SURVIVING HDMLS IN THE UK AND...

ML1085 Etive Shearwater

Built by the Susses Shipbuilding company, Shoreham, and launched 16/9/41 she saw service at D-Day and at Scappa Flow. Post war she surveyed the Weser estuary and approaches to Bremen. Sold out of naval service in 1959 she became a ferry serving the Western Isles including Eigg, Muck and Rum. After several owners she is currently near Inverness being restored.

ML1379 Abri

ML 1379 was built by Blackmore at Bideford, Devon, and launched 17/11/43. As part of the 151st ML flotilla, she took part in Operation Neptune (D-Day). She was sold out of service in 1947 and is currently a houseboat at Strood on the Medway.

ML1392 Sarinda

ML1392 was built by Berthon at Lymington and launched 20/12/43. She took part in Operation Neptune (D-Day) as a channel marker at Gold Beach. In March 1945 she captured a German one-man submarine (Bieber) off Breskens in the Scheldt estuary. After the war she became the HM Customs vessel Valiant. In 1967 she was sold and subsequently rebuilt with new engines and redesigned superstructure, operating as a motor yacht. She’s now a houseboat at Heswall on the Wirral.

ML1309 Morning Wings

ML1309 was built by Burn at Wroxham, Norfolk, and launched 4/2/43. She took part in Operation Neptune (D-Day) as part of the 149th ML Flotilla and was a marker to indicate the turning point for the American airborne divisions on the eve of D-Day. No record of her war service has come to light and she was sold from service in April 1948. She is currently afloat at Upton-upon-Severn.

ML1257 Marica

ML1257 was built by Berthon at Lymington and launched 12/2/43. She served in the Mediterranean and took part in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in July of 1943. She was sold in 1946 and is currently a houseboat in Hartlepool.