Although Chawton is not on the coast, we have a little bit of naval history via HMS Chawton, which was a "Ton Class" (Wood) minesweeper / minehunter.
HMS Chawton was built between the 29th of November 1955 and the 23rd July 1958 by Fleetlands Shipyard, Gosport.
The ship was commissioned on the 9th of October 1958 For 104th MSS, based in Malta and operated for 15 years until it was decommissioned on the 28 February 1975 and disposed of on the 24 Jun 1977 at Tees Marine service, Middlesborough.
The vessel had a displacement of 440 tons (full load) measured 153' long and 27.7 beam. It was powered by twin diesel powered screws and could reach 15 knots. The compliment was 29-38 made up of 5 officers and ratings.
The outline history of the vessel is :
- 30 Oct 58 Arrived Malta. Joined 104th MSS
- 1958-59 3 periods Cyprus Patrol
- 21 Oct 59 Deployed to Far East with WOODBRIDGE HAVEN Group
- 30 Nov 59 Arrived Singapore
- 1961-62 Exercises and Visits. Anti-piracy Patrols.
- 1963 North Borneo river patrols.
- 964-65 Sarawak and Singapore Straits Patrols
- Sep 65 Paid off and recommissioned as SO 9th MSS
- Oct 65 Passage to Bahrain
- 1966-67 Gulf and Straits of Oman Patrols. Exercises
- May 67 Passage to Gibraltar for Refit
- Dec 67 Passage to Bahrain round Africa
- 1968-69 9th MSS based Bahrain
- Mar 69 Passage to Gibraltar for refit then Reserve.
- Nov 71 Recommissioned to replace BELTON in FPS.
During the ships service, it had a number of significant Events
- 8 – 22 Dec 62 Supported Limbang Raid. Two seamen wounded.
- 9 Mar 72 Boarded French FV 'SHETLAND' in Channel after Hot Pursuit
- 10 Oct 74 Boarded 2000 ton Bulgarian Trawler 'AURELIA' night fishing
With thanks to the Chris Hukins and Bob Dean of the Ton Class Association for their contribution. More information can be found at their's web site www.tca2000.co.uk and larger pictures can be found in our gallery.
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