HMS Brigham (M2613)

HMS Brigham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Brigham
Namesake	Brigham
Builder	Berthon Boat Company
Launched	4 December 1953
Completed	22 December 1953
Fate	Sold 1968
General characteristics
Class and type	Ham class minesweeper
Type	Minesweeper
Displacement	120 long tons (122 t) standard 164 long tons (167 t) full load
Length	100 ft (30 m) p/p 106 ft 6 in (32.46 m) o/a
Beam	21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)
Draught	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft Paxman 12YHAXM diesels 1,100 bhp (820 kW)
Speed	14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement	2 officers, 13 ratings
Armament	1 × Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun or Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Notes	Pennant number(s): M2613 / IMS13

Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Brigham in Cumbria.

The ship's bell is now in St Bridget's Church of England Primary School, Brigham, where it was used as a fire alarm until a more modern fire alarm system was installed.

Brigham was sold to Australian interests in 1968 and renamed MV Brigham. Refitted in Southampton as a prospective ferry she sailed with a crew of ten (via Las Palmas, Monrovia, Cape Town, Durban, Mauritius, and Albany) to Port Lincoln, South Australia, arriving on 24 December 1969 after a 16-week voyage, including a lengthy stop in Cape Town.

Sold in 1970 to the Australian company Southern Concrete, and taken to Adelaide for a full refit. Whilst in Adelaide the company experienced financial difficulties and the vessel had the distinction of being the first vessel in many decades to have a warrant pinned to her mast for non-payment of harbour dues.

Sold to NT fishing company sometime after and last heard of in the late 1970s being used as a prawn trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria.^[1]

References

1. "oldships.org.uk". www.oldships.org.uk.

• Blackman, R. V. B. ed. Jane's Fighting Ships (1953)