From Toronto To Chanthaburi: H M S Minstrel - H T M S Phosamton

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, gomangosteen said:

A little history from 1953

The Royal Thai Navy was invited by the British government to attend a naval ceremony at Spithead in England on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

 

Amazing, what an effort to make for the coronation!

Compared to modern days when someone couldn't be bothered flying a couple of hours to attend her funeral!

[billd766]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

I found this Photo of HMS Minstrel on this website.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=HMS+Minstrel&sxsrf=ALiCzsZ9mSV89Qu1DHGFBU9s-40n_udHiQ:1672743496469&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&vet=1&fir=lZrYqpNbpKN7yM%2CZTykxDxH-0IH_M%2C_%3BnXswizN34M1_SM%2C0qfdNI4Px0RH2M%2C_%3Bpz_HrobGYNOHhM%2Cun_Cb-Cml9UOYM%2C_%3BOM5v0PvjZ4vKdM%2Co37wzDLpXCM8eM%2C_%3Bmax_Pp67NDdNHM%2C_G4zFcx0dpB0nM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kTaXkyo9wpAcIid-KYCnV5Xc0RFZg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwil7KCPn6v8AhXpIbcAHbJgCIoQ_h16BAhQEAE#imgrc=nXswizN34M1_SM

I had not realised that the thread is nearly 10 years old

 

On 12/23/2022 at 5:25 PM, gomangosteen said:

December 2022 and an update on HTMS Phosamton - formerly HMS Minstrel, Algerine class minesweeper from WWII.

 

In 2018 there were various people here from the Thai navy inspecting the ship. I heard of two options, again, either refloating and towing out to sea as an artificial reef, or dragging into a channel to be dug in the river beach and then enclosing it, as per the HTMS Prasae in Rayong province.

 

Nothing eventuated.

 

The ship has settled into the riverbed at its mooring at the Samet Ngam pier on the Chantahburi river. Water flows through holes in the sides, the decks are corroded, collapsing. I doubt now that refloating to tow away / move would be an option. It can just gently corrode away and I suppose become a genuine 'shipwreck'.

 

 

I think that the only way now would be to build a cofferdam around the ship, pump it out and keep pumping 24/7. Then I suspect the hull would need to be rebuilt from the keel up.

 

Far to expensive unless teh RTN is willing to throw tens of millions of baht at it.

 

I am not sure if it was made of Canadian timber or steel. If it is steel it may well be hard to rebuild as there will be little structural steel left to weld to.

[gomangosteen]

12 hours ago, billd766 said:

I had not realised that the thread is nearly 10 years old

Yes, and the ship is still here in 2022!

A pity the earlier images linked to Photobucket are no longer available.

 

Here's one from ten years ago - 2012

 

And the state of the interior, January 2013

At that time there were a few people sandblasting and painting the exterior, but no attention made to the inside structure

 

 

 

[gomangosteen]

2013 and some new paintwork

 

[gomangosteen]

Views from above

 

 

October 2021

[gomangosteen]

On 3/16/2013 at 6:45 AM, cycloneJ said:

A diversion - this one can be 'from California to Prasae, Rayong'

Just out of Chanthaburi province, 10km over the border with Rayong, is HTMS Prasae (formerly US Navy USS Gallup PF-47, Soviet Navy EK-22), at Paknam Prasae

Get there from Sukhumvit 3, 9km east of Klaeng then a further 10km to Paknam Prasae on Highway 3162

USS Gallup a Tacoma-class frigate, was built in California and launched 17 September 1943

Saw duty with US Navy in the Pacific until 26 August 1945

Transferred to Soviet Navy as EK-22 under a lend-lease agreement

Returned to US Navy on 14 November 1949 at Yokohama, Japan

Recommissioned 18 October 1950 for duty in the Korean conflict

Decommissioned and transferred to the Royal Thai Navy 19 October 1951 as HTMS Prasae

Decommissioned and struck from the Royal Thai Navy register 22 June 2000

Preserved as a memorial at Sattahip Naval Base then towed to Prasae 23 December 2003 as The HTMS Prasae

At one time I understood this was an option for the Minstrel/Phosamton, but it's too far gone for that now.

 

HTMS Prasae

 

[billd766]

2 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

At one time I understood this was an option for the Minstrel/Phosamton, but it's too far gone for that now.

 

HTMS Prasae

 

Thank you for the information, links and photos. They are excellent.

[gomangosteen]

An article on the HMS Minstrel / HMS Phosamton

 

The Loneliest Minesweeper?

 

Shipsearcher staff share views of the last of the Algerine class minesweepers that served in vital roles in the Second World War: HMS Minstrel / HTMS Phosamton.

Shipsearcher Identification Section (SIS) staff search extensively for satellite views of some of the last survivors of famous classes of warships. During the Second World War, the British Algerine fleet or ocean-going minesweeper design formed an important class of Allied warship. At 225 feet long and about 1,300 tons displacement, they were larger than other designs, such as the Bangor or Bathurst sweepers.

This new class could be constructed by commercial shipyards – an important feature for speeding up wartime production of the vital hulls. More than half of the 110 ships were built in Canadian shipyards: Port Arthur Shipbuilding, Toronto Shipbuilding, and Redfern Construction. These ships were all powered by reciprocating engines, while some of the British-built ships were turbine-driven. In addition to regular minesweeping duties, ships were quickly pressed into service as ocean escorts, helping to bulk up protection for the vital transatlantic convoys. The dozen Royal Canadian Navy units spent most of their wartime duty in this role, providing important service alongside River class frigates and Flower class corvettes.

 

1943 photograph of HMCS Sault Ste. Marie,  a Canadian-built Algerine, built by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. and similar to the original configuration of HMS Minstrel. Credit: Canada. Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada CT-247

 

HMS Minstrel J-445, was one of the last ships launched from the Toronto, Ontario shipyards of Redfern Construction Company in 1945, as the war ended. Minstrel was transferred to the Royal Thai Navy In 1947 as HTMS Phosamton (or “Phosampton” depending on the source). With most of her sister-ships scrapped in the 1960s, her service stretched on and on into the early 2000s. According to 1980s editions of Jane’s Fighting Ships, she was given an engineering upgrade and modified with a large classroom deckhouse over the quarterdeck, serving as a training vessel.

 

Most online sources still call the Phosamton the last active Algerine, serving out of Samut Prakan naval base. However, the Navypedia entry notes it was stricken (removed from service) in 2017, with other sources suggesting it was retired in 2012. A Thai news source had a more accurate updated location that we were able to look up, and images online confirm the location. This minesweeper has been located nearby at Samet Ngam since at least 2013, and shipsearcher staff very much hope that it will be saved from scrapping. However, it has been languishing in a deteriorated condition. More recent views show a large barge moored alongside. As the ship is reported to be resting on the bottom at her berth, the barge may be alongside to commence dismantling the venerable sweeper in situ. Thailand has gone to lengths to preserve other contemporary warships, after their long second careers with the Royal Thai Navy, so there is still hope for this last Algerine.

 

Check out the Royal Thai Navy pages for other views of the Phosamton

 

 

 

 

[gomangosteen]

Revisited 18 May 2023

Cycled to Samet Ngam, a new route relying on Google Maps to get through quiet little rural roads, 43km return.

HTMS Phosamton looking even more 'settled' into the riverbed - noticeable from the ladder angle getting nearer horizontal.

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

Maybe time to scuttle it, for a new artificial reef somewhere and have it actually put to use.

[gomangosteen]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Maybe time to scuttle it, for a new artificial reef somewhere and have it actually put to use.

That was considered, about 2014, same time as two other old Thai navy ships were towed out and sunk off Koh Chang. Then the idea of dragging it inshore similar to the one I pictured further up the coast at Prasae and fitting the interior as a local naval museum.

 

Unfortunately now it has the river flowing through holes in the hull and is well-embedded in the riverbed (about 4km inland on the Chanthaburi River), would be a massive cost to refloat and from what I've seen at waterline, wonder if the hull would hold up, or break up. 

 

I have been following progress/non-progress for ten years now, he area is a nice place to visit on a cycle ride and in that time become much more tourist-oriented, later this year or early next year the huge Kiing Rama IX mangrove conservation area opens nearby and the KT shrine gets very busy on weekends/holidays.

 

A potentially good idea gone wrong - located in the historic King Taksin's Shipyard area, fast becoming an eyesore to the small local community.

Samet Ngam from above; across the river is the village port of Tha Chalaep which has the offices and research vessel of the Marine Archaeology Dept, the National Maritime Museum is a further 6km away inside the walls of the Noen Wong fortress (1834).

 

Paknam Laem Sing is about 4km away - top left of this photo. Under the bridge and out into the Gulf of Thailand.

 

[KhunLA]

6 minutes ago, gomangosteen said:

That was considered, about 2014, same time as two other old Thai navy ships were towed out and sunk off Koh Chang. Then the idea of dragging it inshore similar to the one I pictured further up the coast at Prasae and fitting the interior as a local naval museum.

Unfortunately now it has the river flowing through holes in the hull and is well-embedded in the riverbed (about 4km inland on the Chanthaburi River), would be a massive cost to refloat and from what I've seen at waterline, wonder if the hull would hold up, or break up. 

A potentially good idea gone wrong - located in the historic King Taksin's Shipyard area, fast becoming an eyesore to the small local community.

Maybe a good money laundering project.   Stabilize it with some pilings, patch & paint above the waterline, and you have a restaurant/bar, with a couple rooms to rent out.

 

Or yet, another new coffee shop ☕

[gomangosteen]

Another Shipping News story, this time further up the coast in Rayong province at Paknam Prasae, a Tacoma-class frigate HTMS Prasae (formerly US Navy USS Gallup PF-47 built in California launched 17 September 1943, then Soviet Navy EK-22)

 

 

 

[gomangosteen]

No change for 2024 except the HTMS Phosamton / HMS Minstrel may be a few cm more embedded in the riverbed

 

and from 09/04/1947

Minesweeper HMS Minstrel at Naval Dockyard, Singapore, during its handover ceremony from British Royal Navy to Royal Thai Navy
 

 

[gomangosteen]

Biked to Prasae in Rayong province yesterday, the park area is currently a large construction site with new walkways, lawns and gardens underway, HTMS Prasae is still accessible across the earthworks

 

[gomangosteen]

All aboard! Someone has removed the safety barrier and left a rather dodgy ladder from the pier to the HTMS Phosamton / HMS Minstrel at Samet Ngam, I had a careful walk around the decks on Wednesday, just a few others there, fishing.