HMS Neasham (M2712)

HMS Neasham (M2712/IMS49) was a Ham-class minesweeper for the Royal Navy. The names of the Ham-class vessels were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. HMS Neasham was named after Neasham in County Durham.

The ship as Achilles III, 2015
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Neasham
Namesake	Neasham
Builder	J. Samuel White
Launched	14 March 1956
Completed	15 November 1957
Fate	Transferred to Australia 1968
Notes	Pennant number(s): M2712 / IMS49
Australia
Name	HMAS Porpoise
Acquired	1968
Fate	Sold 1989
Australia
Name	Achilles III
Acquired	1989
Identification	MMSI number: 503016200 Callsign: VJ9247
Status	In service
General characteristics
Class and type	Ham-class minesweeper
Displacement	120 tons standard 164 tons full
Length	106 ft 6 in (32.46 m)
Beam	22 ft (6.7 m)
Draught	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft Paxman 12YHAXM diesels, 1,100 bhp (820 kW)
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement	2 officers, 13 ratings
Armament	1 × 40 mm Bofors / 20 mm Oerlikon gun

Despite being completed on 15 November 1957, Neasham was held in operational reserve in a land cradle at Rosneath on the Clyde until 1967. She was then transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, arriving in Sydney as deck cargo on the merchant ship Gladstone Star on 29 July 1968.[1]

After a period at the RAN base at Garden Island, New South Wales, Neasham was converted into a diving tender and renamed HMAS Porpoise (DTV 1002/Y.280) on 13 June 1973. Porpoise was sold in 1989 to property developer Keith Williams, owner of Sea World on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. She was later converted into a luxury motor yacht and renamed Achilles III.[2]