D MMS 17 [on back of photograph]
The other type of British wooden hulled motor minesweeper was known as the 126ft Class. Seven of these were built by Wivenhoe Shipyard Ltd between 1942 and 1945, numbered FY PT. 1009, 1010, 1011, 1012, 1028, 1044 and 1083. They were 139ft 9in overall length x 26ft beam and 10ft 6in hull depth. Propulsion was by one 500 BHP diesel engine producing a speed of about 10knots. Total complement of officers and men ws 21. Two 20 m/m Oerlikon guns were mounted. They were fitted for sweeping magnetic mines with an "L.L" sweep gear and also acoustic mines and other types at times. This is FY PT 1028 ready to launch in 1943. Her size can be judged by the man in the foreground and ..... ? for wooden ships these were fairly large. Wooden vessels of this size, besides steel ships and other craft, had been built on the site since the eighteenth century and probably earlier. It is now once again an unused open space. [JL] [It is now a housing estate.]
Plate.50 in SWW.