The second ‘Ship of the Day’ being showcased at NAVDEX, the largest naval defence exhibition in the region, has been unveiled today as "HMS Shoreham". NAVDEX is taking place all week alongside IDEX – the world’s leading joint defence exhibition. HMS Shoreham M112 is a Sandown-class of fifteen minehunter vessels, built primarily for the British Royal Navy, and is the fifth vessel to bear the name.
The Sandown-class serves alongside the Royal Saudi Navy and HMS Shoreham is one of four British Royal Navy minehunters currently based in the Gulf. Her role, and that of sister ships HMS Ramsey and Hunts and HMS Atherstone and Quorn, is to safeguard the waters of the Gulf, including survey missions with the Kuwaiti Navy to take part in the largest mine countermeasures exercise ever held.
HMS Shoreham M112 was built by Vosper Thorneycroft, once a British shipbuilding group, now owned by private investment fund Resolute Fund II LP. The ship was launched on 9th April 2001 and was formally accepted into service on 28th November 2001. The first vessel was commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1989. The ships are named after coastal towns and cities of Great Britain.
Minehunters are generally small, shallow-draught vessels, as they are often called upon to work in enclosed bodies of water such as shipping channels or harbours. The fiberglass body length of HMS Shoreham is 52.5 meters and 10.5 meters wide, with a displacement weight of 600 tonnes. HMS Shoreham is able to reach sailing speeds of up to 13 knots and has a range of 2,500 nautical miles.
A minehunter naval vessel actively detects and destroys individual naval mines using imaging sonar to detect and classify targets before deploying divers or remotely operated vehicles to inspect and neutralise the threat, often using small charges that are detonated remotely. The minehunter class of vessel is not to be confused with minesweeper ships that clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of mines.
Visitors to NAVDEX this week can explore HMS Shoreham M112, which also took part in IDEX 2013, moored in the ADNEC Marina for the duration of the IDEX event. Live demonstrations are also taking place, consisting of individual boat demonstrations, anti-terrorism underwater defence, and the official NAVDEX daily demonstration.
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