HMS Chiddingfold

HMS Chiddingfold (M37)

HMS Chiddingfold is one of eight Hunt-class minehunters in the Royal Navy which make up Second Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCM2).

'Cheery Chid,' as she is known was built by Vosper Thornycroft and launched on 6 October 1983, commissioning into the Royal Navy a year later. She is based in Portsmouth.

Chid is a minehunter – her highly trained crew use specialist skills and equipment to keep shipping lanes safe and neutralise threats left from conflicts past.

Facts & figures

Facts & figures

1,500+ nautical miles

Total range

9.8 metres

Width (beam) at widest point

685 tonnes

Total displacement

Our Operations

Current operation

Operation Kipion

Middle East

HMS CHIDDINGFOLD is currently forward based in Bahrain as part of OPERATION KIPION – a standing operation which has been fulfilled by MCMVs for 15 years in the Middle East. She operates with 2 crews, rotating every 4 months. CHIDDINGFOLD is currently operated by MCM2 Crews 1 and 3 who will each complete 3 deployments over a 2 year period.

Our base

Our base

HMNB Portsmouth

Whilst HMNB Portsmouth is her home port, CHIDDINGFOLD will be Forward Based from the Naval Support Facility in Bahrain for several years.

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Commanding Officer - MCM2 Crew 1

Lieutenant Commander Chris Sharp

Commanding Officer - MCM2 Crew 5

Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Southall

HMS Chiddingfold's role

Like her sister ships of the Hunt-class, HMS Chiddingfold is a highly effective minehunter. Using high definition sonar, she scours the world's seabeds for mines and lost explosives. Once her crew detect a danger, they get to work and destroy it safely.

She is well-equipped, with the latest minehunting technology, including the Seafox mine disposal system, advanced sonar, as well as a team of expert ordnance disposal divers.

‘Cheery Chid’ deployed to the Gulf in 2014 to protect vital sea lanes. Although her 42 crew rotated every six months, the ship was based in Bahrain until she returned home in September 2017. She was kept busy, has taken part in major exercises with the US and NATO.

Unit history

Royal Navy careers

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