According to the Romanian Ministry of National Defense, on December 19, 2023, the minesweeper M 270 Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu, a former British minesweeper M 111 Blyth, which became the first of two transferred to Romania after the withdrawal of Sandown-type ships from the British Navy, arrived in Constanta and was officially commissioned into the Romanian Navy.
Arrival in Constanta of the Romanian-received minesweeper M 270 Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu - the former British minesweeper M 111 Blyth of the Sandown type, 12/19/2023 (c) Ministry of National Defense of Romania
The British Ministry of Defense officially announced the sale to Romania on an intergovernmental basis of two Sandown-type minesweepers being withdrawn from the British fleet on September 28, 2023. The first of these minesweepers, M 111 Blyth (in service since 2001), was withdrawn from the British Navy on August 4, 2021 and was originally planned to be transferred to Ukraine, but then plans were changed and the ship became the first to be sold to Romania. The ship was officially transferred to Romania on September 27, 2023 in Rosyth, having previously undergone repairs there at the Rosyth Dockyard of the Babcock Group, and received the traditional name Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu for the Romanian navy in honor of a French-built gunboat that was part of the Romanian navy from 1920 to 2002 (after 1960 - as a hydrographic vessel). The minesweeper left Roseit with a Romanian crew of 40 people on November 15 and arrived in Constanta on December 19.
The second M 107 Pembroke minesweeper intended for Romania (in service since 1998) is planned to be withdrawn from the British fleet and transferred to Romania in the first half of 2024.
Earlier, the same type of minesweepers M 108 Grimsby (received the Ukrainian name M 310 "Chernigiv") and M 112 Shoreham (Ukrainian name M 311 "Cherkasi") were introduced into the Ukrainian Navy. Both of them remain in the UK for the time being.
In total, the British Navy received 12 Sandown-type minesweepers with solid composite hulls from 1988 to 2001, built at the Vosper Thornycroft company (since 2002 - VT Group, acquired by Babcock Group in 2010) in Woolston (Southampton, this shipyard was closed in 2004). Three more Sandown-type minesweepers were built there in 1991-1993 for the Saudi Arabian Navy.
To date, three Sandown-type minesweepers were sold to Estonia from the British Navy in 2006 (M 101 Sandown, M 102 Inverness and M 105 Bridport), the minesweeper M 103 Cromer has been used as a training station at Dartmouth since 2001, M 104 Walney was decommissioned in 2010, and M 110 Ramsey - in 2021. After the withdrawal and transfer of four more minesweepers to Ukraine and Romania, only two Sandown-type ships will remain in the British Navy by the end of 2024. Also, six Hunt-type minesweepers remain in the British fleet.
The Sandown-type minesweepers have a total displacement of 600 tons and a length of 52.5 m. The ships are equipped with relatively modern mine protection equipment, including Thales type 2093 mine detection gas and Atlas Elektronik SeaFox anti-mine underwater vehicles introduced into the mine warfare armament of these minesweepers in the late 2000s.
Arrival in Constanta of the Romanian-received minesweeper M 270 Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu - the former British minesweeper M 111 Blyth of the Sandown type, 12/19/2023 (c) Ministry of National Defense of Romania
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