HMS ODIHAM - A POST WAR NAVEL LINK

Normans had little need of a modern navy until King John’s reign when he established a permanent naval base at Portsmouth. Given the proximity to Odiham is it unsurprising that many men from the parish have served in the Royal Navy over the intervening centuries and during both World Wars. It was therefore fitting that HMS Odiham was launched on 21st July 1955, one of 93 ships in the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers, which were all n med after villages ending in ‘ham’.

HMS Odiham, No M2783, built by Vospers Ltd, was 106 feet in length and 21 feet wide – her loaded weight was 159 tons and unloaded 120 tons. She was diesel-powered and carried one 40mm AA gun and a complement of 15. Designed to operate in shallow estuarine waters, the last 17 of these minesweepers (which include HMS Odiham) had wooden hulls to enable them to sweep magnetic mines.

Although sturdy and seaworthy craft, they were found to be too small to cope with the latest electrical and acoustic sweep gear, as they lacked generating capacity. They were accordingly downgraded to subsidiary duties within a few years, serving as diving tenders, torpedo recovery vessels etc.

HMS Odiham was laid up in Operational Reserve in 1963 at Rosneath, Scotland and withdrawn from service as part of a defence review in 1966 and sold in 1980. The ship’s bell was presented by Captain J. Hawkins OBE, RN, to the Parish in 1967.