HMS ''Beckford'' (P3104) was one of 20 Ford-class

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

s built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in the 1950s. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in '' -ford''. This boat was named after

Beckford, Worcestershire Beckford is a small village on the main Cheltenham to Evesham Road, five miles north-east of Tewkesbury, on the Worcestershire—Gloucestershire border. The village straddles the A46 and is one of the villages at the foot of Bredon Hill. The ...

. ''Beckford'' was launched on 27 April 55. She was later renamed HMS ''Dee'' whilst serving as the training tender to the Mersey Division of the Royal Naval Reserve. In 1968 the vessel was chartered by the Plessey Group and renamed ''Robert Clive'', then returned as HMS ''Dee'' to the RNR in January 1969. She was the tender to Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit from 1970 undertaking weekend training trips to Anglesey, the Isle of Man and surrounding areas during term time and longer voyages during the Easter and Summer vacations when destinations included Norway, Paris, Western Isles etc. including at least two transits of Loch Ness. She was placed on the disposals list in 1982 and sold to Pounds Marine Shipping in 1984.
Beckford
' page on shipspotting.com website, viewed 2012-12-09 She was fitted with

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

rig and was anchored off

Shotley, Suffolk Shotley is a village and civil parish south-east of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. It is in the Babergh District, Babergh district and gives its name to the Shotley peninsula between the Rivers River Stour, Suffolk, Stour and River ...

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

harbour for many years. In 2017, after being beached at Harwich, she was removed and broken up at

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

by East Point Metal Trading Ltd.

In popular culture

HMS ''Beckfoot''

''Beckford'' was an inspiration for the fictional vessel HMS ''Beckfoot'' (also called ''Hispaniola'' and ''Pride of Macau'') in the

Strong Winds trilogy The Strong Winds series is a series of children's books written by English author Julia Jones. The books reference many of the settings and characters of the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The books use adventure stories about s ...

of children's books by

Julia Jones Julia Jones (born January 23, 1981) is an American actress. She may be best known for playing Leah Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'' film series and Angela Bishop in the television series '' Dexter: New Blood''. Early life and education Jul ...

.Author's endnote,

, ''Ghosting Home'' (Strong Winds Trilogy 3) 2 July 2012

References

Ford-class seaward defence boats Royal Navy ship names 1955 ships {{UK-mil-ship-stub