HMS Sphinx (J69)
History | |
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Name | HMS Sphinx |
Ordered | 26 August 1937 |
Builder | Hamilton's, Port Glasgow |
Laid down | 17 January 1938 |
Launched | 7 February 1939 |
Commissioned | 27 July 1939 |
Fate | Bombed and wrecked, 2 February 1940 |
Badge | On a field Blue, a Sphinx Gold |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | Halcyon-class minesweeper |
Displacement | |
Length | 245 ft 9 in (74.90 m) o/a |
Beam | 33 ft 6 in (10.21 m) |
Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
Range | 7,200 nmi (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 121 |
Armament |
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HMS Sphinx (J69) was a Halcyon-class minesweeper (officially, "fleet minesweeping sloop") of the British Royal Navy, which was commissioned in 1939, just prior to World War II. During the war she served in the North Sea until bombed and wrecked on 2 February 1940.[2]
Service history
The ship was built by William Hamilton and Company, Port Glasgow, with turbine engines supplied by J. Samuel White of Cowes. She was laid down on 17 January 1938, and launched on 7 February 1939.[2]
Sphinx was commissioned in July 1939, and assigned to the 5th Minesweeping Flotilla, based at
Sinking
On the morning of 2 February 1940 the Flotilla was minesweeping in the
On 7 June 1940 the
In popular culture
Sphinx is briefly referenced in an episode of the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses. In the third of the 1996 Christmas special episodes, Time on Our Hands, Uncle Albert describes the ship as a frigate on which he served in the Adriatic during World War II. He explains to the main protagonist, Delboy, how a fictional Captain Kenworthy faked an outbreak of cholera aboard the ship to distract the crew from their other worries.[5]
References
- ^ "Halcyon Minesweepers : Specifications". halcyon-class.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ a b "No. 34868". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1940. pp. 3501–3502.
- ^ "Measures to combat air attacks on Shipping". World War II Today. 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003) Buster Merryfield: Uncle Albert Trotter". IMDB. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
External links
- "Allied Warships of WWII - Minesweeper HMS Sphinx". uboat.net.
- "HMS Sphinx : Halcyon-class Minesweeper". halcyon-class.co.uk.
- "HMS Sphinx Minesweeper". wrecksite.eu.