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HMS Magpie (H130)
Organisation / Units & Squadrons

HMS Magpie (H130)

HMS Magpie is the newest addition to the Royal Navy’s hydrographic squadron, commissioned in June 2018 to replace veteran survey launch HMS Gleaner.

Front view of HMS Magpie

Role

Led by Lieutenant Commander H Morgan, HMS Magpie is the first of numerous new small craft the RN is acquiring to replacing aging work/support boats. It is HMS Magpie’s task to survey the places other parts of the RN Hydrographic Squadron cannot reach thanks to her size and shallow draft.

That chiefly means updating charts of UK ports, harbours and waterways – in the final months of her life, for example, Gleaner was used extensively to survey the exit from Rosyth… allowing Britain’s biggest warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, to safely leave to begin her sea trials in the summer of 2017.

In addition, she acts as an extra pair of eyes in home waters for anything untoward happening.

Her built-in and towed sonar systems can scan every inch of the working part of a harbour to provide 3D imagery and an understanding of the seabed like never before.

Unit history

1806

The Magpie story begins

The first HMS Magpie was a Cuckoo Class schooner that was armed with four 12 pounder carronades and carried a crew of 20. She was captured by the French navy in 1807 whom she served until 1828.
1826

The second Magpie

The second ship with the name Magpie was a 5 gun schooner and was launched in 1826. She was wrecked 2 months later off the coast of Cuba.
1830

The third Magpie

The next HMS Magpie was a 4 gun cutter and was in service until 1845 where she was renamed YC6 and used for dockyard service.
1855

The fourth Magpie

The fourth ship was a Dapper class screw gunboat. She was wrecked in 1864.
1868

The fifth Magpie

The next Magpie was a screw gunvessel. In 1878 she was used as a survey vessel until she was sold in 1885.
1889

Magpie number six

The sixth Magpie was a screw gunboat. In 1902 she was used as a boom defence vessel before reverting back to a gunboat in 1915. She was then transferred as a depot ship before being sold in 1921.
1943

Seventh HMS Magpie (U82)

The seventh HMS Magpie was a Modified Black Swan class sloop. She took part in convoy duties in the North Atlantic. She was part of the 2nd Support Group (SG2). In 1944 she supported the Arctic Convoys to the Soviet Union. She was also one of the escorts of the D-Day landings to Normandy.
1947

Duke of Edinburgh

In 1947 the seventh HMS Magpie was reclassified as a Frigate and received a new pennant number F82. In 1950 - 1952 she was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander the Duke of Edinburgh in the Mediterranean. In 1953 she was apart of the Fleet Review that celebrated the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. After a trip to South Africa she was broken up in 1959.
1982

The eight HMS Magpie

The next HMS Magpie was a trawler purchased in 1982 and was used until 1996 for training.
2018

Current HMS Magpie

The current HMS Magpie is the ninth ship to bear the name. She replaced HMS Gleaner and was commissioned in 2018.

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