PORTSMOUTH SHIPYARD for RENT

WELL I ALMOST FELL OF MY HORSE WHEN THIS ONE DROPPED INTO MY EMAIL INBOX

Looks like the MOD are looking for someone with a good business plan and perhaps some forward orders to complete, to take over the running of this famous old shipyard, with a history going back in the building of ships almost as far back as the shipyards of Leith, with a highly skilled workforce lets hope that someone can come in and keep the men working.

You can find out all about it at the following website

www.shipyardportsmouth.co.uk

The Royal Navy Since 1815 Eric Grove provides a short history of the Royal Navy over the last two hundred years, synthesizing the new work on the subject that has radically transformed our understanding of the story of British naval development.

H.M.S. CARDIGAN BAY

H.M.S. CARDIGAN BAY

Ship No 348



Twin screw “Bay Class” Frigate.

H.M.S. Cardigan Bay was the first of three Bay Class Frigates ordered from the Henry Robb yard.

She was built by Henry Robb of Leith in 1943 and was to be named HMS Loch Laxford but due to a policy change and a need for anti-aircraft escorts for service in the Far East the contract was changed and the design was changed to that of a “Bay” Class Anti-aircraft frigate and laid down on the 14th of April 1944 as Ship No 348. She was launched on 28th December 1944 as HMS Cardigan Bay, the first ship to carry the name. Her build was completed on 15th June 1945.
She was commissioned in June 1945 and was to serve in the Pacific War Zone but with the declaration of VJ Day on 15 August her Far East Service was deferred.

She served in the Mediterranean including surveillance in the Corfu Channel in 1946 after the mining of HM Ships Saumarez and Volage by Albania. She undertook patrols in the Adriatic and Red Sea intercepting ships attempting to transport illegal Jewish immigrants to Palestine.
In 1949 she transferred to the Far East and served on patrols and bombardments during the Malayan Emergency, Yangste Estuary and Formosa Strait.

She completed five operational tours during the Korean War 1950-1953, where she gained a Battle Honour

She entered the Reserve and in March 1962 was towed to the West of Scotland (Troon) ship breaking where, by early September her destruction was completed.



Cardigan Bay was an unassuming small warship, a workhorse of escort groups, designed and built for the Second War. She was one of a numerous class, none of whose names became famous or even well–known in history.

H.M.S.CARDIGAN BAY

Bay Class Frigate


Was a modified Loch Class to convert to Anti-aircraft. They carried heavier Anti-aircraft weaponry and radar director. Still carried a hedgehog and depth charges but primary role was now Anti-aircraft, intended to give support to the D Day landings and for the Pacific theatre, where the main threat was from air attack. Use of pre-fabrication and the ability to use a common hull for different variants were features that ensured much of the Bay and Loch classes would influence post war Escort design. The excellent sea-keeping qualities of the hulls were ably demonstrated on several occasions when ships of the class rode out Typhoons which were a common hazard in the Far East.

By the mid 1950 the usefulness against modern aircraft was in decline.

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H.M.S. LOCH INSH

H.M.S.LOCH INSH

Ship No 346



Twin screw “Loch Class” Frigate.

Second of the Loch Class to be built at the Leith yard, of Henry Robb Ltd.

LOCH-Class Twin Screw Frigate ordered from Henry Robb, Leith on 25th January 1943 and laid down as Ship No 346 in November 1943. The ship was launched on 10th May 1944 as the 1st RN ship to carry the name. Her build was completed on 20th October 1944. The ship was ‘adopted’ by the civil community of Northampton after entering service.
HMS LOCH INCH while on the Russian Convoy duty (Convoy RA66)

sank U307 using SHARK projectiles and SQUID in the attacks.

She rescued 14 survivors from the destroyed U-Boat.

She served world wide with the Royal Navy for 18 years after the end of World War 2
HMS LOCH INSH was placed on the Disposal List and sold to the Royal Malayan Navy in 1963. After a very extensive refit at Portsmouth which included change’s to the aft superstructure and the provision of Helicopter landing facilities, the ship was renamed HANG TUAH. She sailed for Malaya on 12th November 1964 and served as the Flagship of the Royal Malaysian Navy until 1971 when she was used as a training ship until withdrawn from service 6 years later.
H.M.S. Loch Inch had a working life of more than 30 years.

H.M.S. LOCH INSH

“Loch Class” Frigates.

The ships of the Loch class of A/S frigates represent the final product of wartime design of frigates.

They were designed to be mass produced in sections at dispersed sites and transported to an assembly point at a slipway.

Welding and riveting were used to speed production of the unit construction techniques and it took fewer men to produce a ship of this class.

With a single 4 in gun on the foc’sle for surface action, the main weapons were beyond doubt the twin squid anti-submarine mortars, along with the high mounted rapid firing twin 20mm guns for anti-personnel work.

To speed construction curved structures were eliminated in the design making the lofting a little bit more simple and a noticeable result of this was that the deck sheer was reduced to three straight lines, from stern to bow.

Battle of the Atlantic World War II was only a few hours old when the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest campaign of the Second World War and the most complex submarine war in history, began with the sinking of the unarmed passenger liner Athenia by the German submarine U30. Based on the mastery of the latest research and written from a mid-Atlantic - rather than the traditional Anglo-centric - perspective, Marc Milner focuses on the confrontation between opposing forces and the attacks on Allied shipping that lay at the heart of the six-year struggle. Against the backdrop of the battle for the Atlantic lifeline he charts the fascinating development of U-boats and the techniques used by the Allies to suppress and destroy these stealth weapons.

H.M.S. LOCH ACHANALT

As H.M.N.Z.S.PUKAKI

Ship No 342


Twin screw “Loch Class” Frigate.


She was a LOCH-Class Frigate originally ordered on 24th July 1942 to be built as a RIVER-Class Frigate to be named NAVER. The order changed for a Twin Screw Fast Frigate during 1943 and she was laid down on 14th September 1943 Launched on 23rd March 1944 and build was completed on 11th August 1944. She was loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy (H.M.C.S.LOCH ACHANALT) for Atlantic convoy duty and while working in tandem with H.M.S.Annan she was credited with the sinking of U-1006.

H.M.S. LOCH ACHANALT

H.M.S. Loch Achanalt was returned to the Royal Navy and was sold to New Zealand in 1947 and renamed. 
HMNZS PUKAKI.

Being one of six frigates purchased from the Royal Navy in 1947 by the Royal New Zealand Navy, designated the 11th Flotilla. The six ships were modernised in the United Kingdom, before sailing to New Zealand in groups between 1948 and 1949. Most of the ship's time in the Royal New Zealand Navy was spent in various combinations of training and exercise duties, and as part of the New Zealand commitment to support British interest in the Far East, as well as extended periods spent in reserve. During the Korean War, H.M.N.Z.S. PUKAKI  made an operational deployment to the combat zone in 1950 as part of the United Nations commitment to the conflict. She also deployed to the British nuclear tests at Christmas Island - Operation Grapple - as a weather ship in 1957 to 1958, and later as a combination weather/radar picket/rescue ship during Operation Deep Freeze, operating to the edge of the Antarctic pack ice between 1964 and 1965. She was sold for scrap in 1965.

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H.M.S. WALLASEA

H.M.S.WALLASEA (Under way)

Ship No 339

Isle Class armed trawler.

An order for an armed trawler of the “Isle Class”

Primarily used for “Minesweeping” duties.

She was 463 tons, with an overall length of 150 feet, with a beam of 27 feet and 6 inches, and a draught of 14 feet and 6 inches.

She was launched from the yard on 22nd of April 1943.

H.M.S. Wallasea was to have a short war service as she was sunk by an E-Boat attack off the coast of Cornwall while on escort duty the 6th Jan 1944.

H.M.S. WARDEN

H.M.S. WARDEN

Ship No 338


The tug Warden was the last in line of the Bustler Class built in Leith at the Henry Robb shipyard, part of the eight ship order for Ocean Going Diesel salvage tugs.

They were required to carry out salvage and rescue work along with convoy escort duties.

They were large and very powerful tugs put to good use during World War II and for long after as well. A fleet of the “Bustler class tugs along with others were stationed in Campbeltown on the Scottish coast during the long “Battle of the Atlantic”

Nicknamed the “Campbeltown Navy” they were instrumental in saving many thousands of tons of shipping badly needed for the war effort against Hitler’s Germany and they also saved countless seamen from the ravages of the U-Boats.

She was 1,100 tons with a length overall of 190 feet and beam of 38 feet and six inches, with a draught of 19 feet.

Launched 28 Jun 1945

Commissioned Dec 1945

“Bustler Class Rescue Tugs”, were to have a crew of 42 men, and powered by Diesel engines with a single screw, producing 4,000 hp. giving a top speed of 16 knots.



They had an armament of 1 x 3” AA Gun, 1 x 2 pounder AA. Along with 2 x 20 mm AA guns and 4 machine guns, all for anti-aircraft defence.

H.M.S. MEDIATOR

RFA. MEDIATOR

Ship No 335


“Bustler Class” Rescue Tug.

Was a further order for the supply of Four more, Ocean Going Diesel salvage tugs, all of the “Bustler Class” With Mediator being the fifth of the class built by Henry Robb in Leith.

They were required to carry out salvage and rescue work along with convoy escort duties.

They were large and very powerful tugs put to good use during World War II and for long after as well. A fleet of the “Bustler class tugs along with others were stationed in Campbeltown on the Scottish coast during the long “Battle of the Atlantic”

Nicknamed the “Campbeltown Navy” they were instrumental in saving many thousands of tons of shipping badly needed for the war effort against Hitler’s Germany and they also saved countless seamen from the ravages of the U-Boats.

She was 1,100 tons with a length overall of 190 feet and beam of 38 feet and six inches, with a draught of 19 feet.

Launched 21 Jun 1944

Commissioned 8 Nov 1944

DE-COMMISSIONED from the Royal Navy in 1965.


MEDIATOR was to spend most of her post war time in the Mediterranian and was eventually owned by  Greek interests. She was Re-Named ATLAS.

H.M.S. BISHOPSGATE

Ship No 193

Was a very welcome order from the Admiralty at a time when the great depression was really setting in and most yards were being closed or mothballed along with the yard that was building the great Queen Liners on the Clyde in Glasgow.
The order was for 3 vessels and they were designated with the Ship No’s 193, Ship No 193a and Ship No 193b.
Any work was welcome and this order was for a Gate Lifting vessel of 210 tons. She had a length overall of 93 feet and a beam of 26 feet.
Ship No 193a was for a Net Laying Vessel of the same size and tonnage given the name
H.M.S. ALDGATE, and along with her Ship No 193b another Net Layer of the same, completed the order. Ship No 193b was named H.M.S. WATERGATE.

As yet I do not have any more info on these vessels.