HUNT-Class Minesweeping Sloop
ordered in 1918 from Fairfield's at Govan and launched on on December 1918 and completed during 1919. After service
in the Mediterranean she was put in Reserve at Alexandria. Before the outbreak
of war this ship was brought forward for service off Palestine to intercept
ships carrying illegal immigrants. She was adopted by the civil community of Hailsham, East Sussex
following a successful WARSHIP WEEK campaign for National Savings in March 1942. The original name selected
was LYDNEY but it was never used after acceptance into service.
B a t t le
H o n o u r s
DUNKIRK 1940 - NORTH SEA 1940-43 - NORMANDY 1944
H e
r a l d i c D a t a
None is recorded in the Official List
D e t a i l s o f W a r
S e r v i c e
(for more ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and type name in Site Search
1 9 3 9
September
3rd Prepared for use as a minesweeper at Alexandria.
Minesweeping
equipment replaced.
On completion joined HM
Minesweepers ROSS, PANGBOURNE, ALBURY, FERMOY,
SALTASH and SUTTON in 3rd Minesweeping
Flotilla at Port Said.
October
Deployed in eastern Mediterranean for patrol and contraband searches.
to (Note: Suez Canal Traffic was amongst ships
searched' by Flotilla).
December
1 9 4 0
January
Transferred with other ships of
3rd Flotilla to Home waters.
(Note: Extensive minelaying, especially on east coast was
disrupting the passage of convoys
and additional minesweepers were required. See Naval
Staff History).
February Passage to join 5th
Minesweeping Flotilla at Harwich.
(Note: HMS FERMOY remained in the Mediterranean based at
Malta).
March
On arrival transferred to Rosyth as part of 5th Flotilla.
April Deployed at Rosyth with H M
Minesweepers ALBURY,
PANGBOURNE, ROSS
and SALTASH for clearance of mines from East Coast convoy
route.
May East coast duties in
continuation.
Pennant Number for visual signalling purposes
was changed from N44 to J44.
26th Diverted from minesweeping with HM
Minesweepers PANGBOURNE, ROSS,
ALBURY, LEDA and
GOSSAMER to assist in evacuation operations
at Dunkirk
(Operation
DYNAMO - See Naval Staff History & NINE DAYS AT DUNKIRK
by A Divine).
28th Took passage
from Harwich to Dunkirk with ships of 4th and 5th Flotillas.
Embarked troops
from Mole at Dunkirk and took passage to UK.
29th Evacuation operations in
continuation.
Assisted rescue of survivors from HM Destroyer
WAKEFUL sunk after hit
by an E-Boat torpedo and carrying 600 troops.
HM Destroyer
GRAFTON, HMS GOSSAMER, H M Drifter NAUTILUS
and HM Danlayer
COMFORT also took part..
During this
rescue these ships were
attacked by U62 which torpedoed and sank
HMS GRAFTON.
In the ensuing confusion ship opened fire on
a moving target assumed to be U62
which was in fact HMS COMFORT.
The Danlayer
was the rammed and sank.
30th Carried out
further trips to beaches.
31st Sailed from
Margate for La Panne to continue evacuation.
June
1st Final passage for evacuation
(Note: In all made six trips to
beaches and subject to sustained air attacks).
5th Resumed Flotilla duties in Nore
Command with HM Minesweepers GOSSAMER, KELLETT,
ROSS, SALTASH
and PANGBOURNE for minesweeping in Dowsing area east
of the Wash.
(Note: This was part of a British
operation to close gap in the East Coast
Mine Barrier to ensure convoy route was clear of any
mines).
July Nore Command
deployment in southern North Sea in continuation.
to
September
October Transferred with Flotilla
to Rosyth for minesweeping in northern North Sea convoy route.
November
Rosyth deployment in continuation.
December Transferred
with HMS PANGBOURNE to 4th Minesweeping Flotilla.
(Note: The other ships of 5th Flotilla were deployed in NW
approaches)
1 9 4 1
January
East coast duties with 4th Flotilla in continuation.
to (Note: 5th Flotilla was disbanded in April
and its ships then also joined
October 4th
Flotilla).
November Transferred
with 4th Flotilla to NW Approaches to clear channel through the British Northern
Mine Barrage
between Faeroes and Iceland.
December NW
Approaches duty with Flotilla in continuation.
1 9 4 2
January On completion resumed
minesweeping in North Sea based at Yarmouth.
February East coast convoy Channel
clearance in continuation with Flotilla.
to
July
August Transferred with
Flotilla to Plymouth command for operations in the SW Approaches.
September Deployed with
Flotilla based
at Milford for duty in St George's Channel.
to (Note: Existing
British minefield was to be cleared prior to new minelay off the Irish coast
December by HM Cruiser Minelayer ADVENTURE).
1 9 4 3
January
SW Approaches minesweeping with
Flotilla in continuation.
to
September
October Sustained damage in
collision with tug.
Taken in hand for repair at Port Talbot.
November On
completion rejoined Flotilla at Milford Haven.
December Deployed in SW Approaches
and Irish Sea
1 9 4 4
January Deployed in Channel and SW
Aproaches based at Plymouth.
to
February
March Transferred to
Portsmouth Command for minesweeping in Solent area in preparation
for planned landings in Normandy
(Operation
NEPTUNE - For details of naval activities prior to and during landings see
OPERATION
NEPTUNE by K Edwards, Naval Staff History and D-DAY SHIPS by
J de Winser) .
April Channel
minesweeping in continuation.
to Took part in
exercises by Assault Forces prior to landings.
May (Exercise FABIUS
and Exercise TIGER)
(Note: Flotilla were allocated specifically to the clearance
of Channel 4 which was to be
used by the US assault convoys to the OMAHA
Beaches.
See THEY LED THE WAY by J Williams and above references for details.
June Channel 4
minesweeping in continuation.
5th Passage through Channel 4 in
front of Assault convoys to OMAHA Beach Head.
6th Flotilla deployment in
continuation to clear the area selected for major warships during
support
bombardment.
On completion carried out
sweeping operations to merge Channels 4 & 3
to assist in free
transit of
Follow-Up phase convoys.
7th Returned to Portsmouth.
8th Deployed in Portsmouth Command to
ensure safe passage of convoys to Beach Head
areas.
July Resumed duties in
Plymouth Command with Flotilla.
August Remained at Devonport
for repair by HM Dockyard.
September Awaiting repair which was
delayed by higher priority work.
to
December
1 9 4 5
January Repair work was not
completed and ship was Paid-off.
to
March
April Reduced to Reserve
status at Milford Haven.
May Laid up at
Milford Haven.
to
August
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS LYDD
was placed on the Disposal List after VJ Day and sold on 13th March 1947 to a
Belgian shipping company, Dohmen and Habets of Liege, for use as a mercantile. Six other HUNT Class
Minesweepers were sold at
the same time.