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ROYAL NAVY - UNITED KINGDOM

MINE WARFARE SHIPS

ALGERINE minesweepers, turbine-engined (1942 - 1945)

VTE-engined Rattlesnake 1943

Rifleman 1963

Project history: After ordering of small minesweepers of Bangor class, Admiralty returned to the larger ship close to Halcyon class, but with smaller L/B ratio (6.4 against 7.3). On request of the Admiralty, new minesweepers should, besides the developed minesweeping equipment (sweeps for acoustic, magnetic and contact mines) to carry strong enough anti-submarine armaments. Actually, Algerine class could solve the same tasks, as Flower class corvette, and in days of war minesweepers of this class very often were attracted for escort service performance. However such universality has been bought in literal sense by expensive price: the building of one Algerine class minesweeper managed more expensively, than two corvettes of Flower class. Nevertheless, in Canadian Navy they fulfilled a role of escort ships and did not carry the minesweeping equipment. On usual practice, the ships had machinery as with geared turbines (are known as Algerine type 1940), and with vertical triple expansion steam engine (Algerine type 1941).

In total 48 ships were built by British yards (29 with turbines and 19 with VTE). The order for 4 ships with turbines and on 5 with VTE have been cancelled. From 62 ships built by Canadian yards, 19 were ordered by RN, 15 intended for the USN on "reverse" lend-lease (in the end of 1943 of the USA, already satisfied the "minesweeping" hunger, cancelled an order on 6 of them, eventually "cancelled" and "ordered" have got to RN). From 28 ships intended for Canadian Navy under the agreement between the governments of UK and Canada 16 were transferred to Royal Navy in exchange for 4 corvettes of Flower class and 12 of Castle class. The order for 6 ships for Canadians was cancelled.

Modernizations: early 1950s, Espiegle, Mutine: - 1 x 1 - 102/45, 4 x 2 - 20/70; + 4 x 1 - 40/60 Mk 7, 1 x 3 - 305 Squid Mk 3 ASWRL, type 147B sonar

Naval service: Algerine was sunk 15.11.1942 by Italian submarine Ascianghi at coast of Algeria. Loyalty was sunk 22.8.1944 by German submarine U480 in La Manche. Squirrel was lost 24.7.1945 on a mine. Vestal was sunk by Japanese aircraft (kamikaze) 26.7.1945.

Alarm was badly damaged by German aircraft 2.1.1943, never repaired, and stricken in 1943. Fantome 30.5.1943 was damaged by mine, never repaired and stricken in 1945.

Thanks for Wolfgang Stoehr, who found five additional incomplete ships of this class and corrected the information on this page.

© Ivan Gogin, 2008-10