HMS ''Inverness'' (M102) was a ''Sandown''-class

minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destroys individual naval mines. Minesweepers, on the other hand, clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of mines. A vessel that combines both of these roles is known as ...

of 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 ...

. She was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in 2005, and in 2008 became EML ''Sakala'' (M314) of the

Estonian Navy The Estonian Navy () are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces. With only six commissioned ships and displacement well under 10,000 tonnes, the Estonian navy is one of the smallest navies in the world. Its ship prefix is EM ...

HMS Inverness

''Inverness'' was built by

Vosper Thornycroft VTG (formerly VT Group) is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VTG was integrated into Babcock Interna ...

and launched on 27 February 1990 as one of the 12 ship class of ''Sandown''-class minehunters. ''Inverness'' took part in the major joint service Exercise Saif Sareea II in

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

throughout October 2001, and also trained on her way back from the Gulf as part of the overarching Exercise Argonaut 2001 maritime task group. During Exercise Saif Sareea II, ''Inverness'' formed part of a minehunter group with her sisters , and the Hunt-class

mine countermeasure vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter in one hull. The term MCMV is also applied collectively to minehunte ...

s and , supported by . In 2003, ''Inverness'' was one of a number of Royal Navy warships taking part in a multi-national exercises off Scotland, which involved ships and aircraft from a number of the world's navies, including French, German and American units. HMS ''Inverness'' was awarded the Freedom of the City of

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

in 2004. In July 2004, the UK

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

announced that as part of the restructuring of the Navy, the three oldest ''Sandown''-class minehunters would be retired by April 2005. ''Inverness'' was decommissioned in 2005 and was then laid up awaiting a buyer or disposal. In September 2006,

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

signed a contract to acquire the three vessels. After refitting in

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

''Inverness'' was formally handed over to the

in April 2007, and renamed .

EML Sakala (M314)

''Sakala'' belongs to the

Estonian Mineships Division The Estonian Mineships Division was the main Estonian Naval Unit and the part of Estonian Navy. The top priority for the Navy is the development of a mine countermeasures capability, as that is also one of the Navy's peacetime responsibilities: ...

. She is the fourth vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and second of three modernized ''Sandown'' class minehunters purchased from the Royal Navy. The coat of arms was presented on a ceremony on 24 January 2008 in Scotland. The ship's name comes from an ancient Estonian county

Sakala Sakala may refer to: Places * Sagala or Sakala, Sagala or Sangala, the ancient Greek name for a city of ancient India, the modern city of Sialkot in present-day Pakistan * Sakala County, an ancient county in Estonia (nowadays for the most part Vil ...

which is today known as

Viljandimaa Viljandi County ( or ''Viljandimaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties as well as Latvia. History Viljandimaa, under the German name of ''Kreis ...

but is often called Sakalamaa. The arms are a black shield which represents the rich soils of Sakala and ethnic Estonian men's clothing. The rose points towards the capital of Sakalamaa. The swords represent Sakala's important role in the Estonian ancient freedom fight and fighting spirit, as silver stands for loyalty. The ship's motto in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

is ''"In nomine libertatis”'' meaning "In the name of freedom". The coat of arms was designed by Priit Herodes. In December 2018 ''Sakala'' arrived at the Babcock site at

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation i ...

for a series of modifications and upgrades, which included the Thales Sonar 2193 navigation system and the Thales M-CUBE command and control system.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inverness (M102) Sandown-class minehunters Ships built in Southampton 1990 ships Sandown-class minehunters of the Estonian Navy Estonian Mineships Division Minehunters of Estonia

HMS Inverness

EML Sakala (M314)

See also

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External links