HMS Portisham (M2781)

HMS Portisham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class of inshore minesweepers.

HMS Portisham at Portsmouth Navy Day, 1980.
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Portisham
Namesake	Portisham
Builder	Dorset Yacht Co.
Launched	3 November 1955
Completed	26 March 1956
Homeport	Balbriggan
Identification	Portisham
Fate	Sold January 1989, currently in private ownership.
General characteristics
Class & type	Ham-class minesweeper
Displacement	120 tons sd
Beam	21.5ft
Propulsion	Originally, Paxman 12YHAXM, now Scania DS9 & Cummins L10
Speed	14 kts
Range	TBD
Complement	2 - 6
Notes	Pennant number(s): M2781 / IMS81

Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Portesham in Dorset, using an alternative spelling for the village.

Portisham served in the Royal Navy from 1956 until 1964, when she was transferred to the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS).

On 15 April 1973, Portisham assisted a Royal Dutch Navy Breguet Atlantic aircraft no 257 which ditched off Wassenaar, Netherlands.

Portisham was removed from service in 1983. After her sale in 1989 she was laid up and for sale in a boatyard in Essex. She was procured for conversion to a liveaboard ship by an Irish national in 2007 and is currently the second biggest private vessel under the Irish flag.

Portisham as a liveaboard in Balbriggan, 2012.

Sank wicklow 2024 owner committed to asylum.

References

• Man living in ‘floating home’ wins reprieve against council
• Supreme Court defers ruling in row over ‘floating home’ in Dublin
• Blackman, R.V.B. ed. Jane's Fighting Ships various editions
• Colledge J.J. Ships of the Royal Navy various editions
• Cocker M.P. Mine Warfare Vessels of the Royal Navy (1993)