Admirable class

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USS Admirable
USS Admirable
Overview
Type Minesweeper
units 228 planned, 123 built,
2–3 active
period of service

1943 to 1972 (USA)

Technical specifications
displacement

650  ts ; 840-945 ts full

length

56.24 meters (184 '6 ")

width

10.06 meters (33 ')

Draft

2.97 meters (9 '9 ")

crew

104

drive

2 diesel engines with a total of 3,420  SHP , 2 shafts

speed

14.8  knots (27.4 km / h)

Armament

1 3 "/ 50 gun
1–2 40 mm Bofors double mounts
up to 6 20 mm Oerlikon
1 Hedgehog
up to 4 depth charge mortars
2 depth charge drain racks

The Admirable class was the largest class of ocean-going minesweepers of the United States Navy during World War II .

A total of 228 units were planned, of which 123 were built between 1942 and 1945. The ships carried the IDs AM-136 to AM-313, AM-351 to AM-370 and AM-391 to AM-420. Originally, the units of the class should be designed as coastal minesweepers ( AMc ), but in the later planning phase they were then redeveloped to fleet minesweepers ( AM ). Essentially, it was a simplified and more mass-production variant of the Auk class with similarities to the British Bangor class . The ships were considered extremely seaworthy and versatile.

Japan had acquired thousands of sea ​​mines in the prewar years , which is why US anti-mine ships were produced in very large numbers. Ultimately, however, the threat posed by sea mines turned out to be less than expected.

In contrast to the smaller YMS auxiliary minesweepers , who were only used near the coast, the ships of the Admirable class accompanied the fleet as part of the vanguard and cleared mines from their path. They were equipped with both mechanical and acoustic clearing devices. Furthermore, were the ships to submarine combat used and for it with depth charges and hedgehog armed, and they had 40- and 20-mm - aircraft guns to defend against air attacks. Unlike the Auk class, however, the Admirable class did not have the ability to lay mines . The hull of the ship was made of steel.

Due to the good anti-submarine defense capabilities, they had a lot in common with the American submarine hunters . The Admirable class was the basis for the PCE submarine class . All submarines of the planned PCE 905 class , on the other hand, were converted to Admirable minesweepers during construction.

Over thirty of the class minesweepers, including the type ship USS Admirable (AM-136) , were loaned to the Soviet Union under the Lend Lease Agreement and were later never returned due to the Cold War (however, the US Navy in its shipping register until 1983 guided). The experience gained with the ships in the Soviet Union flowed into the development of the T43 class (project 254) .

After World War II, some of the remaining American units were used in the Korean War. In February 1955, the ships of the class were reclassified as "Fleet Minesweepers with Steel Hull" ( MSF ). In the following years the majority of the class was given up to various allies of the USA. As early as 1945 to 1948, 20 units had been handed over to the Republic of China to support them in the civil war . In 1948 two ships followed to the Philippines . In the 1960s and early 1970s, 21 more went to Mexico , 5 to South Vietnam , 2 to the Dominican Republic and one boat each to Myanmar and South Korea . In 1972 the last boats in the class were decommissioned by the US Navy.

At least two ships of the class, the Philippine patrol corvette Magat Salamat (formerly USS Gayety ) and the Myanmar Yan Gyi Aung (formerly USS Creddock ), are still in service today, possibly including the Mexican training ship Aldabaran (formerly USS Harlequin ). The only remaining unit in the United States is the museum ship USS Hazard (AM-240) in Omaha .

List of Admirable-class ships

Web links

Commons : Admirable class minesweepers  - collection of images, videos and audio files