HMS Swindon

HMS Swindon was a Hunt-class minesweeper of the Aberdare sub-class built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was not finished in time to participate in the First World War and was sold into civilian service in 1921.

Design and description
The Aberdare sub-class were enlarged versions of the original Hunt-class ships with a more powerful armament. The ships displaced 800 LT at normal load. They had a length between perpendiculars of 220 ft and measured 231 ft long overall. The Aberdares had a beam of 26 ft and a draught of 7 ft. The ships' complement consisted of 74 officers and ratings.

The ships had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Yarrow boilers. The engines produced a total of 2200 ihp and gave a maximum speed of 16 kn. They carried a maximum of 185 LT of coal which gave them a range of 1500 nmi at 15 kn.

The Aberdare sub-class was armed with a quick-firing (QF) 4 in gun forward of the bridge and a QF twelve-pounder (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft gun aft. Some ships were fitted with six- or three-pounder guns in lieu of the twelve-pounder.

Construction and career
Swindon was renamed from HMS Bantry in 1918 to avoid any conflict between the vessel name and a coastal location. In 1921 she was sold off and converted to a coastal passenger/freight steamer SS Lady Cecilia by the Coaster Construction Co of Montrose, Scotland for the Union Steamship Co of British Columbia. She was laid up and sold to Coast Ferries in 1951, then scrapped at Gambier Island, BC in 1952.