HMS Bodenham

HMS Bodenham was one of 93 ships of the Ham-class minesweeper of inshore minesweepers. Completed in 1953 for use in the British Royal Navy, she served as a tender to HMS Vernon (shore establishment) between 1954 and 1955 before being placed in reserve. In 1967 she was transferred to the newly-independent country of South Yemen renamed Al Saqr. She was renamed Jihla in 1975 and discarded in 1984.

Construction and design
HMS Bodenham (originally planned to be named Green Chaffinch) was ordered from Brooke Marine of Lowestoft on 29 September 1950 as part of the first series of Ham-class inshore minesweepers. The ships of the first series of the Ham class were 100 ft long between perpendiculars and 106 ft overall, with a beam of 21 ft and draught of 5 ft. They had hulls of composite wood-and-aluminium construction and displaced 120 LT standard and 159 LT deep load. They were propelled by two Paxman diesel engines, with a total of 1100 bhp, giving a speed of 14 kn. 15 tons of oil were carried, giving an endurance of 2350 nmi at 9 kn. Armament consisted of a single Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun or Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, although the ships armed with Bofors guns were usually rearmed with Oerlikons. The ships had a complement of two officers and 13 ratings.

Bodenham was launched on 21 August 1952, and was completed on 23 September 1953.

Service
The Ham class were too small to carry modern minesweeping equipment and in particular, lacked the electrical generating capacity to power acoustic and magnetic sweep gear, so saw little active use with the Royal Navy. Bodenham served as tender to HMS Vernon (shore establishment) between 1954 and 1955, then going into operational reserve at Rosneath, which lasted until 1963. In 1967, South Yemen became independent from the United Kingdom, and three Ham-class minesweepers (Bodenham, HMS Blunham (M2608) and HMS Elsenham (M2624)) were transferred to the newly established nation's navy. Bodenham was renamed Al Saqr on transfer and Jihla in 1975, and was discarded in 1984.