HMS ''Franklin'' (J84) was a (officially, "fleet minesweeping sloop") of the British

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 ...

, which was commissioned in 1938 as a

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pu ...

. She served as such throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, continuing in that role until decommissioned in 1953.

Service history

The ship was built by the

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire. History The company was founded in 1885 by Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa, along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie. In 19 ...

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

, with engines provided by

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its f ...

of Woolston. She was laid down on 17 December 1936 and launched on 22 December 1937. As a survey ship she differed from the others in her class by having a larger bridge, and a surveying chartroom aft. During the war the ship was armed with a

12-pounder 12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds. Guns of this type include: *12-pounder long gun, the naval muzzle-loader of the Age of Sail *Canon de 12 de Vallière, French cannon of 1732 * Can ...

anti-aircraft gun forward. ''Franklin'' was commissioned on 17 August 1938, and carried out surveys off the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinit ...

. In June 1939 she was sent to survey St Lewis Inlet, Newfoundland, but in August was ordered home in anticipation of the outbreak of

. During the war she carried out surveys around the coast of the UK, mostly in connection with the laying of minefields. In June 1944, under the command of Lt.Cdr. Edmund Irving, she was deployed off the French coast, following the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

, surveying ports as they fell to Allied forces. By November she was surveying the entrance to the

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

. Following

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

on 8 May 1945, she carried out wreck and mine clearance surveys in German ports, finally returning to the UK in October 1945. ''Franklin'' remained in service, mainly operating off the eastern coast of England, until decommissioned in January 1953. She was then placed in Reserve, until placed on the Disposal List, and sold for breaking up by Clayton and Davie,

Dunston-on-Tyne Dunston is a western area of the town of Gateshead on the south bank of the River Tyne, in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, North East England (into which it was absorbed in 1974). Dunston had a population of 18,326 at the 2011 Census. ...

. She was towed to the breaker's yard in February 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, HMS 1937 ships Ships built in Scotland Survey vessels of the Royal Navy Halcyon-class minesweepers