HMS ''Blyth'' is a formerly of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. She was the second vessel to bear the name. The first being a of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 ...

J15. The vessel served in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

as part of the 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron. In 2021, the minehunter was decommissioned and following a refit, planned to be transferred to an unspecified non-European navy (a plan subsequently altered to transfer her to the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flo ...

instead).

Service history

Along with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, , she was deployed to the

Operation Aintree The Battle of Overloon was a battle fought in the Second World War battle between Allied forces and the German Army which took place in and around the village of Overloon in the south-east of the Netherlands between 30 September and 18 October ...

in 2007 and 2008 to test the class capabilities in the hot climate and maintain force operational capability in the region. Crews from other ''Sandown''-class vessels were rotated through the two ships. HMS ''Blyth'' was based at as one of four minehunters of 9th Mine Countermeasures Squadron supported by a

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported b ...

on Operation Kipion until 2020, when she was replaced in theatre by . Both ''Blyth'' and ''Ramsey'' were decommissioned in a joint ceremony at Rosyth on 4 August 2021. Following a refit by Babcock both vessels were initially earmarked for the Ukrainian Navy to "enjoy a fresh lease of life in the Black Sea". However, in October 2022 it was reported that both ships would be transferred to the

instead.

References

External links

* Sandown-class minehunters Ships built in Southampton 2000 ships Minehunters of the United Kingdom {{UK-minesweeper-stub