HMS Waveney (M2003): From the Royal Naval Reserve to the Bay of Bengal

Built for the Reserve

HMS Waveney was built by Richards Dry Dock and Engineering and entered Royal Navy service on 12 July 1984, a River-class minesweeper assigned to the South Wales Division of the Royal Naval Reserve, part of a class specifically designed to give reservists hands-on experience of minesweeping and patrol work alongside the regular fleet.

A Decade in Reserve Service

Waveney served the Royal Naval Reserve for close to a decade before being withdrawn from service in 1993, part of the broader post-Cold War drawdown that saw a number of River-class vessels declared surplus to requirements as defence priorities shifted.

Sold to Bangladesh

In 1995, Waveney was sold to Bangladesh and recommissioned into the Bangladesh Navy as BNS Shapla on 27 April that year, taking on a new life patrolling the waters of the Bay of Bengal, armed with a Bofors 40mm gun and general-purpose machine guns for her new role.

Still on Patrol

BNS Shapla continues in active service with the Bangladesh Navy as a patrol ship, a properly satisfying second career for a vessel originally built to give British reservists their sea time, now helping to secure one of the busiest and most strategically important stretches of water in South Asia, decades after her construction on the other side of the world.