HMS Wilton (M1116)

51.5385083°N 0.6590483°E / 51.5385083; 0.6590483

HMS Wilton
Wilton at Portsmouth, 1981
History
United Kingdom
NameWilton
Ordered11 February 1970
BuilderVosper Thornycroft, Woolston
Laid down7 August 1970
Launched18 January 1972
Commissioned14 July 1973
Decommissioned1994
IdentificationPennant number: M1116
FatePreserved at Leigh-on-Sea since 2001
General characteristics
Class and typeWilton-class minesweeper
Displacement450 tons
Length153 ft (47 m)
Beam29.2 ft (8.9 m)
Draught8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion2 × Napier Deltic 18-7A diesel engines at 3,000 bhp (2,200 kW)
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range2,300 nmi (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement37
Armament1 × Bofors 40 mm gun

HMS Wilton (M1116) was a prototype coastal minesweeper/minehunter for the Royal Navy. She was the first warship in the world to be constructed from glass-reinforced plastic (GRP). Her design was based upon the existing Ton-class minesweepers, and she was fitted with equipment recovered from the scrapped HMS Derriton. The use of GRP gave the vessel a low magnetic signature against the threat of magnetic mines.

On commissioning, Wilton joined the 2nd Mine Counter Measures Squadron (2nd MCMS) based at Portsmouth. In 1974, she took part in Operation Rheostat, the Royal Navy's part of the international efforts to clear the Suez Canal of mines. In November that year, Wilton rejoined 2nd MCMS, interrupting her service with that squadron to be seconded to NATO's Standing Naval Force Channel (STANAVFORCHAN) in 1977 and 1980.[1] Wilton took part in the Silver Jubilee Review at Spithead on 28 June 1977. On 31 August 1979 Wilton was involved in an accident when she collided with BNS Breydel off Ostende.[2]

Wilton was unofficially known as HMS Tupperware, HMS Indestructible, and "The Plastic Duck" or "Plastic Pig".

She was retired by the Royal Navy in 1994; she ended up in store until being sold in August 2001, when she was fitted out as the new home of the Essex Yacht Club at Leigh-on-Sea on the Thames Estuary.

References

  1. Worth 1986, p. 117.
  2. "HMS Wilton". TON Class Association. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
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