A nice small bronze ships bell from HMS Aveley.

H.M.S. Aveley was a Royal Naval Ley-class mine hunter. It was laid down in Feb 1953. In 1983 after service it became Sea Cadet training ship based in Woolwich. The ship was broken up 1986.

The bell is made of solid polished bronze with a cream painted interior.

The bell is embossed to the front ‘H.M.S. Aveley’ which is in-filled with red paint.

The bell is complete with original clapper braided rope work pull.

The bell has a modern metal fitting to the top.

~ Dimensions ~

The bell has a diameter of 6 ¾ inches (17cm) and a height of 6 ½ inches (16.5cm).

Together with the clapper and pull it weighs 2.99 Kg.

~ Condition ~

The bell has some marks and the odd minor ding but is free from any real damage. The clapper is rather rusty but sound and the pull is in good condition.

~ Ley-Class Mine Hunter ~

The Ley class was a class of inshore mine hunter built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1950's. They had pennant numbers in the series M2001. Eleven ships were built in the early 1950's, most of which were subsequently disarmed and used as training vessels, RNXS tenders, URNU vessels etc.

Unlike traditional minesweepers, they were not equipped for sweeping moored or magnetic mines. Their work was to locate individual mines and neutralise them. This was a then new role, and the class was configured for working in the shallow water of rivers, estuaries and shipping channels.

They were of composite construction, that is, wood and non-ferrous metals, to give a low magnetic signature, important in a vessel that may be dealing with magnetically detonated mines. They displaced 164 tons fully laden, were armed with a Bofors 40 mm gun and were powered by a pair of Paxman diesel engines.

The class shared the same basic hull as their inshore minesweeper counterpart the Ham-class and the Echo-class inshore survey craft.