HMS Tonbridge (T119)

Tonbridge was a twin-screw cargo ship that was built in 1924 by D. and W. Henderson and Co. Ltd., Glasgow for the Southern Railway. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1940 and converted to a netlayer. She was in service until bombed and sunk by a German aircraft on 22 August 1941.

Description
As built, Tonbridge was 220 ft long, with a beam of 33 ft and a depth of 14 ft. She was powered by two triple expansion steam engines, which had cylinders of 14 in, 25 in and 41 in diameter by 24 in stroke. The engines were built by Henderson. They were rated at 166 NHP each. Twin screw propellers gave the ship a speed of 15 kn.

Southern Railway
Tonbridge was built in 1924 as yard number 633 by D. and W. Henderson and Co. Ltd., Glasgow for the Southern Railway. She was launched on 3 June 1924 and completed on 21 July 1924. Her port of registry was London. The Code Letters KRDL and United Kingdom Official Number 147690 were allocated. With the change of Code Letters in 1934, Tonbridge was allocated the letters MLYV.

Royal Navy
In October 1940, Tonbridge was requisitioned by the Admiralty. She was converted to a netlayer for the Royal Navy. She served as HMS Tonbridge with the pennant number T119. On 22 August 1941, HMS Tonbridge was bombed and sunk in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk by German aircraft. She was lost 3 cables (0.3 nmi) off the Scroby Elbow Buoy with the loss of 35 of her crew.

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