revealed them to be bren guns.

The cancellation was disappointing and the aggression build-up was relieved, somewhat unfortunately, when a visit was made to Messina. Return was to Gareloch and paying-off.

Cardinham, and a sister ship Etchingham, were in service with the Hong Kong Royal Naval Reserve in the 1960s, until the unit was disbanded on 31 March 1967. Reservists were trained in minesweeping techniques using both sweeps and the electromagnetic loop.

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References
    • Blackman, R.V.B. ed. Jane's Fighting Ships (1953)


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