HMS Shoreham to Visit Sussex,UK

The Royal Navy Sandown class mine countermeasure vessel has been affiliated with the town since 1998. Since then many local people have enjoyed meeting the ship’s company and seeing her come into harbour.

But, it was only back in March this year, during her last visit that she was honoured to be awarded the Freedom by Adur District Council.

At the start of this weekend visit, the ship will play host to invited guests on Friday evening for a capability demonstration and reception on board, while on Saturday various local groups and organisations, including the Worthing Sea Cadets, will have the opportunity to go on board for organised tours.

But it is Sunday which brings with it the high point for the ship’s company, when they march through the streets of Shoreham.

Over the years a strong friendship with Adur District Council has developed and it is from the council’s office in Ham Road that the freedom parade will begin.

After the march, which begins at 1.45pm and takes the 40-strong ship’s company through the town with bayonets fixed, colours flying and drums beating, the day will culminate with an official reception at Sussex Yacht Club.

• HMS Shoreham arrives in Shoreham on November 25 at approximately 9am

• The ship’s company will be honoured to exercise the Freedom of Shoreham-by-Sea in Adur District on Sunday (November 27)

• Various local groups will visit the ship

Commanding Officer of HMS Shoreham, Lieutenant Commander, Sarah West, said:

“To be honest, we are all feeling rather fortunate about this visit.

“All ships in the Royal Navy have civic affiliations and it is always a high point to be able to visit these special twinned towns or areas which give us so much support and focus.

“But, for most ships, this might come around once a year if they’re lucky.

“So, for us to be able to visit Shoreham twice in the same year is very unusual and something we are absolutely delighted about.

“It’s just come about as the result of some coincidental operational programming, but we’re all rather pleased about it.

“Obviously we’re honoured to be able to take to the streets of Shoreham on Sunday to exercise our freedom of the town, but we are also looking forward to welcoming the various visiting groups on board the ship.

“We hope this gives them a better view of our state-of-the-art ship and just a glimpse into life in the modern Royal Navy and the experiences it has to offer.”

Adur Council Leader Neil Parkin said:

“I look forward to welcoming the crew from HMS Shoreham to our area once more.”

Normally based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, HMS Shoreham is one of seven Sandown class mine hunters – five of the class make their ‘home’ at the Scottish base, while two others are on permanent deployment in the Gulf, with the ship’s crews rotating during each deployment.

Built of glass reinforced plastic, the design ensures that the ship is extremely quiet and has a very low magnetic signature, essential when operating in a minefield.

Equipped with the latest precise navigation and manoeuvring systems, which allow it to “hover” over a fixed point and search for mines with a variable depth sonar to depths in excess of 200 metres of water, Shoreham can also deploy her clearance divers or latest state of the art submersible to deal with mines or suspicious objects.

She was launched by Lady Perowne on 9th April 2001 and was formally accepted into service on the 28th November 2001.

She is the fifth vessel to carry the name. The crew are very proud of her three battle honours from World War II, Sicily and the Mediterranean in 1943 and Burma in 1944-5.

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Naval Today Staff , November 22, 2011; Image: royalnavy