British shipyard, Harland & Wolff, has been awarded a £55 million contract to regenerate a former Royal Navy mine-hunting vessel, HMS QUORN. Supporting ambitions to bolster British shipbuilding, specified by the Nationwide Shipbuilding Technique Refresh, the regeneration will assist 100 jobs on the south-west shipyard. On behalf of the Lithuanian Authorities, the Defence Tools Gross sales Authority (DESA) awarded the contract that can see HMS QUORN renovated and restored, bolstering NATO maritime functionality in Europe. The work will see an inflow of contractors for the mission throughout the native and nationwide provide chain, with 14 main subcontract packages in engineering, gear and integration, together with different refurbishment companies. HMS QUORN accomplished 27 years of Service with the Royal Navy earlier than being offered to Lithuania in April 2020. The vessel patrolled the seas as a part of the Royal Navy fleet of Hunt Class Mine Countermeasures Vessels (MCMVs) till 2017.
Cdre Richard Whalley, Head of DESA, mentioned:” This contract award reinforces our glorious working relationship that we’ve with Lithuania as our NATO ally in addition to UK owned Harland & Wolff. We’re actually happy to see HMS QUORN refurbished in Appledore Shipyard and look ahead to persevering with our work with them supporting the British provide chain.”
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Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin, mentioned:”I’m happy that this multi-million pound contract will see a former Royal Navy mine-hunting vessel restored and regenerated in a British shipyard, supporting UK jobs and strengthening shipbuilding within the south-west. Lithuania is a key NATO ally and Joint Expeditionary Power companion, and this mine-hunting vessel will bolster NATO maritime functionality throughout Europe, guaranteeing the Alliance stays prepared to answer evolving international threats.”
The Hunt Class vessels specialize in lively mine-hunting. They use high-definition sonar to scour seabeds for mines, that are then destroyed by the ship’s clearance diving groups or mine disposal system. Tailor-made for the Lithuanian Navy, the work contains upgrades to the ships mission and sonar methods, and a further search and rescue functionality. The contract can even add new major engines, turbines and propulsion gear in addition to refurbish the lodging, hull, ancillary methods, electrical methods and portray. A key NATO ally and companion within the Joint Expeditionary Power (JEF), Lithuania will add the restored mine-hunting vessel to its current fleet, with the addition of this functionality boosting NATO functionality throughout Europe. It’s deliberate that the ship shall be handed over to the Lithuanian Navy in 2024. HMS QUORN is the third mine-hunting vessel that DESA has offered to Lithuania, following the sale of HMS Dulverton and HMS Cottesmore in 2008.
HMS Quorn, the third ship of this identify, was a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 23 January 1988, because the final ship of her class. The Hunt class is a category of 13 mine countermeasure vessels of the Royal Navy. Upon introduction within the early Eighties they have been the biggest warships ever constructed out of glass-reinforced plastic and have been the final in operation to make use of the Napier Deltic diesel engine. As constructed, they mixed the separate roles of the standard minesweeper and that of the lively minehunter in a single hull, however later modifications noticed the removing of mine-sweeping gear. They’ve a secondary function as offshore patrol vessels. All 13 ships of this class re-used names from the World Conflict II Hunt-class destroyer. 4 of the names had additionally been used for World Conflict I Hunt-class minesweepers: these have been HMS Bicester, Cattistock, Cottesmore and Quorn. HMS Atherstone had been a paddlewheel minesweeper in 1916, and Brocklesby was a coaster taken up from commerce in 1916.
