Bluebird class
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| Overview | |
| Type: | Coast minesweeper |
| Units: | 14 for the US over 250 total |
| Period of service: | 1953-1976 |
| Technical specifications | |
| of the type ship, other construction lots showed deviations | |
| Displacement : | 330 ts |
| Length: | 144.3 feet (44 m) |
| Width: | 28 feet (8.5 m) |
| Draft : | 9 feet (2.7 m) |
| Speed: | 14 kn |
| Crew: | 39 |
| Drive: | 2 Packard diesel engines , 600 HP each , 2 shafts |
| Armament: | 2 × 20 mm, 2 × 12.7 mm MG 1 × 81 mm mortar |
| Radar: | PLC 10 |
According to US counts, the Bluebird class ( English: hut singer ) only includes the two coastal minesweepers AMC / MSC-121 Bluebird and AMC / MSC-122 Cormorant, which were a variation of the much more extensive Adjutant class . Internationally, however, the whole series of over 250 coastal minesweepers of this basic type became known under the designation "Bluebird class" (sometimes also referred to as the kilo class). After its introduction in the mid-1950s, this type was the standard mine defense boat in the West for decades.
The identifier "AMC" stands for the older name AM = "Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper"; C = "Costal", for example: motorized auxiliary minesweeper . The later identification "MSC" stands for "Coastal Minesweeper" So coastal mine detection .
history
The type of coast minesweeper was fundamentally revised after bad experiences with the American coast minesweepers of the Second World War , later classified as AMCo (“o” for “old”) . In contrast to their predecessors, the post-war boats were smaller and were not made of steel, but of wood with built-in components mainly made of non- magnetic metal. This reduced their magnetic signature and made them insensitive to modern magnetic mines . They proved to be reliable, versatile and robust boats that were used on almost all of the world's oceans for a long time.
The "Bluebird class" became the reference model for a NATO minesweeping unit . A large part of the boats were handed over by the USA to other NATO countries immediately after completion or they were built under license as part of an armament program for allies with US funds ( Mutual Assistance Program MAP). Outside of this program, Germany bought 6 French-made boats (there type Mercure), which were in service as the " Vegesack class " (321) from 1959 . Great Britain and Germany adapted the type in their own designs. The German version of the Bluebird class was the Lindau class .
The construction program was produced in several construction lots , each of which could differ in essential parameters, such as B. the eight boats that South Korea received differ in length by over a meter. Especially the foreign licensed buildings varied considerably in terms of motorization and armament. Abroad, the boats were given national class designations in the respective navies. In Norway, for example, as the Sauda class in the Netherlands as the AMS60 class. The various navies have modernized and converted them differently over time.
Many boats were passed on from their original recipients after some time. Some boats changed nationality several times, e.g. For example, one of the last Bluebird boats in Europe that is ready to go today, the "HNoMS Alta" . She was handed over to the Belgian Navy (M314) in 1954 after a year in US service and moved to the Norwegian Navy in 1966. She is currently a privately owned museum ship of the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum . Some boats have been kept in service by other navies to the present day. In the Turkish Navy z. B. several boats after modifications in different classes in use. Several boats were converted into fishing trawlers or leisure boats after their military use.
construction
The boats had a fuselage made of oak . The superstructures were made of aluminum and non-magnetic steel . The metal fittings were also made of brass and bronze . The boats were powered by two diesel engines, some of which were very different in performance. The Bluebird had 2 × 600 HP Packard diesels, MSC-60 Adjutant only had 2 × 450 HP General Motors machines and the MSC-186 of the same class 2 × 2,500 HP MAN diesel engines, built under license in the Netherlands . Accordingly, the performance fluctuated between 12 and 16 knots.
The boats
According to the US plans, the following were built and financed with US funds:
- 101 adjutant class
- 2 Bluebird class in the US (MSC-121 and 122)
- 49 MSC-172 class
- 18 in the Netherlands (MSC-172 to 189), there remained 14 as AMS60 class
- 31 in France (MSC-210 to 213 and 222 to 237 and 243 to 253) (3 to Yugoslavia )
- 10 Falcon-class in the USA (MSC-190 to 199) (6 pieces to Indonesia in the mid-1970s )
- 10 Redwing class in the USA (MSC-200 to 209) (3 in Fiji , 2 each in Spain, Singapore )
- 17 MCS-218 class in the USA (MSC-218 to 221 and 255 to 267) (submitted: 2 Japan, 2 Belgium, 2 Philippines, 3 Spain, 3 Pakistan, 5 Denmark)
- 1 MSC-254 class in France
- 21 MSC-268 class (MSC-268 to 288) (submitted: 1 Italy, 2 Pakistan, 2 Iran , 2 Republic of China , 3 South Korea, 3 South Vietnam , 4 Turkey , 4 Spain)
- 3 Albatross class (MSC-289 to 291) (released: 1 Iran)
- 2 MSC-292 class (MSC-292 and 293) (delivered to Iran and Pakistan)
- 31 MSC-294 class (MSC-294 to 325) (submitted: 1 Pakistan, 3 China, 4 South Korea, 4 Thailand , 4 Saudi Arabia , 5 Turkey, 10 Greece )
The list only shows boats that were at least temporarily or formally part of the US Navy (with MSC identification). Licensed buildings that remained in full possession of the creation nations are not recorded, e.g. B:
- 6 boats built 1959-60 in France as the Mercure type for the German Federal Navy and entered service there as the Vegesack class (321).
- 5 boats in Norway as Sauda class
Web links
swell
- ↑ http://www.warships.de/html/bluebird.html
- ↑ http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02idx.htm
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from May 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rok/msc-551.htm
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from May 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ private compilation of the units of the Turkish Navy (found January 8, 2009) ( Memento from March 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Turkish)
- ↑ http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/05idx.htm
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from March 6, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Köhler's fleet calendar 1960 and 1961