Hazard 1940
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comp | Fate |
| 1st group (compound engine) | |||||||
| Halcyon | J42 | 536 | John Brown, Clydebank | 3.1933 | 20.12.1933 | 4.1934 | sold 4.1950 |
| Harrier | J71 | Thornycroft, Woolston | 7.1933 | 17.4.1934 | 11.1934 | sold 6.1950 | |
| Hussar | J82 | Thornycroft, Woolston | 8.1933 | 27.8.1934 | 1.1935 | sunk 27.8.1944 | |
| Skipjack | J38 | 537 | John Brown, Clydebank | 4.1933 | 18.1.1934 | 5.1934 | sunk 1.6.1940 |
| Speedwell | J87 | 419 | Hamilton, Glasgow | 6.1934 | 21.3.1935 | 9.1935 | sold 12.1946 |
| 2nd group (VTE engine) | |||||||
| Niger | J73 | White, Cowes | 4.1935 | 29.1.1936 | 6.1936 | sunk 5.7.1942 | |
| Salamander | J86 | White, Cowes | 4.1935 | 24.3.1936 | 7.1936 | CTL 27.8.1944 | |
| 3rd group (turbine) | |||||||
| Franklin | J84 | 426 | Ailsa, Troon | 12.1936 | 22.12.1937 | 8.1938 // 1939 | completed as survey vessel, minesweeper 1939, survey vessel 1945, BU 2.1956 |
| Gleaner | J83 | 1069 | Gray, Tees | 6.1936 | 10.6.1937 | 8.1938 // 1939 | completed as survey vessel, minesweeper 1939, sold 5.1950 |
| Gossamer | J63 | 431 | Hamilton, Glasgow | 11.1936 | 5.10.1937 | 3.1938 // 1939 | completed as survey vessel, minesweeper 1939, sunk 24.6.1942 |
| Hazard | J02 | 1068 | Gray, Tees | 5.1936 | 26.2.1937 | 11.1937 | sold 4.1949 |
| Hebe | J24 | Devonport DYd | 4.1936 | 28.10.1936 | 10.1937 | sunk 22.11.1943 | |
| Jason | J99 | 425 | Ailsa, Troon | 12.1936 | 6.10.1937 | 6.1938 // 1939 | completed as survey vessel, minesweeper 1939, sold 9.1946 |
| Leda | J93 | Devonport DYd | 11.1936 | 8.6.1937 | 5.1938 | sunk 20.9.1942 | |
| Seagull | J85 | Devonport DYd | 2.1937 | 28.10.1937 | 5.1938 | survey vessel 1945, BU 5.1965 | |
| Sharpshooter, 1953- Shackleton | J68 | Devonport DYd | 6.1936 | 10.12.1936 | 12.1937 | survey vessel 1945, sold 1960 | |
| 4th group (turbine) | |||||||
| Bramble | J11 | Devonport DYd | 11.1937 | 12.7.1938 | 6.1939 | sunk 31.12.1942 | |
| Britomart | J22 | Devonport DYd | 6.1938 | 23.8.1938 | 8.1939 | sunk 27.8.1944 | |
| Scott | J79 | 375 | Caledon, Dundee | 1/1937 | 23.8.1938 | 2.1939 // 1939 | completed as survey vessel, minesweeper 1939, survey vessel 1945, BU 6.1965 |
| Speedy | J17 | 435 | Hamilton, Glasgow | 12.1937 | 23.11.1938 | 4.1939 | sold 11.1946 |
| Sphinx | J69 | 436 | Hamilton, Glasgow | 1.1938 | 7.2.1939 | 7.1939 | sunk 3.2.1940 |
|
Displacement standard, t |
785 - 815 |
|
Displacement full, t |
VC- and VTE-engined: 1088 turbine-engined: 1150 - 1190 later all: 1330 |
|
Length, m |
74.8 |
|
Breadth, m |
10.2 |
|
Draught, m |
3.12 deep load |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
2 sets geared steam turbines, 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers Halcyon, Harrier, Hussar, Skipjack, Speedwell: 2 VC, 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers Niger, Salamander: 2 VTE, 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
1750 Halcyon, Harrier, Hussar, Skipjack, Speedwell: 1770 Niger, Salamander: 2000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
17 Halcyon, Harrier, Hussar, Skipjack, Speedwell: 16.5 |
|
Fuel, t |
oil 264 Halcyon, Harrier, Hussar, Skipjack, Speedwell, Niger, Salamander: : oil 223 |
|
Endurance, nm(kts) |
4200(15) |
|
Armament |
VC- and VTE-engined: 2 x 1 - 102/45 QF Mk V (1-HA), mechanical minesweeping gear turbine-engined: 2 x 1 - 102/45 QF Mk V (HA), 1 x 4 - 12.7/62, mechanical minesweeping gear |
|
Complement |
80 |
Project history: Halcyon class ships became the first purpose-built minesweepers of the Royal Navy, designed after the First World war. The decision to share a class of sloops on specialised escort and minesweeping ships had accepted by Admiralty in 1931. New minesweepers (originally classified as minesweeping sloops) basically repeated Shoreham class, a little re-designed, to correspond to new assignment: the hull became shorter, the L/B ratio was moderated. As in case of war it was supposed to complete the ships of the second line with reservists, the part of new minesweepers received conservative steam engines: 5 ships of 1st group had three-cylinder vertical compound engines, 2 minesweepers of 2nd group had vertical triple expansion engines. Welding was widely used, and one of ships of class, Seagull, became the first all-welded ship of Royal Navy. Artillery under the specification consisted of two 102mm/45 guns from which one was single-purpose. Ships of 3rd group and later had both DP guns. In total under 1931-1938 Programmes 21 minesweepers were built. Five of them: Franklin, Gleaner, Gossamer, Jason and Scott, completed as survey vessels and had no artillery till 1939, when they were reconverted to minesweepers.
Modernizations: 1940 - 1941, all survived VC- and VTE-engined ships: - 1 x 1 - 102/45 QF Mk V; + 1 x 1 - 102/45 QF Mk V (HA), 1 x 4 - 12.7/62, 4 DCT, 2 DCR (50), type 128 sonar
1940 - 1941, all survived turbine-engined: + 4 DCT, 2 DCR (50), type 128 sonar
1941 - 1942, all survived: + 1 x 4 - 12.7/62
1942 - 1943, all survived: - 1 x 1 - 102/45, 2 x 4 - 12.7/62; + 4 x 1 - 20/70 Oerlikon Mk II/IV, type 271 radar
1943 - 1944, many ships: ( - 2 x 1 - 20/70; + 2 x 2 - 20/70 Oerlikon Mk II/IV) or (- 4 x 1 - 20/70; + 4 x 2 - 20/70 Oerlikon Mk II/IV)
Naval service: Sphinx was sunk by German aircraft off coast of England 3.2.1940. Skipjack was sunk by German aircraft at Dunkirk 1.6.1940. Gossamer was sunk by German aircraft in Kola Bay 24.6.1942. Niger was sunk by British magnetic mine off Iceland 6.7.1942. Leda was sunk by German submarine U435 in Greenland Sea 20.9.1942. Bramble was sunk by German destroyers Richard Beitzen, Friedrich Eckoldt and Z29 in Barents Sea 31.12.1942. Hebe was lost on a mine at Bari (Mediterranean) 22.11.1943. Hussar and Britomart were sunk, and Salamander badly damaged by British Typhoon fighters-bombers (by mistake) at Normandy coast 27.8.1944, latter was never repaired and stricken in 1945.
Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.
Skipjack 1940
© Ivan Gogin, 2008-10