NAVY NEWS. NOVEMBER 1996 5 Options
No 492
Ships of the Roval Naw
Clean sweep for Bridport
A BUSY summer tour of the United States and Canada gave HMS Bridport the chance to prove herself and her class under close scrutiny.
The fifth of the revolutionary Sandown-class single-role minehunters took part in the huge USUK amphibious Exercise Purple Star - and Bridport found more mines than any other ship. The Atlantic crossing, with sister ship HMS Cromer and Huntclass vessels HM Ships Berkeley and Chiddingfold, was the first by Mine Countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) in ten years, and the first by the Sundown class. Bridport herself steamed some 10.000 miles in the course of tour months, calling at nine ports including Bermuda, Norfolk (Virginia), Washington DC, Boston. Halifax and St John's (Newfoundland). At Washington and Halifax representatives of the Pentagon and Canada's Defence Chiefs saw impressive high-profile demonstrations of Bridport's capabilities. For a nation dependent on maritime trade and naval power, the threat of mines is a serious one, and the British have invariably led the rest of the world in countering this threat. British expertise has proved invaluable in recent conflicts such as the Gulf, and with the exacting training provided by the tricky oceanography of the West Coast of Scotland - Bridport is part of the all-Sandown Third MCM Squadron based at Faslane - these small ships are ready for the biggest of challenges. A primary role of the Third MCM Squadron in time of war would be to protect the approaches to the Clyde Estuary, allowing free passage for British nuclear submarines. But Bridport and her sisters are still rolling back the frontiers of mine countermeasures technology - they can navigate to an accuracy of one metre, detect by sonar to a depth of 200m, and are manned by personnel who are very experienced in dealing with mines; a for-
midable combination. The 485-tonne vessel was built at Southampton by Vosper Thornycroft using a modular process, and was launched on July 30, 1992, by Lady Deborah Hill. The Navy accepted her on June 15 the following year. Older MCMVs swept mines by towing wires which either cut the moorings of floating mines or simulated the acoustic signature of a passing ship, causing detonation. But with advances in sonar, the ability to hunt mines ahead of the ship - a far safer prospect -became possible, and Sandown-class ships are generally acknowledged to be the best in the world. With sophisticated "intelligent" mines produced relatively cheaply, minehunters must now use elements of cutting-edge technology to stay ahead of the dangers. The first is her construction, almost entirely using non-magnetic materials, including a glass-reinforced plastic hull.
Hover In addition, she has five systems which set her apart from anything else on the seas. Her Ship's Position and Control System, on the bridge, gives precise control, allowing the Bridport to "hover" in a given spot or to accurately follow a set of waypoints using inputs from giro compasses, navigation equipment and the correlation electromagnetic log. Bridport can be driven from the bridge wings, hangar roof or Ops Room using a portable joystick. The propulsion system makes Sandowns the world's most manoeuvrable warships. Two 475kW Paxman Valenta diesels are used during normal running, but when minehunting vibration and noise is reduced by using two lOOkW electric "slow speed drive" motors. The motors drive two VoithSchneider cycloidal propulsor units - carousels of five adjustable vertical blades. By changing the angles, thrust can be applied in any direction, doing away with the need for a conventional rudder. Used in conjunction with the
• HMS Bridport conducting Replenishment at Sea with RFA OIna during her passage to the USA earlier this year. The ship's bow thruster tubes are clearly visible as she ploughs through the Atlantic swell. Schottel bow-thrusters, the ship colour and monochrome cameras mounts a 30mm close-range gun, Next year starts with an MCM3 can spin on the spot. to classify the contact. It also car- light machine guns, and she is Squadron exercise, followed by a Sonar 2093 is the first of ries a disposal charge, a cable cutequipped with 1007 navigation period in the Baltic. Bridport's minehunting systems - a ter or a manipulator arm. radar and a 780 echo sounder. sophisticated variable-depth sonar To order postcards of the But clearance divers are still Having returned to Faslane, capable of simultaneous search vital, providing another option Bridport will enter a maintenance 'Ships of the Royal Navy' and classification of contacts at when dealing with mines, and for period, and there is a planned visit series please see the great depth and long range. gathering information. by some of the ship's company to advertisement on page 14 Nautis M - Naval Autonomous For defensive purposes Bridport Bridport for Remembrance Day. Tactical Information System - links other elements and gives the command an overall picture of the tactical situation. Graphic displays of information are displayed on the bridge and in the Ops Room. RCMDS 2 is the Remote Controlled Mine Disposal System an unmanned submersible controlled from the Ops Room by the hen vehicles are part exchanged, 'the trade' work on minehunting director. The subthe principle that "There's only so much in a deal" - a mersible has its own sonar and good new car discount means less money for your old one and vice versa. Fortunately, with Natocars you get no vice and plenty of versa! We take any car and our straight dealing gives you the choice of over 1000 models from eleven makes, with our Countermeasures: MCM: EGA disposal system, discounted prices published 'up front' in our comprehensive buying guide. We then offer the best trade-in price based on two PAP 104 Mk5 (Remote Control Mine Disposal tax paid market values. And, if you purchased your car tax System 2) - these craft can carry two mine wire free and have fulfilled the qualifying period, you will not have cutters, a charge of 100kg and a manipulator with to pay VAT when selling to Natocars. TV/projector. Craft can dive to 300m at 6 knots Also, with Natocars, you can part exchange now and have the with endurance of 5x20min sessions. Decoys: money, having left a deposit against a future car purchase. Outfit DLK; 2 Barricade (fitted for deployment) We'll even collect if you are away! Combat data systems: Plessey Nautis M action You have the option of a lower monthly payment finance plan data automation with credit protection, an extra discount on your insurance Radars: Navigation: Kelvin Hughes Type 1007; Ipremium, the possibility of instant maximum no claims bonus, plus the choice of special concessions for Le Shuttle, ferry band travel or doorstep delivery. Sonars: Marconi Type 2093; VDS; VLF-VHF multifunction with five arrays; mine search and classification Affiliations: Bridport (Dorset), Bridport Royal Send or fax the form for a 'no obligation' estimate for your present car and receive your free copy of Natocars' Guide to Car Buying or our used car list, plus car brochures of your choice. Naval Association, Bridport Sea Cadet Corps (TS Keppel) and Leith Academy, Scotland
If You're Buying Don't Sel W
Facts and figures Pennant number: M105 Builder: Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston Launched: July 30, 1992 Commissioned: November 6, 1993 Displacement: 485 tonnes standard Length: 52.5 metres Beam: 10.5 metres Draught: 2.3 metres Ship's company: 34 (five officers) + six spare berths Main machinery: Two Paxman Valenta 6RP200E diesels, Voith-Schneider propulsion, two Schottel bow thrusters Speed: 30 knots diesel, 6.5 knots electric drive Range: 3,000 miles at 12 knots. Guns: One BMARC 30mm close-range gun, light machine guns
...Until You Send In The Form K^NATOCARS
Two shades of blue for original minesweeper
• A painting of the first HMS Bridport, a wartime minesweeper which served in Scotland, East Anglia and the English Channel.
THE PRESENT HMS Bridport is the second ship to bear the name, and the first was also involved in mine clearance. A Fleet minesweeper of the Bangor class, the first Bridport was laid down in Dumbarton in September, 1939, and completed in December, 1940. She swept for mines at Scapa Flow, Harwich and Portsmouth, and gained battle honours at Dieppe in 1942 and Normandy in 1944. In 1945 she was decommissioned by the Navy, but taken up by the RAF in 1946 as HMRAFV Bridport until 1958, when she was broken up in Plymouth.
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