HMIS Punjab (J239)

HMIS Punjab (J239) was a Bathurst-class minesweeper which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.^[1]

History
India
Name	Punjab
Ordered	24 January 1941
Builder	Mort's Dock
Laid down	26 May 1941
Launched	10 October 1941
Commissioned	20 March 1942
Out of service	1949
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class & type	Bathurst-class minesweeper
Displacement	1,025 tons (full war load)
Length	186 ft (57 m)
Beam	31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught	8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Propulsion	Triple expansion, 2 shafts. 2,000 hp (1,500 kW)
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	85
Sensors & processing systems	Type 128 asdic
Armament	1 × 12-pounder gun or 1 × 4 inchgun, 1 × 40 mm Bofors gun, 2-3 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns, up to 40 depth charges

History

HMIS Punjab was ordered in 1941, and built by Mort's Dock. She was commissioned in 1942, into the Eastern Fleet. She escorted a number of convoys until the end of the war.^[2][3][4][5]

In July 1945, in support of the planned Allied amphibious landings in Malaya, Punjab with other RIN and Royal Navy vessels conducted minesweeping operations off Phuket.^[6]

After the independence of India and the subsequent partition, she was among the vessels transferred to Pakistan.