The ''Bangor''-class minesweepers were a class of warships operated by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

(RN),

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

(RCN),

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

(IJN), and

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. F ...

(RIN) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The class derives its name from the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

, , which was launched on 19 February 1940 and commissioned on 7 November of that year. Royal Navy ships were named after coastal towns of the United Kingdom. Their lack of size gave vessels of the class poor sea handling abilities, reportedly worse even than the s. The diesel-engined versions were considered to have poorer handling characteristics than the slow-speed reciprocating-engined variants. Their shallow draught made them unstable and their short hulls tended to bury the bow when operating in a head sea. The ''Bangor''-class vessels were also considered overcrowded, cramming six officers and over 90 ratings into a vessel originally intended for a total of 40.

Design and development

The original intent of the ''Bangor''-class minesweeper design was to provide a coastal equivalent of the ; however the realities brought to light by the start of the war caused a modification of the design before construction had started. The need for quick construction coupled with the limitations of engineering resources resulted in several variations existing based on the availability of propulsion machinery. The ships all had twin screws, but the machinery was a mix of steam turbine, slow-speed steam reciprocating, high-speed steam reciprocating and diesel. The diesel powered examples were about shorter than the rest as they had no need for boiler rooms. Displacement varied with propulsion machinery from 590 to 672 tons. The reciprocating engine powered ''Bangor''s were also known as the ''Blyth'' class and the steam turbine powered versions as the ''Ardrossan'' class. The class was considered cramped for the purposes it was built for, with not enough room provided for the acoustic and magnetic minesweeping gear carried.

Ships in class

Diesel-engined

Turbine-engined

Reciprocating-engined

References and notes

* ''Warships of World War II'', by H. T. Lenton & J. J. Colledge, pub. Ian Allan Ltd.

External links

Bangor class minesweepers at ''uboat.net''

Canadian Bangor class at ''hazegray.org''

Combinedfleet.com

Combinedfleet.com {{Ship classes of the Indian Navy Mine warfare vessel classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy