HMS ''Altham'' was one of 93 ships of the of inshore

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

. Their names were all chosen from villages ending in ''-ham''. The minesweeper was named after Altham in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. ''Altham'' (

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

M2602) was a member of the first series of ''Ham''-class minesweepers, with composite wood and aluminium construction. It was built by

Camper and Nicholsons Camper and Nicholson is a yacht design and manufacturing company based in Gosport, England, for over two hundred years, constructing many significant vessels, such as Gipsy Moth IV and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip's yacht Bloodh ...

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

, completing on 8 July 1953.Gardiner and Chumbley, 1995, p. 541.Worth 1986, p. 123. The ship commissioned at

Hythe, Hampshire Hythe () is a town in Hampshire, England. It is located by the shore of Southampton Water, and has a ferry service connecting it to Southampton. Hythe has a shopping area, a pier, and a marina for yachts. History The name Hythe means land ...

on 13 July 1953, serving with the 232nd Mine Sweeper Squadron at

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 ...

in Essex from 1954 to 1956, going into reserve at

Rosneath Rosneath () is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited on the southern shore ...

on the

Gare Loch The Gare Loch or Gareloch () is an open sea loch in Argyll and Bute in the west of Scotland, and it bears a similar name to the village of Gairloch in the north west Highlands. The loch is well used for sailing, recreational boating, list of ...

in northwest Scotland in 1957.Worth 1986, pp. 2, 125. ''Altham'' was transferred to the Royal Malayan Navy on 1 April 1958, being renamed ''Sri Johor''.Worth 1986, p. 125. ''Sri Johor'' had its minesweeping gear removed and replaced by two more 20 mm Oerlikon cannon and four 2-pounder saluting guns,Blackman 1960, p. 82. although the minesweeping gear was later re-fitted.Blackman 1962, p. 162. ''Sri Johor'' was broken up in 1967.

References

* * * * * Ham-class minesweepers Ships built in England 1952 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names Ham-class minesweepers of the Royal Malaysian Navy {{malaysia-stub