MSI Ham Type Herstal-class inshore minesweeper, BNC M470 Temse

Suggestions Naval
1
Would you like to see this in-game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters
Where would you like to see this vehicle?
  • (independent) BeNeLux tree
  • France: BeNeLux subtree
  • South Korea (ROKN tree)
  • other
  • no/negative
0 voters
What versions would you like to see?
  • 1x twin 12.7 mm Browning
  • 1x twin 20 mm Oerlikon
  • both versions
  • other (please comment)
  • no/negative
0 voters

The M470 Temse was an inshore minesweeper (dragueur de mines de petit fond) of the Belgian MSI-class, built at the Mercantile Marine Yard in Kruibeke. Commissioned in 1958, she served with the Belgian Navy until March of 1970. Like other MSI vessels, she was designed to clear mines in shallow coastal waters, estuaries, and rivers, with a wooden hull and non-magnetic fittings. Armed with either a twin 12.7 mm Browning heavy machine gun or a twin 20 mm Oerlikon mount, she carried modest defensive armament but excelled in specialized mine countermeasures. M470 Temse stands out as one of the Belgian-built MSI ships that continued service overseas after Belgium decommissioned her.

TL;DR: MSI-class Belgian inshore minesweeper M470 Temse, served 1958–1970Armed with twin 12.7 mm or 20 mm, specialized for shallow-water mine warfare.

image

M470 Temse – Belgian inshore minesweeper

History

History

The Belgian Navy in the post-WWII era relied heavily on Allied-built minesweepers. By the mid-1950s, replacements were required for inshore service, leading to the construction of the MSI-class (dragueurs de mines de petit fond) at the Mercantile Marine Yard in Kruibeke.

image

The M470 Temse was laid down on 6 August 1956 and commissioned in January 1958. She was sponsored by the city of Temse and bore the callsign ORHG. Equipped with Decca 707 navigation radar and acoustic/magnetic sweeping gear, she was optimized for mine warfare in shallow waters (Van Beylen et al., 1972).

Temse served with the Belgian Naval Force until 26 March 1970, when she was decommissioned and transferred to South Korea under the name SURO (Anrys, De Decker de Brandeken, & Eygenraam, 1992). In South Korea, she most likely was turned into a private vessel or dismantled, extending the MSI-class legacy abroad slightly. (Note: Sources on what happened after March of 1970 are rare and often secondary accounts, no pictures after 1970 exist anywhere)

Commanding Officers (Belgium)

  • Lemaire, Walter L.M.
  • Pope, William H.

Specifications (M470 Temse)

Displacement:

  • 173.12 t (freshwater, full load)
  • 177.55 t (saltwater, full load)

Dimensions:

  • Length overall: 34.44 m
  • Length between P/P: 32.46 m
  • Beam: 6.65 m (max) / 6.58 m (waterline)
  • Depth: 3.65 m
  • Draught: 1.80 m (2.10 m max)
  • Waterline length: 12.20 m

Propulsion:

  • 2 × Nuove Reggiane diesels, 2 shafts
  • 1260 hp total (2 × 260 rated engines)
  • Fuel: 18 t diesel

Speed: 15 knots
Range: 2,300 nm @ 10 knots

Crew: 18 (2 officers, 7 petty officers, 9 sailors)

Electronics: Radar Decca 707 (navigation)

Armament Variants:

Version Weapons
Standard 1 × twin 12.7 mm Browning HMG
Alternate 1 × twin 20 mm Oerlikon AA gun

Mine Warfare Gear: Acoustic, magnetic, and mechanical sweeps
Construction: Wooden hull with non-magnetic fittings

Place in War Thunder

Regarding nations

BeNeLux

In a future BeNeLux coastal fleet, Temse would serve as an early Cold War mine warfare ship with modest armament but significant historical value.

France (BeNeLux subtree)

Alternatively, she could be included in France as part of the BeNeLux subtree.

South Korea

Since she later served as SURO with the Republic of Korea Navy, she could also be introduced into a future South Korean tree. This makes her unique as a cross-national asset.

Pictures

Pictures

image

M470 Temse in Belgian service.

Sources

Sources

Anrys, H., De Decker de Brandeken, J.-M., & Eygenraam, P. (1992). De zeemacht: van de admiraliteit van Vlaanderen tot de Belgische zeemacht. Tielt.

Dragueurs de mines belges de type MSI. (2023). Wikipedia. Retrieved September 27, 2023, from https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragueurs_de_mines_belges_de_type_MSI

Hofkens, L. (2021). Officiële eigendomsoverdracht van de mijnenveger M477 Oudenaarde. Ruimschoots, 22(1).

Jalon, R. (2010). De MSI 477 “Oudenaarde” in de watten gelegd door een enthousiaste ploeg vrijwilligers. Ruimschoots, 10(4).

Masset, F., & Grimbergs, E. (2015). MSI M477 Oudenaarde. Ruimschoots, 15(3), 21–23.

NavSource Naval History. (2023). Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2023, from http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/0583.htm

Van Beylen, J., et al. (1972). Maritieme Encyclopedie (Vol. 5). Bussum.

Belgian Navy Forum. (n.d.). MSI mine sweeper inshore. Archived at: https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.belgian-navy.be%2Ff13-msi-mine-sweeper-inshore

Belgian MSC/MSI Archive. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbelgian-msc-msi.doomby.com%2F

1 Like
2

+1 sure are a lot of ham types

3

Note on ROKN service

All sources used are secondary sources or accounts from her crew, although they all state that the M470 was sold on the same date (26 march 1970), there exist no primary sources, such as images or ROKN files, on her existance in South Korea and thus this can’t be confirmed.

The main trusted source for this is this book:

Anrys, H., De Decker de Brandeken, J.-M., & Eygenraam, P. (1992). De zeemacht: van de admiraliteit van Vlaanderen tot de Belgische zeemacht . Tielt.