Sandown class minehunter

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Sandown-class
Type:	Single Role Mine Hunter
In Service From:	1989
Complement:	34 (7 officers, 27 ratings)
Displacement:	484 tons full
Length:	52.5 m
Beam:	10.9 m
Draught:	2.3 m
Machinery:	2 shafts Voith-Schneider propulsors, diesel-electric drive, Paxman Valenta diesels, 1,500 shp
Speed:	13 kts diesel, 6.5 kts electric
Armament:	1 x Oerlikon 30 mm KCB gun on DS-30B mount (Royal Navy) 2 x Oerlikon 30 mm KCB guns on Emerlec-30 mount (Saudi Navy) 2 x 7.62 mm GPMG machine guns Wallop Defence Systems Barricade Mk. III countermeasure launchers Irvin Aerospace Replica Decoy launchers
MCM Equipment:	2 x ECA PAP remotely controlled submarines (ROV) ECA mine disposal system Clearance divers
Electronics:	Radar Type 1007 navigation Sonar Type 2093 variable-depth mine hunting

The Sandown class is a class of minehunter originally built for the British Royal Navy (RN). Sandown-class vessels also serve with the Royal Saudi Navy and the Estonian Navy (Merevägi). The first vessel commissioned into RN service on June 9, 1989 and all the British ships are named after coastal towns and cities.

These small (53 m) fibreglass vessels are single role mine hunters (SRMH) rather than minesweepers. 12 ships were built for the RN and 3 ships were exported to Saudi Arabia. Three RN vessels were decommissioned following the Strategic Defence Review in 2003; HMS Sandown (January 2005), Inverness (April 2005) and Bridport (July 2004). A further ship, HMS Cromer, was decommissioned and transferred to a training role at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England in 2001 as Hindostan.

The three decommissioned vessels were sold to Estonia in September 2006. They will be re-equipped with TCS (Tactical Control System) and the Atlas Elektronik Seafox ROV for mine disposal. The sonar system will be also be updated. The first ship is scheduled to be delivered in April of 2007, the second in March 2008 and the last in February or March 2009.

[edit] Ships

Royal Navy
Name	Pennant	Builder	Launched	Commissioned	Home port	Status
Sandown	M101	Vosper Thornycroft, Woolston	1988	1989		Sold to Estonia
Inverness	M102	Vosper Thornycroft	1990	1991		Sold to Estonia
Cromer	M103	Vosper Thornycroft	1990	1992	Dartmouth	Training Ship
Walney	M104	Vosper Thornycroft	1991	1992	Faslane	Active
Bridport	M105	Vosper Thornycroft	1992	1993		Sold to Estonia
Penzance	M106	Vosper Thornycroft	1997	1998	Faslane	Active
Pembroke	M107	Vosper Thornycroft	1997	1998	Faslane	Active
Grimsby	M108	Vosper Thornycroft	1998	1999	Faslane	Active
Bangor	M109	Vosper Thornycroft	1999	1999	Faslane	Active
Ramsey	M110	Vosper Thornycroft	1999	2000	Faslane	Active
Blyth	M111	Vosper Thornycroft	2000	2001	Faslane	Active
Shoreham	M112	Vosper Thornycroft	2001	2001	Faslane	Active
Royal Saudi Arabian Navy
Al Jawf		Vosper Thornycroft
Shaqra		Vosper Thornycroft
Al Kharj		Vosper Thornycroft