[citation needed] Constructed at Appledore, in Devon, Mersham was launched in April 1954 and completed in January 1955.

In the early 1950s, the Royal Navy had a requirement for large numbers of minesweepers to counter the threat to British shipping from Soviet mines in the event of a conventional Third World War.

As the navy did not have sufficient manpower to operate all the required ships in peacetime, it was planned to lay a large number up in reserve, so they could be manned by reservists (in many cases the crews of the fishing boats which would previously have been used in the same role) in time of emergency.

[1][2][3] Additional ships were ordered by the United States for supply under the Mutual Defense Assistance Pact (MDAP), with 15 Ham-class minesweepers being allocated to France.

She was transferred to the French Navy on 4 April 1955, being initially only known by her pennant number M773, but was given the name Violette on 22 February 1964.