HMS St David (M1124): A Reservists' Ship That Rescued a German Cargo Vessel

Built at Grimsby as HMS Crichton

HMS St David began life as HMS Crichton, built at Doig's yard in Grimsby, with her keel laid on 21 April 1952 and completion following on 23 April 1954. She entered service that June with the 101st Royal Naval Reserve Vessel Squadron based at Greenock, a Ton-class minesweeper whose primary purpose was training the weekend sailors who made up the Reserve.

Escorting the Royal Yacht

In August 1956, Crichton had the honour of escorting the Royal Yacht Britannia, a duty that would have made for a proud moment aboard a ship more often occupied with routine training exercises and weekend patrols around the Clyde.

Renamed for Wales

Following a significant overhaul and Deltic engine conversion at Rosyth between 1961 and 1962, the ship was recommissioned as HMS St David for the South West Division of the RNR on 6 May 1962, taking on a new identity tied to the patron saint of Wales as her old squadron was renamed the 10th Minesweeping Squadron that October.

Gibraltar, the West Indies and Canada

As St David, she carried out multiple Rockhaul exercise deployments to Gibraltar and the Mediterranean between 1963 and 1967, took on West Indies guardship duty in early 1965, and joined four other RNR Ton-class ships on a deployment to Canada in the late summer of 1973, a genuinely wide-ranging itinerary for a small reservist training vessel.

A Commendation for Rescue at Sea

On 9 August 1983, the ship earned a Commander-in-Chief's Commendation for the rescue of the German cargo ship MV Dellstedt, a genuine act of seamanship under pressure that stands as one of the highlights of her long career, alongside three successful prosecutions of fishing vessels during 1981 and 1982 while on fishery protection duty.

Back to Crichton, and Retirement

The ship reverted to her original name of HMS Crichton in April 1976, taking up fishery protection duties for the Mersey Division of the RNR between 1978 and 1985. She was finally paid off on 4 October 1985 and sold to SB Queensborough for breaking up at Cairnryan on 25 March 1987, closing out over three decades of service under two names and two very different naval identities.