The Royal Navy’s state-of-the-art Sandown Class mine hunter HMS Grimsby will visit Liverpool from February 1-4. Berthing alongside the Cruise Liner Terminal at the heart of the city, the 52.7 metre ship will host a number of organised groups during her time in port.
Kicking off with a visit by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service on Friday, the remainder of the weekend will be devoted to a number of group tours for youth organisations.
Unfortunately, the ship is unable to open to the public on this occasion.
Normally based at HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland, HMS Grimsby 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 ships’ 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, Grimsby can also deploy her clearance divers or latest state of the art submersible to deal with mines or suspicious objects.
HMS Grimsby was built by Vosper Thornycroft at their Southampton yard and was launched by Lady Candice Blackham, on 10 August 1998.
She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on September 25 1999. HMS Grimsby is the second Royal Navy ship to bear the name and the first mine hunter to do so.
The small ship spent much of 2012 under the watchful eye of engineers and technicians at Rosyth, where she underwent a £3.9 million overhaul.
She finally returned to the water in October last year and she is in the process of undergoing sea trails before returning to operational Fleet duties.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, January 30, 2013; Image: Royal Navy