Dorset-named, they also served

Dorset named vessels to have served in the Royal Navy:

HMS Bridport was a Sandown class minehunter built in Vosper Thornycroft’s Southampton shipyard in 1992. Fourteen years later, she was sold to the Estonian Navy.

HMS Dorsetshire was a heavy cruiser launched in Portsmouth Dockyard in 1929. She was involved in the sinking of the German battleship, Bismarck and the search for the German heavy cruiser, the Graf Spee. HMS Dorsetshire was sunk by the Japanese in the Indian Ocean in 1942 with the loss of 400 of her 1,500 crew.

HMS Weymouth was a light cruiser launched back in 1910. She was one of seven vessels named Weymouth to serve in the Royal Navy. HMS Weymouth served in the Mediterranean, Atlantic & Home Fleets and in the Adriatic.

HMS Sherborne was a cutter which operated against smugglers in the English Channel between 1763 & 1784.

HMS Cattistock is a mine countermeasures vessel launched by Vosper Thornycroft in 1982.

HMS Blandford was launched back in 1720. After service in the British Navy, she became involved in the slave trade.

HMS Poole was a minesweeper built in Glasgow in 1941. Two years later, she was involved in the capture of Italian submarine, Bronzo off the Sicilian coast. HMS Poole was sold in 1948.

(Illustrations: HMS Bridport & HMS Dorsetshire rescues sailors from the sunken German battleship, the Bismarck)

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The Blandford Express

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