HMS ''Packington'' ( pennant number: M1214) was a completed in 1959 by

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, but transferred before commissioning to the South African Navy as SAS ''Walvisbaai''. The ship was decommissioned in March 2001 and was sold to the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2003 to be used in the

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by ...

film ''

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou ''The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy-drama film written by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach and directed by Anderson. It is Anderson's fourth feature-length film and was released in the United States on Decembe ...

''. Post filming the vessel was sold and was subsequently converted into a private

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Design and description

The Ton-class coastal minesweepers were constructed with wooden hulls and almost all of their structure was made from

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

to reduce their magnetic signature to aid sweeping

magnetic mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

s. The ships displaced at

standard load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. They had a

length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

of , a beam of and a draught of .Moore, p. 401 The Tons were powered by two

Napier Deltic The Napier Deltic engine is a British opposed-piston valveless, supercharged uniflow scavenged, two-stroke diesel engine used in marine and locomotive applications, designed and produced by D. Napier & Son. Unusually, the cylinders were disp ...

diesel enginess, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. The engines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . They had a range of at and had a complement of 4 officers and 25 ratings. The Ton-class ships were armed with a single Bofors and two Oerlikon light

AA gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s on a single twin-gun mount.

Construction and career

''Packington'' was launched by

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

on 3 July 1958 at their

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

shipyard. She was transferred to the South African Navy before she was commissioned on 20 September 1959 under the name of SAS ''Walvisbaai''. The ship was retired in March 2001 and sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2003 to be used as the R/V ''Belafonte'' in the

film ''

''. Subsequently, she was sold to a private owner for $350,000. In 2006 she began a lengthy conversion into a yacht in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

that saw her engines replaced by a pair of V-12 Caterpillar 3512B diesel engines, her deck renewed and her interior completely revamped. The work was completed by 2012 and the ship was renamed ''Mojo''.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walvisbaai 1958 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom Maritime history of South Africa Minesweepers of the South African Navy Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships built in Belfast Ships of the South African Navy Ton-class minesweepers of the Royal Navy Motor yachts