Abdiel was ordered from Thornycroft in June 1965. She was laid down at Thornycroft's Woolston shipyard on 23 May 1966[3] and launched 22 January 1967. She was commissioned on 17 October 1967.[1] Her pennant number was N21.[3]
Abdiel was designated by the Ministry of Defence as an "exercise minelayer" and her official role was to train Royal Navy personnel in minelaying operations using test/dummy naval mines, not to lay offensive mines operationally. She was fully capable of laying offensive mines during wartime.[4]
MCM support shipedit
Abdiel fulfilled an additional role as a support ship for mine countermeasure vessels. She served in this capacity with the Armilla Patrol from 1987 to 1988. During this deployment, the air conditioning units aboard ship proved insufficient for the climate and additional units had to be dispatched.[5]
Refitsedit
1977
1981
Paid offedit
Abdiel was paid off in 1988 and sold for scrapping. After her disposal, the Royal Navy had no dedicated minelaying vessel, although provisions were made for "suitably modified vessels" to undertake the work as required.[6] In 1987 her commanding officer spoke with Raymond Baxter at the 1987 Festival of Remembrance in a segment about Royal Navy modes of communication[7]
Mediaedit
Abdiel appears in the Royal Navy instructional film 'Minelaying' (Admiralty catalogue no. A2788) produced in 1976. Classified as restricted at the time of its release, the film is now unrestricted and available on archive DVD collections and the Internet.
Couhat, Jean Labayle and A.D. Baker. Combat Fleets of the World 1986/87. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1986. ISBN0-85368-860-5.
Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN1-55750-132-7.
"British Minesweepers" TV news report ITN, 29 September 1987
January 01, 1970
abdiel, other, ships, with, same, name, abdiel, abdiel, royal, navy, minelayer, that, service, during, cold, history, united, kingdom, name, orderedjune, 1965, builderthornycroft, laid, down23, 1966, launched22, january, 1967, commissioned17, october, 1967, de. For other ships with the same name see HMS Abdiel HMS Abdiel was a Royal Navy minelayer that saw service during the Cold War History United Kingdom NameHMS Abdiel N21 OrderedJune 1965 BuilderThornycroft Laid down23 May 1966 Launched22 January 1967 Commissioned17 October 1967 Decommissioned1988 Refit1977 1981 FateScrapped 1988 General characteristics 1 Displacement1375 t standard 1460 t full load Length265 ft 81 m Beam38 ft 6 in 11 73 m Draught10 ft 3 0 m Propulsion2 shafts 2 eighteen cylinder Paxman Ventura diesels 2 960 bhp 2 210 kW Speed16 kn 18 mph 30 km h Complement98 Sensors and processing systemsType 978 radar ArmamentBofors 40 mm L 60 gun from 1984 2 44 naval mines Abdiel was ordered from Thornycroft in June 1965 She was laid down at Thornycroft s Woolston shipyard on 23 May 1966 3 and launched 22 January 1967 She was commissioned on 17 October 1967 1 Her pennant number was N21 3 Contents 1 Minelayer 2 MCM support ship 3 Refits 4 Paid off 5 Media 6 References 7 External linksMinelayer editAbdiel was designated by the Ministry of Defence as an exercise minelayer and her official role was to train Royal Navy personnel in minelaying operations using test dummy naval mines not to lay offensive mines operationally She was fully capable of laying offensive mines during wartime 4 MCM support ship editAbdiel fulfilled an additional role as a support ship for mine countermeasure vessels She served in this capacity with the Armilla Patrol from 1987 to 1988 During this deployment the air conditioning units aboard ship proved insufficient for the climate and additional units had to be dispatched 5 Refits edit1977 1981Paid off editAbdiel was paid off in 1988 and sold for scrapping After her disposal the Royal Navy had no dedicated minelaying vessel although provisions were made for suitably modified vessels to undertake the work as required 6 In 1987 her commanding officer spoke with Raymond Baxter at the 1987 Festival of Remembrance in a segment about Royal Navy modes of communication 7 Media editAbdiel appears in the Royal Navy instructional film Minelaying Admiralty catalogue no A2788 produced in 1976 Classified as restricted at the time of its release the film is now unrestricted and available on archive DVD collections and the Internet References edit a b Gardiner and Chumbley 1995 p 542 Couhat and Baker 1986 p 202 a b Moore 1985 p 630 Statement on Royal Navy mine laying capability Parliamentary Debates Hansard House of Commons 22 March 1988 Retrieved 29 April 2020 Debate on 1987 Defense Estimates Parliamentary Debates Hansard House of Commons 28 October 1987 Retrieved 29 April 2020 Statement regarding paying off of HMS Abdiel Parliamentary Debates Hansard Written Answers 29 June 1988 Retrieved 29 April 2020 https www youtube com watch v bXkhmpxULTw Couhat Jean Labayle and A D Baker Combat Fleets of the World 1986 87 Annapolis Maryland USA Naval Institute Press 1986 ISBN 0 85368 860 5 Gardiner Robert and Stephen Chumbley Conway s All The World s Fighting Ships 1947 1995 Annapolis Maryland USA Naval Institute Press 1995 ISBN 1 55750 132 7 Moore John Jane s Fighting Ships 1985 86 London Jane s Yearbooks 1985 ISBN 0 7106 0814 4 External links editHMS Abdiel Facebook page MCM Support Ships British Minesweepers TV news report ITN 29 September 1987 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Abdiel N21 amp oldid 1219143642, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
