HMS Aberford

HMS Aberford was one of 20 boats of the Ford class of patrol boats built for the Royal Navy in the 1950s.

HMS Droxford, another Ford-class patrol boat
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Aberford (P3102)
Operator	Royal Navy
Builder	Yarrow
Launched	23 September 1952
Fate	Sold 27 October 1964 to Kenya.
Kenya
Name	KNS Nyati
Operator	Kenya Navy
Acquired	16 December 1964
Fate	Sold for scrapping 1971.
General characteristics
Class & type	Ford class seaward defence boat
Displacement	120 tons standard 160 tons full load
Length	117 ft 3 in (35.74 m)
Beam	20 ft (6.1 m)
Draught	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Propulsion	1 × Foden diesel (Centre shaft) 2 × Paxman 12YHAX 550hp Diesels (Outer shafts)
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	19
Armament	1 × 40 mm anti-aircraft gun 2 × 20 mm anti aircraft guns

Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ford. This boat was named after Aberford, West Yorkshire.

The Kenya Navy was granted Aberford as a gift following independence and the formation of the Navy. She was renamed KNS (for Kenya Navy Ship) Nyati, and was the first ship in the Kenyan Navy. She was withdrawn and laid up in the late 1960s off the Southern Engineering yard in Mbaraki Creek in Mombasa and eventually beached and scrapped in 1975.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.