Class of ships built for the navies of Britain and Canada during World War II
|
Class overview
|
Name
| Algerine
class
|
Builders
|
- United Kingdom (50)
- Canada (60)
|
Operators
| |
Preceded by
| Bangor
class
|
Succeeded by
| Ton class
|
In service
| 1942
|
Completed
| 110
|
Active
| 0
|
Lost
| 6
|
Retired
| 104
|
Preserved
| |
General characteristics
|
Type
| Minesweeper
|
Displacement
|
- 850?1,030 long tons (864?1,047 t) (standard)
- 1,125?1,325 long tons (1,143?1,346 t) (deep)
|
Length
| 225 ft (69 m)
o/a
|
Beam
| 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m)
|
Draught
| 11 ft (3.4 m)?12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
|
Installed power
| |
Propulsion
| |
Speed
| 16.5
knots
(30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
|
Range
| 5,000
nmi
(9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
|
Complement
| 85
|
Armament
| |
The
Algerine
-class minesweeper
was a large group of
minesweepers
built for the
Royal Navy
(RN) and the
Royal Canadian Navy
(RCN) during the Second World War. 110 ships of the class were launched between 1942 and 1944.
Design and description
[
edit
]
By 1940 the Royal Navy had realized that the
Bangor
-class
minesweepers
were too small to carry the equipment needed to handle
magnetic mines
.
[
citation needed
]
A bigger ship was designed, ironically about the same size as the older
Halcyon
class
that the Royal Navy had rejected earlier as too large and expensive for mass production. The size of the new ship made them suitable for use as ocean-going escort ships and many were used to supplement specialist escorts. Most of the ships built for the RCN were solely employed as such and were fitted with more anti-submarine weapons than the RN ships. To maximise production, alternate designs were made to use either
steam turbines
or
reciprocating steam engines
.
[1]
This enabled ships to be built at yards more used to merchant ship design and as with other mass-produced escort vessels (such as the
Flower-class
corvettes
or the
River-class
frigates
, could use merchant-style reciprocating
vertical triple expansion
(VTE) engines.
Both groups of ships had the same dimensions, although the VTE powered ships had a greater displacement and a deeper draught.
The hull measured 225 feet (68.6 m)
long overall
with a
beam
of 35 feet 6 inches (10.8 m). The turbine group had a
draught
of 11 feet (3.4 m) while the reciprocating engined ships sat 1 foot 3 inches (0.4 m) deeper in the water.
The turbine-powered ships displaced 850 long tons (860 t) at
standard
load and 1,125 long tons (1,143 t) at
deep load
while the reciprocating engined group displaced 1,010?1,030 long tons (1,030?1,050 t) at standard load and 1,305?1,325 long tons (1,326?1,346 t) at deep load.
The ships' complement consisted of 85 officers and
ratings
.
[1]
The turbine-powered ships had two
Parsons
geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two
Admiralty three-drum boilers
. The engines produced a total of 2,000
shaft horsepower
(1,500 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 16.5
knots
(30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph). The reciprocating engined ships had two
vertical triple-expansion steam engines
totalling 2,400
indicated horsepower
(1,800 kW) and reached the same speed. They carried a maximum of 660 long tons (671 t) of
fuel oil
that gave them a range of 5,000
nautical miles
(9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).
[1]
The
Algerine
class was armed with a
QF 4 in (102 mm) Mk V
anti-aircraft gun
and four twin-gun mounts for
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
.
[2]
The latter guns were in short supply when the first ships were being completed and they often got a proportion of single mounts. By 1944, single-barrel
Bofors 40 mm
mounts began replacing the twin 20 mm mounts on a one for one basis. All of the ships were fitted for four throwers and two rails for
depth charges
. Many Canadian ships omitted their sweeping gear in exchange for a 24-bomb
Hedgehog
spigot mortar
and a stowage capacity for 90+ depth charges.
[1]
The construction contracts were awarded to shipbuilders in both the United Kingdom and Canada.
Construction
[
edit
]
A total of 94
Algerine
class vessels served with the Royal Navy; of these 45 were built in the UK and another 49 in Canada. A further 12 vessels served with the Royal Canadian Navy; all these were built in Canada.
The ships were built in the UK were ordered under the 1940 to 1943 war emergency building programmes.
The companies involved were
Harland & Wolff
(22),
Lobnitz
(18),
Blyth
(2),
Fleming & Ferguson
(1) and
William Simons
(2). Another 15 were ordered in 1943 but cancelled, to free yard space for building Loch class frigates.
The ships were built in two types; 26 powered by steam turbine and 22 by reciprocating or
vertical triple expansion
(VTE) steam engines. The turbine powered ships were all built by Harland & Wolff, save two, built at Blyth; the VTE powered ships were built at Lobnitz, Simons and Fleming & Ferguson.
[3]
Of the ships built in Canada, the companies involved were
Toronto Shipbuilding
(later
Redfern
),
Port Arthur
and
Collingwood
. All the Canadian-built ships were VTE powered. Only 12 of these ships served with the RCN; a further 17 were built for the RCN but transferred to the Royal Navy in exchange for an equal number of
Castle-class
corvettes
, as the RCN was in need of escort vessels. Fourteen ships were built for the United States Navy, but again were transferred to the RN on completion under
Lend-Lease
. Nineteen ships were ordered directly by the RN under the 1943 programme; a further six ships were ordered, but cancelled.
[4]
Service history
[
edit
]
The
Algerine
class vessels in service with the Royal Navy were employed mainly as minesweepers, though they were equipped as anti-submarine warfare vessels also, and could serve as escort ships as needed. Their
ASDIC
and
depth-charge
equipment was equal to that of the
Flower-class
corvettes
, or even
River-class
frigates
, though they were not equipped with forward-firing weapons like
Hedgehog
. Five
Algerine
s were sunk in action, and four others were declared
constructive total losses
after sustaining damage.
[5]
The
Algerine
s of the Royal Canadian Navy by contrast were employed as escorts. They were not fitted with mine-sweeping gear, though they were optimized for service in the Arctic. The
Algerine
s served principally as senior ships in Canadian escort groups of the
Western Local Escort Force
and the
Halifax Force
. No RCN vessels of the class were lost.
[6]
Post-war service
[
edit
]
After the war, a number of
Algerine
s continued in service as
patrol boats
,
survey ships
, and
training ships
. On 11 March 1959, HMS
Acute
and HMS
Jewel
, training ships at Dartmouth, rescued the burning German coaster
Vorman Rass
, off Start Point, Devon.
[7]
At least one, HMS
Pickle
, was still engaged in minesweeping duties in British waters as late as 1955.
All
Algerine
s in RN and RCN service were disposed of by the late 1950s or early 1960s.
[8]
Some were sold to other navies or into merchant service. The fourteen ships under Lend-Lease were returned to the USN in 1946; five of these later transferred to the Greek Navy. Of the RN ships, five were transferred to the Belgian Navy, two to South Africa and two to Ceylon; another five, one apiece, were acquired by Burma, Nigeria, Italy, Iran, and Thailand. Two RCN ships were transferred to Belgium in 1959 as replacements for two ex-RN ships that were due for disposal. One, HTMS
Phosampton
(ex-
HMS
Minstrel
), was in service until 2012 with the
Royal Thai Navy
.
Ships
[
edit
]
Post-war operators
[
edit
]
Algerine
s sunk in action
[
edit
]
Five
Algerine
s were sunk in action, and four others were declared
constructive total losses
after sustaining damage.
[5]
- Algerine
was torpedoed by the
Ascianghi
off
Bougie, Algeria
on 15 November 1942.
- Alarm
was damaged beyond repair by air attack off
Bone, Algeria
on 2 January 1943.
- Fantome
was mined, and damaged beyond repair, in the Mediterranean on 20 May 1943
- Loyalty
(ex-
Rattler
) was sunk by the
U-480
in the
English Channel
on 22 August 1944.
- Hydra
was mined, and damaged beyond repair, off
Ostend
on 10 November 1944
- Regulus
was sunk by a
mine
off
Corfu
on 12 January 1945.
- Prompt
was mined, and damaged beyond repair, off Ostend on 9 May 1945
- Squirrel
was sunk by a
mine
off
Phuket
,
Thailand
on 24 July 1945.
- Vestal
was sunk by a Japanese
kamikaze
plane off
Phuket
,
Thailand
on 26 July 1945.
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]