HMS Bicester (M36): Twelve Years of Hunting Mines

Built by Vosper Thornycroft

HMS Bicester was built by Vosper Thornycroft, launched on 4 June 1985 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1988, one of the Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels that combined the roles of minesweeper and minehunter in a single glass-reinforced plastic hull, a design choice that kept the ship's own magnetic signature to a minimum, precisely the quality you want in a vessel whose job is to get close to naval mines without setting them off.

A Purpose-Built Minehunter

Displacing 750 tons and measuring 60 metres in length, Bicester was powered by two Napier Deltic diesels delivering 3,540 shaft horsepower for a top speed of 17 knots, and carried a ship's company of 45, six officers and thirty-nine ratings. She was armed with a 30mm automatic cannon, two Mk44 miniguns and three 7.62mm general purpose machine guns, alongside her real business end, the SeaFox mine disposal system and diver-placed explosive charges used to neutralise mines once her Type 2193 sonar had found them.

Twelve Years of Service

Bicester served the Royal Navy for twelve years, part of the standing fleet of Hunt-class vessels that carried out the painstaking, unglamorous work of mine countermeasures around British and NATO waters throughout the 1990s, precisely the sort of quiet, essential work that rarely makes headlines but keeps shipping lanes safe.

A Second Career With the Hellenic Navy

HMS Bicester was decommissioned in 2000 and sold to Greece the following year, entering service with the Hellenic Navy as HS Europa with the pennant number M62, extending the working life of a well-built minehunter by many more years under a new flag, part of a broader tradition of Royal Navy vessels finding useful second careers with allied fleets once their British service comes to an end.