HMS Bangor is expected to complete structural repairs by the end of April 2026, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
In response to a parliamentary question from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Defence Minister Luke Pollard clarified that the vessel is not undergoing a formal refit, but instead is receiving repairs following damage sustained during deployed operations.
“HMS BANGOR is not in refit; the ship is undergoing structural repairs following the ship’s recovery from deployed operations,” Pollard said. “These are currently scheduled to have been completed by the end of April 2026.”
HMS Bangor is a Sandown-class minehunter, a class of vessels specifically designed to detect and neutralise naval mines in complex maritime environments. Displacing around 600 tonnes and measuring 52.5 metres in length, the ship is optimised for operations in shallow and confined waters.
The vessel is powered by diesel-electric propulsion using Paxman Valenta engines, combined with Voith Schneider propellers and bow thrusters, giving it exceptional manoeuvrability.
Its primary sensor is the Type 2093 variable depth sonar, capable of detecting mines on or near the seabed at significant depths. This is supported by radar systems and mine disposal capabilities, including remotely operated SeaFox systems and diver-placed charges. For self-defence, the ship is fitted with a 30mm DS30B gun, alongside machine guns, although its primary role remains mine countermeasures rather than combat operations.
The vessel sustained damage during a collision while deployed in the Middle East, and there had previously been uncertainty over whether repairs would be carried out given earlier plans to retire the ship. However, Bangor has since been retained in service, with plans to extend her operational life to maintain the Royal Navy’s deep-water minehunting capability.
Is she the last working mine hunter we have? i know we have drone mine hunters but not many and they are not fully in service. Has there been a case quickly retire stuff, gap ita bit and save money in the hort term. As always just cross fingers we do not need what we retired, like AWAC’s which still have none of.
We still have Ledbury, Cattistock, Brocklesby, Middleton (Commissioned but inactive) and Hurworth, Chiddingfold is not active but is still in commission
The last Sandown class, yes.
Some of the Hunts remain at HMNB Portsmouth.
Are in service and working or just on strength in port ? we have a lot of ships in port most not working awaiting spares/crew or upgrade. I know the MOD/Government tend be less than up front about what ships can be used if needed and what basicly retired but not listed as such.
If only we had more of these, very small, barley armed, plastic ships that have no survival rating, we could reopen the straits of Hormuz.
Those fast drones able to do the job three times faster that are air deployable, can launch from shore and don’t have to put a man in harms way are totally useless 🤦♂️.
It’s always shocking to me just how much people in the UK and our media talk down every single thing we do, largely because of their own ignorance and mis placed nostalgia.
You can see the same thing in Ukraine, we acted like every piece of kit we sent out their was s**t yet I see wall to wall videos from Ukrainian soldiers loving CR2, AS90, CVR(t) etc. more so than L2, Archer, Pz2000 etc.
Just last week people on here were banging on about how much better the French mine sweeping system is because is needs a dedicated mine hunting vessel. No one seemed to figure how the f**k a dedicated mine hunting vessel is going to take to get to the Arabian gulf nor how it’s going to operate in a contested environment. Ours can be flown in a c17 and get there in 8 hours and can be operated from the shore but it’s apparently s**t because it doesn’t look like a minesweeper.
The issue isn’t moving to autonomous minehunting, which can only be a good thing. It’s gapping capability. Until three months ago we had a permanent presence, so it would have take no time to get the old system to the Gulf.
Exactly.
The decision to extend Bangor in service was surprising. Does anyone know what the Sandowns can do that the Hunts can’t?
We often forget with our focus on the drop in numbers of large surface combatant escorts from 32/33to 12 by the end of the year, that not so long ago the RN had 28 ocean going mine warfare vessels.. now it’s all lovely saying these will be replaced by little autonomous boats and 3 mother ships, but those mine warfare vessels had a wider purpose they were ocean going patrol and presence vessels as well as 9 OPVs.. that gave the RN a total of not only 28 mine warfare ships but a combined total of 37 smaller ocean going combatants.. with 32/33 frigates and destroyers that’s 70 vessels before you add the amphibious and RFA and this was not a Cold War navy.. this was a peacetime unipolar navy.. now when the world is on the edge of WW3 we have 12 large and at best 15 small vessels with a plan to dispose of all but 8 small vessels.
Our mine warfare capability is probably the best example of the insanity of the drone model.. one of those mine sweepers not only does mine warfare, but
It does patrol and presence.. it’s a ship it has meaning beyond.. yes it can only operate in benign environments or if less than benign under the protection of an escort.. but it can manage grey warfare it can hold the line in a sub kinetic environment… and the future will be a lot about grey warfare and sub kinetic as well as deterrence of the kinetic…
The mine warfare drone capability has sucked HMG into the same false premise that the Gold plated T45 did.. if a type 45 can do the same job as 2 type 45s then you only need half the number.. if one mother ship and 4 drones can do the job of 5 minesweepers you only need 20% of the crewed mine warfare vessels and the RN is falling into the same trap again with the Atlantic Bastion.. 1 frigate and some drone buddies or 1 T83 and some drone buddies…this unfortunately is and always has been a false premise.. because the utter and fundamental requirement of a ship is first and Foremost to be there in that place at that time with a human crew that can make an impact with their presence… and HMS massive ( T45 ) can only be in one place at one time.. a mother ship and 4 drones can only be in one place at one time.. this is why throughout history in major naval wars ( not battles but large long major maritime wars) the navy with the most numbers of ships ( even if most of them are HMS crappy) almost always wins… contrary to what we imagine the RN spent almost its entire history winning with quite frankly sometimes really inferior ships.. what it had was lots of ships, that allowed to to be everywhere at every time that mattered, it also allowed it to practice a lot and get really good ( large navies are well practiced navies.. thee more restrictive your ship numbers the less crews you can train and the smaller your talent pool and experience.. this starts to impact.. one U.S. captain wrote a very good piece for the US navel college pointing out that PLAN captains now get more command experience than USN captains as an example of why numbers will make a difference)
Sorry I was on my phone with lots of errors there, one line should read “if a T45 can do the job of 2 T42s…