HMS Kellington

In November 1955 she sailed from Sunderland to HMS Diligence at Hythe, to be fitted with mine sweeping equipment, and then went to Poole to prepare her for the Reserve Fleet. February 1956 towed to Hythe to commission temporarily for the 108th mine sweeping squadron based in Malta. 14th March 1956 she sailed for Malta in the company of HMS Hexton and Tarlton. On 23rd March 1956 the group encountered Force 9 gales and took shelter in the Bay of Tunis, before arriving at Malta on 24th March 1956. Over the next 3 months she was involved in patrols round Cyprus, then, on 30th June 1956 she set sail from Malta for the UK. On arrival, she spent the next 5 months in Portland. In January 1957 returned to Hythe to join the reserve fleet until July 1962 when she was towed to Devonport Dockyard for refitting. The refit was completed in the summer of 1963 and she returned to Hythe. In November 1964 it was decided to convert her into a mine hunter, and also change her engines and fit an enclosed bridge. She was towed from Hythe to Chatham by the tug Bustler, arriving on 5th May 1967. On 6th June 1969 she was re-commissioned at Chatham, to join the Fishery Protection Squadron based at HMS Lochinvar at Port Edgar and she arrived there on 31st July 1969. Between 1969 and 1975 whe was constantly on patrol round the UK, and was also involved in national mine counter measure exercises and foreign visits. HMS Lochinvar closed in 1975 and the Fishery Protection Squadron moved to Lochinvar Block at Rosyth Naval Base. On 16th Nov 1976, she was transferred to Sussex Division Royal Naval Reserve, prior to starting a refit at Portsmouth Dockyard. As part of the Channel Group of the RNR, she was involved in all NATO and National mine counter measures exercises and was returned to the Royal Navy on 1st April 1985. In 1993, she was decommissioned and became the headquarters of the Sea Cadets in Stockton on Tees. She was broken up in situ at Stockton on Tees in 2009.