Algerine class minesweeper
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The Algerine class was a class of minesweepers of the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy. 110 ships of the class were launched between 1942 and 1944 and served in World War II.
They were designed as small vessels that could serve in several roles, not just as minesweepers; in practice the desperate shortage of convoy escorts in the Second Battle of the Atlantic meant that they served mainly in that role; indeed, the Algerines of the Royal Canadian Navy never had minesweeping gear fitted.
After the war a number continued in service as patrol boats, survey ships, and training ships. Some were sold to other navies or into merchant service. As of 2005, at least one Algerine is still in service with the Royal Thai Navy: HTMS Phosampton (ex-HMS Minstrel).
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[edit] Specifications
- Displacement: 850 GRT
- Length: 225 ft (68.6 m)
- Complement: 85
- Armament: one 4 inch (100 mm) anti-aircraft gun, four 20 mm guns
- Speed: 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h)
- Engines: geared turbines, 2 shafts; or reciprocating engines, 2 shafts
- Power: 2000 SHP (1.5 MW)
[edit] Ships
- Border Cities
- Fort Francis
- Kapuskasing
- Middlesex
- New Liskeard
- Oshawa
- Portage
- Rockcliffe
- Sault Ste. Marie
- St. Boniface
- Wallaceburg
- Winnipeg
- Acute
- Alarm (lost 2 January 1943)
- Albacore
- Algerine (lost 15 November 1942)
- Antares
- Arcturus
- Aries
- Bramble
- Brave
- Cadmus
- Chameleon
- Cheerful
- Circe
- Clinton
- Cockatrice
- Coquette
- Courier
- Espiegle
- Fancy
- Fantome
- Felicity
- Fierce
- Fly
- Flying Fish
- Frendship
- Golden Fleece
- Gozo
- Hare
- Hound
- Hydra
- Jaseur
- Jewel
- Laertes
- Larne
- Lennox
- Liberty
- Lightfoot
- Lioness
- Lysander
- Maenad
- Magicienne
- Mameluke
- Mandate
- Mariner
- Marmion
- Marvel
- Mary Rose
- Melita
- Michael
- Minstrel
- Moon
- Mutine
- Myrmidon
- Mystic
- Nerissa
- Niger
- Octavia
- Onyx
- Orcadia
- Orestes
- Ossory
- Pelorus
- Persian
- Pickle
- Pincher
- Plucky
- Pluto
- Polaris
- Postillion
- Prompt
- Providence
- Pyrrhus
- Rattler, renamed Loyalty (lost 22 August 1944)
- Rattlesnake
- Ready
- Recruit
- Regulus (lost 12 January 1945)
- Rifleman
- Rinaldo
- Romola
- Rosamund
- Rosario
- Rowena
- Seabear
- Serene
- Skipjack
- Spanker
- Squirrel (lost 24 July 1945)
- Stormcloud
- Sylvia
- Tanganyika
- Thisbe
- Truelove
- Vestal (lost 26 July 1945)
- Waterwitch
- Wave
- Welcome
- M900 Adrien de Gerlache (ex HMS Liberty, acquired 1949 - stricken 1969)
- M901 Georges Lecointe (i) (ex HMS Cadmus, acquired 1950 - stricken 1959)
- M901 Georges Lecointe (ii) (ex HMCS Wallaceburg, acquired 1959 - stricken 1969)
- M902 Van Haverbeke (i) (ex HMS Ready - acquired 1951 - stricken 1960)
- M903 Dufour (i) (ex HMS Fancy - acquired 1951 - stricken 1959)
- M903 Dufour (ii) (ex HMCS Winnipeg - acquired 1959 - stricken 1966)
- M904 De Brouwer (i) (ex HMS Spanker - acquired 1953 - stricken 1966)
- M905 De Moor (ex HMS Rosario - acquired 1953 - stricken 1966)
Cancelled
- Fireball (J464)
- Gabriel (J465)
- Happy Return (J466)
- Larne
- Lennox
- Marmion
- Moon
- Nicator (J457)
- Niger
- Nonpareil (J459)
- Nox (J459)
- Odin (J460)
- Styx (J440)
[edit] Algerines sunk in combat
- Algerine was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Ascianghi off Bougie, Algeria on 15 November 1942.
- Alarm was damaged beyong repair by air attack off Bône, Algeria on 2 January 1943.
- Loyalty (ex-Rattler) was sunk by U-480 in the English Channel on 22 August 1944.
- Regulus was sunk by a mine off Corgu on 12 January 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.
