HMS Menestheus was originally the Blue Funnel Line refrigerated cargo ship Menestheus. She was built in 1929, and traded between the UK and the Far East. She was an auxiliary minelayer from 1940 to 1943. In 1945, during the Second World War, she was converted into an amenities ship. She was scrapped in 1953 after being gutted by fire.
She was the first of three Blue Funnel Line ships to be named after Menestheus, the legendary king of Athens during the Trojan War. She was the only Royal Navy ship to be called Menestheus.
Five sister ships
Between 1929 and 1931 Blue Funnel Line had a class of five cargo ships built to the same design by four different UK shipyards. Menestheus was the second of the five. Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company built her in Dundee as yard number 326, launching her in August 1929 and completing her that September.[1]
The first of the class was Agamemnon, built by Workman, Clark and Company in Belfast. She was launched on 25 April 1929, and completed that September.