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RN Minesweepers: Ton Class World Naval Ships Forums Archive

RN Minesweepers: Ton Class

Posts 1 to 50

Anyone one out there got any LARGE pix of the Ton class/Ham class/Ley class sweepers/hunters that could be added to the TCA archives ? Anything accepted. Regards Rik

Hello Rik These are only baby photos I'm afraid. If only I had the cameras I've had in recent years. The number of times over the years I've gone on the Gosport ferry and looked over to Vernon and seen the Tons berthed 4 and 5 deep. :(
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[QUOTE=Alan B;554]Hello Rik These are only baby photos I'm afraid. If only I had the cameras I've had in recent years. The number of times over the years I've gone on the Gosport ferry and looked over to Vernon and seen the Tons berthed 4 and 5 deep. :([/QUOTE] Much appreciated Alan. Alas Vernon has all but been obliterated. I've been to Gunwharf Quays since it was transformed and it's very hard to imagine how it used to look when I was a baby matelot, stationed there in years gone by. (Apart from the Main Gate) Is it possible to get copies of your pix in a VERY LARGE format ? The TCA web email address is [email]webmaster@tca2000.co.uk[/email] if you could find time to allow us some copies for the archives. All the very best Rik PS. It's very unusual to see photo's taken from the Gosport side of Pompey dockyard. Most seem to be taken from the Round Tower on the East side.

Hello again Rik I've sized the 3 photos up to between 330 and 390kb, is that ok size wise? If yes I'll e-mail them to the address. One of the saddest moments for me when Vernon closed was when the lit-up HMS Vernon on the waterside was no more. I lived in the block of flats by Gosport bus station from 1999-2006 so you can imagine the amount of photos I've got of ships in and out of the harbour. All the best Alan

Sounds good Alan. Many thanks. Got some great arial shots of Vernon from 1977 if interested. Rgds Rik

I sent them yesterday Rik, hope they are ok. Alan

Sent you an email in reply, Alan. Rik

Cheers for the photo's Alan. I've tweaked them with Paintshop and can re-post them here if you are agreeable. Rik

Yeah go for it Rik, be interesting to see. Alan

Ok, here goes. (Incidently, I served on 2 of the sweepers shown - Hubberston & Nurton)
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Great stuff Rik Small world Alan

Have you any idea when the pix were taken Alan ?

The camera I had at the time was an old Praktica so I'd say the early to mid 90's ish

Cheers Alan. Rik

Hi Rik. I served in HMS Calton based at Harwich in 1955-56 and in December 1955, 4 'Coastals' sailed up the Thames to the then Pool of London for a wild weekend. The photo shows all 4 berthed with M1148 outboard and Calton M1118 one of the 2 in the centre.
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Nice shot M1148 is ILLMINGTON looks like CALTON is inboard of her. Regards Dave

Many thanks Jonti. Have you any more ? Has anyone any more ?? Rgds Rik

Hiya Rik I've just found this one I took at the Festival of the Sea in 1996. Again it's not too clear I'm afraid. I had to shoot into the sun. She was moored up the trot in Pompey. Alan
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Alan, Looks like WILTON with the class room on her sweep deck in lieu of any sweep gear. Regards Dave

Cheers Dave. Rik I have emailed it to the TCA.

Hi Alan. Pic received. Will archive it along with the others. PS. Dave's right, she IS Wilton.

Rik - I have just come across your thread of last October when you were requesting pictures and photographs of Ton Class and other RN minesweepers. Without any exaggeration I have dozens of photographs of Tons and other minewseepers that I took at Plymouth, Devonport, Penzance and other locations between 1985 and 2000. My problem is locating them amongst the heap of boxes of photographs I have stashed in my attic! Anyway to get the ball rolling I had a quck root and have come up with a few that will give you an idea of the sort I have taken. If they are of any interest let me know and I will root out some more from time to time. None of them have ever been seen by anyone until now! It was the age before digital cameras and I just got reels of ships developed. In all honesty I was not particularly interested in minesweepers/layers and the ones I have were taken whilst waiting for other ships - which explains why they are stuffed away in wallets. Also the quality varies a bit...[phew!] Anyway amongst the first box I opened were the "Tons" listed below... As well as those there were also photos of the following minesweepers/layers which I will just list. M2003. M2004. M2005. M2006. M2007. M2008. M2014. M105 [2]. M644 [2]. M40 [2]. M41. M31. N21. Let me know if you wish to see any of them. In your original thread you talked about sending the images you were interested in to a site that were keeping a database of them. That is fine by me - but I would like them to be credited to Terry Dickens. Finally it has just occurred to me that maybe KC might find one or more of them of interest. If so please use! If there are any RN ships/subs in service between say 1984-2000 that anyone here needs a photo of let me know and the chances are I will have them if they have been to Plymouth - but it might take me a few weeks to track them down!
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You Superstar !! That is just what I'm after. All your pix of the TON class, as well as you're offer of other sweepers was just what I was looking for !! They will be acknowledged as to ownership, when added. So very much obliged...... Rik

Yet another satisfied customer!

[QUOTE=tonclass;3633]You Superstar !! That is just what I'm after. All your pix of the TON class, as well as you're offer of other sweepers was just what I was looking for !! They will be acknowledged as to ownership, when added. So very much obliged...... Rik[/QUOTE] A pleasure to help Rik. I will make a weekly pilgrimage to the Attic and pull a box down at a time weeding out all pertinent sweepers. Could you let me know as soon as possible which other sweepers [as well as the Tons] that you would like photos of? Also did you want any of the other ones that I listed earlier in this thread? I would like to clear this box out of the way before I trawl through the next one!

astraltrader, I most certainly do find these of interest. We would love to add them to the site (on the ships pages) with your permission, and of course any credit note / copyright you wish. We are always on the look out for more private collections of ships to add, from any era. Thanks for taking the time to post these.

Sir - PM sent...

All sweeper pix are most welcome Terry. Many thanks again Rik

Great pics Terry. Interested in anything painted grey, or black if it is a sub:D

JB - I do have quite a few of these as well my friend. I will get a list of which ones I have uncovered so far and come back to you to choose, but with the demands I have received so far for different types of ships combined with other commitments I have this weekend it is liable to be mid week before I manage to expedite...

Thanks Terry, in your own time.

[QUOTE=jbryce1437;3773]Great pics Terry. Interested in anything painted grey, or black if it is a sub:D[/QUOTE] And if it ain't painted, then clearly it wasn't nailed down! :D

HI all Firstly let me say hello to all as I am a new member of this site, My interest is Nautical and Maritime history and research. At the moment I am trying to save the HMS Kellington, Now known as the TS Kellington, a ton-class moored in Stockton. The ship is unfortunately land locked which is the main problem, She is run down but well afloat. She is also in the middle of a new development and as such is deemed to be not wanted by the very same people who put her there in 1993. For any interested party I can send reports made on the ship and more details. But what I really do need is any form of plans anyone may have of this class. I know it is a cheeky request from such a new user but I just hope someone can help in this matter. Myself and some others do have a plan for the short/medium term and then long term. but in order to make them public I need deck plans or measurements of all the different quarters and rooms. Our final intention is to make her sea going again but this may be several years down the line. ( first we have to impress MP and council it is worth saving ). Graham

Welcome Graham! I hope your stay here is long and interesting. It seems you have a daunting task with TS Kellington. It sounds thoroughly worthwhile and I wish you every success with the venture. Keep us fully informed please. (And good luck with the MP and the Council!!)

Contact Rik at the Ton Class Association website iv'e no doubt he'll be able to help you out.The latest i heard on KELLINGTON is that it's a forgone conclusion that she's going to be broken up insitu,you seem to have other ideas good luck matey . Regards Dave [email]tca_website@hotmail.com[/email]

Concur Dave, She is to be broken up in situ. Apparently she is to far gone to save. It wouldn`t be possible to sail her out of the Tees anyway as bridges have been built since she was first tied up. So unable to navigate out.

Hi Herakles, rum rat and Stan J Many thanks for the warm welcome and advice. I have spoken to Rick and he and Bob have been very helpful. The matter of the Kellington is still been debated as such within the Council, the latest Arts Leisure and Culture Select Committee review stating that the Kellington is set to be removed from her berth. Although this is not definite as yet. I am still preparing my full report and outline for the Council and MP but it is going well. I have also been asked by the papers to allow them to print our side of the story in a press release which again is almost finished. The Co's I have been speaking to with the plans for the K has also shown a interest in the Bronington. This is if the K does not materialize the same plan can be used in the Bronington and maybe at least one of these ships will be saved. I apologies for the delay in replying here but have just stumbled up with your replies. I really must check more often. I will of course keep you updated with any relevant information or news we hear of. Again many thanks and I hope to speak to you all soon Graham

Hi All Following on from my last post here we have been asked to put in a full detailed costing and feasibility report by the council. The report itself is almost there I am just awaiting some detailed drawings of equipment to be fitted to turn her back into a full educational ship, Which if plans work we will be returning the K back to sea where she belongs. Although we do have prices for most of the work we are always looking for alternate information. It would greatly help if anyone can tell us of a supplier for the following items Deck Decking, We want to be as close as possible to the original. as we have been unable to decide what can be saved we are going ahead and costed the full decks into the costings. We would however appreciate anyone who can pin point a supplier for the wood. We have had to get a price from abroad (France) for this as a UK dealer cannot be found who can supply the quantity in the correct length and width. Hull Planking. There is a considerable amount of damage to some of the hulls planks which need replacing. Again finding a English supplier is not as easy as we had thought. Plus with political things been as they are the African Mahogany is not easy to get hold of. Bulk purchase of Caulking. Many suppliers will supply us with vast amounts of Caulking, but will not give bulk price, so we know it originally is sold in 500kg bails, and higher, but we are unable to get a price for this in that quantity. We are only been given 12kg bail price. Considering how much we need for the complete decks and hull that is a lot of 12Kg bails. Any ideas folks Paint. An easy one ? well it would be but try to find a large bulk quantity of RN Grey paint with the same No so it is all the same color. Man power!!!!!!!! this is the hardest to find. The ground work is complete now the real work begins. Graham

Many thanks for the update, Graham. I've been eagerly awaiting some more news, since your last post. If I may, I'll copy your posting and send it around our Assoc, with a glimmer of hope that someone can help. Update: Have sent an email out to all interested parties in the TCA. Await a response !! Why is the Kellington/Bronington etc painted in that awful shade of Green/Grey paint of late ? Isn't there enough 'Battleship Grey' left these days ??? HMS Gay Archer seems to have been blighted with this colour as well.

Encouraging news indeed, Graham. I hope that you succeed in your endeavours. She appears to be the last remaining Royal Navy ship built at the Southwick, Sunderland, shipyard of William Pickersgill (Kedleston was the only other Ton class built at the yard). During the war, the shipyard built several Loch/Bay class corvettes and landing craft L3033 & L3034 for the war effort. The yard was later amalgamated with the shipyard of Peter Ausin, and was renamed Austin & Pickersgill Ltd in the late 1950's. I worked at Austin & Pickersgill's shipyard in 1962, before joining the RN. Another ship that was built at the yard was the survey ship HMS Dalrymple (ex Loch Glass, ex HMS Luce Bay)

Best of luck with the project Graham. From what the others have said there seems to be enough local history involved with this ship to make her well worth saving...

Hi Rick and all My apology for not answering mails quicker here and for the slow updates. Rick thanks so much I know what a great help yourself and Bob have been with information and I cannot thank either of you enough. As for the color It seems there is a lack of the correct battleship grey color. I have to admit I have not tried hard as yet top find it but was advised that the grey original color is not a easy task to fin in quantity. I will hope when it comes to painting the ship we will be able to find the closest match to what she was in her service. Hi Jbryce1437, Thank you for the well wishes, and we hope like you that we do succeed got to admit there was a few times when we was ready to through the towel in but it seems we have got through to a few people who are prepared to listen and hopefully do something, we are at that paperwork shuffling now where if we make a mistake now we could be back to square one, I may even be bending your ear my friend ( I think you may of already helped in a big way not too sure) , I see you are only in Sunderland maybe when we need a lot of tech details we can meet up with a glass or two and swap notes. Thanks for the bit of history as well it may come in useful. Hi Astraltrader Again thanks for the well wishes. I again thank you all for your help and encouragement, I will try to keep you informed here on a weekly basis if nothing else, but I have this feeling that you may be fed up of seeing me when the little questions start flooding in  Thanks again it is appreciated Gtraham

HI All Just to keep you all informed, we have finally been given the date for the meeting which is early June. We have to put foreword our plans which have now been done and we are talking to a heavy lifting company who assure us that they can lift the Kellington out with approval from the council which we will endeavor to obtain now. Let you know more when we have more available Graham

Really impressed if you can carry this one off sir! [no pun intended!].

Hi Astraltrader Many thanks sir and lets say we are closer as each day passes to making it happen. One never knows we may get to carry a large take away yet :-) Graham

:D Thanx for the photo's of Brinton. As an ex matelot, I have been searching for photo's of my past. I suffer from bad memory loss since a brain op in 92 & have trouble remembering these sort of things. (I do remember my medical discharge though.) Thank you again.

Send me a PM with your email address on it and I'll send you some more photo's of Brinton. Alternatively visit [url]www.tca2000.co.uk[/url] and contact me via the website.

GREY PAINT; If this is still of intetrest a source of Light Admiralty Grey would be your local farm equipment supplier. This is the same colour used to paint the Ferguson tractors and accessories. They also do a Dark Ad. Grey but I can tell you the light is as closer match for the standard pussers issue as you might find, its good quality and not overly expensive. tim

Graham, How are your plans for the K going. Regards Charles

Good morning to all. I am trying to update all and apologies if anyone Reading this has either read same elsewhere or not seen elsewhere it will be there eventually. we had our first meeting with the Stockton Council on Tuesday of this week, Also present was a member of the water authority. The meeting went well and we have two more meetings planned for the next month and two month. We have been asked to supply full documentations for areas which is of importance to them and we are now preparing these. One of the areas the Council has asked for is letters of acknowledgment from people or businesses or Establishments so we can prove it is a wanted restoration. If any one can help in this or indeed just wants to send us a letter with no catch please do so it will help us greatly. I have managed today to get the confirmation on insurance we needed. That was one of the criteria that they applied, we had to prove we could get insurance for the ship its Restoration and any other environmental issues we may cause. We now have a few sources of materials put to us which is been worked on as we speak , selection for this will take place in the next three weeks and finalized before the 8 week time meeting. We have now entered the hard work stage of getting it all put together. I want to thank all the people who have backed our idea up to now as we owe you a great debt it has urged us to carry on with this. If any one wants more information lease ask us or ask through here we are monitoring boards which we have posted to and always answer private mails. Regards to all and again thank you Graham

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