HMS Atherstone (M38)

HMS "Atherstone" was a of the Royal Navy, the third ship to bear the name. She was built by Vosper Thornycroft shipbuilders at Woolston, Southampton. She was launched on 1 March 1986 by Mrs Amy Jarvis, the wife of Mr Pat Jarvis, CB, the Deputy Controller of the Navy at the Ministry of Defence, and commissioned on 17 January 1987. She was the tenth ship of her class.
Operational history.
She was accepted into service on 28 November 1986 and commissioned in Portsmouth in early 1987. The ship had a close association with the town of Atherstone, Warwickshire, and was latterly part of the 2nd Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Squadron based at Portsmouth, England.
In December 2015, "Atherstone" returned from the Persian Gulf after a two-year deployment as part of Operation Telic in the Middle East, in support of coalition operations to promote and maintain peace in the Persian Gulf. She helped to provide assurance to merchant shipping, by conducting mine-countermeasure surveys in the main shipping routes throughout the region. She participated in 2014 IMCMEX.
After spending a period alongside in extended readiness, "Atherstone" was lifted out of the water into the "Minor War Vessels Centre of Specialisation"; the former shipbuilding hall at HMNB Portsmouth in December 2016 in readiness to enter refit However, in October 2017 it was revealed that the planned refit would not take place and "Atherstone" would be decommissioned on 14 December 2017. On 3 June 2020, the stripped down "Atherstone" was advertised for sale.