The British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

operated large numbers of small Motor Minesweepers (MMS) 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in two major classes: the first with hulls (of which 294 were built) and the second with hulls (of which 102 were built). Intended to counter magnetic influence mines in coastal waters, they had wooden hulls.

105 ft MMS

In the early months of the

, Germany made extensive use of magnetic mines, which led to a requirement for a wooden minesweeper, less vulnerable than steel

trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes ** Trawlers of the Royal Navy * Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built tra ...

. The resultant design, the 105 ft-class (also known as the ''MMS 1'' series and later the Type 1501 series) was built between 1940 and 1944. They were

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

, with an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of and a draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was . They were powered by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

, giving a speed of . Their major minesweeping equipment was the LL sweep, where two minesweepers operating side-by-side each trailed two buoyant cables with electrodes at the end of the cables. Pulsing a high current through the cables generated a magnetic field sufficient to set off mines over an area of about . They were later fitted with an SA sweep to deal with acoustic mines, which consisted of a hammer box mounted on an A-frame on the ship's bow, which could be lowered into the water when required. The ships did not have enough towing power to use conventional contact sweeps for dealing with moored contact mines. Defensive armament consisted of two 0.5 inch machine guns and/or one or two Oerlikon 20mm cannons. The ships had a complement of 20 men. The coastal minesweepers had

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

s ''MMS-1'' to ''MMS-118'', ''MMS-123'' to ''MMS-313'' and ''MMS-1001'' to ''MMS-1090'', the last group measuring 126 feet between perpendiculars. They were nicknamed "Mickey Mouse" from their initials. Although the motor minesweepers lacked the power to tow sweeps for contact mines they were suitable for handling equipment for combating magnetic mines and some later models were fitted with an acoustic hammer on a retractable "A" frame over the bow for countering acoustic mines. The motor minesweepers had limited use post-war and were quickly disposed of. By 1949, only four remained in service in the Royal Navy: ''St. David'' (''MMS-1733'', ex-''MMS-233''), ''Venturer'' (''MMS-1761'', ex-''MMS-261''), ''MMS-1717'' (ex-''MMS-217'') and ''MMS-1736'' (ex-''MMS-236''). ''St. David'' and ''Venturer'' were tenders to

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

divisions.McMurtrie and Blackman 1949, p. 61 Ten had been built for the

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 subma ...

, ''Coquitlam'', ''Crankbrook'', ''Daerwood'', ''Kalamalka'', ''La Vallée'', ''Llewellyn'', ''Lloyd George'', ''Revelstoke'', ''Rossland'' and ''St. Joseph''. By 1946 only ''Llewellyn'', ''Lloyd George'' and ''Revelstoke'' were still in service. Five were built for the

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 ...

, ''MMS-129'', ''130'', ''131'', ''132'' (renamed ''Barq'') and ''154''; ''MMS-151'' was transferred later. Four remained in service in 1949: ''Barq'' and ''MMS-130'', ''151'' and ''154'' During the war, ''MMS-43'', ''45'', ''75'', ''79'', ''112'', ''182'', ''187'', ''188'', ''189'' and ''193'' were manned by Belgian personnel. As late as 1949, ''MMS-182'', ''187'', ''188'', ''189'', ''191'', ''193'' and ''266'' were on loan to the

Belgian Navy The Belgian Navy, officially the Belgian Naval Component ( nl, Marinecomponent; french: Composante marine; german: Marinekomponente ) of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium. History Early history The Belgian Navy w ...

.McMurtrie and Blackman 1949, p. 115 Sixteen were transferred to the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in th ...

: ''D241'' (ex-''MMS-21''; later ''D361''), ''D242'' (ex-''MMS-184''; later ''D362''), ''D251'' (ex-''MMS-47''; later ''D363''), ''D252'' (ex-''MMS-9''; later ''D364''), ''D261'' (ex-''MMS-116''; later ''D365''), ''D262'' (ex-''MMS-118''; later ''D366'), ''D291'' (ex-''MMS-133''; later ''D367''), ''D292'' (ex-''MMS-134''; later ''D368''), ''D371'' (ex-''MMS-221''), ''D372'' (ex-''MMS-202''), ''D373'' (ex-MMS-220''), ''D374'' (ex-''MMS-91''), ''D375'' (ex-''MMS-75''), ''D376'' (ex-''MMS-204''), ''D377'' (ex-''MMS-49'') and ''D378'' (ex-''MMS-13''). All were returned to the

in October 1947. Eleven were transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy; two were lost, one returned to the RN, and eight were retained postwar. The 11 vessels were: ''Ameland'' (ex-''MMS-231), ''Beveland'' (ex-''MMS-237''), ''Marken'' (i) (ex-MMS-227, lost 20 May 1944), ''Marken'' (ii) (ex-''MMS-34''), ''Putten'' (ex-MMS-138''), ''Rozenburg'' (ex-''MMS-292''), ''Terschelling'' (i) (ex-''MMS-174'', lost 12 July 1942), ''Terschelling (ii) (ex-''MMS-234''), ''Texel'' (i) (ex-''MMS-173'', returned to RN November 1942), ''Texel'' (ii) (ex-''MMS-73''), and ''Vlieland'' (ex-''MMS-226''). ''Vlieland was lost in Indonesian waters in November 1951.Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 394 Seventeen were loaned to the Italian Navy: ''MMS-10'', ''32'', ''34'', ''35'', ''48'', ''50'', ''99'', ''100'', ''102-106'', ''135'', ''167'', ''172'' and ''185''. The first to be returned to the Royal Navy were ''MMS-34'' and ''35'', in August 1949. Eight were transferred to the

Royal Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

in 1946: ''Andros'' (ex HMS ''MMS-310'', J810), ''Argyrokastron'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-58'', J558), ''Chimarra'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-1'' J501), ''Korytsa'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-53'', J553), ''Mikonos'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-5'', J505), ''Syros'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-313'', J813), ''Tepeleni'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-46'', J546), and ''Tinos'' (ex-HMS ''MMS-144'', J644). Three were transferred by

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

to the Soviet Navy, ''T-108'', ''109'' and ''110'' (ex-''MMS-90'', ''203'' and ''212'', respectively).McMurtrie and Blackman 1949, p. 293

Newfoundland MMS

''MMS-119-122'' were built in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

in 1941-42 and requisitioned by the Royal Navy. They were larger than the ''MMS-1'' type but smaller than the ''MMS-1001'' and ''BYMS-1'' types, and had a top speed of 9 knots. The four vessels were renamed ''Emberley'', ''Oderin'', ''Marticot'' and ''Mervasheen'', respectively, as

danlayer A danlayer was a type of vessel assigned to minesweeping flotillas during and immediately after World War II. They were usually small trawlers, fitted for the purpose of laying dans. A dan is a marker buoy which consists of a long pole moored to t ...

s in 1942.

126 ft MMS

This type comprised 90 vessels for the Royal Navy, numbered ''MMS-1001-1090'', and 16 laid down for the Royal Canadian Navy but never delivered to that Service. They measured 126 feet long between perpendiculars and 139 feet 9 inches to 140 feet overall. Displacements were 360 tons standard and 430 tons deep load. A one-shaft diesel provided 1,000 bhp for a speed of 10 knots. Armament during the war comprised two 20mm guns with a few armed with four 20mm; the survivors with the RN in 1949 were armed with two 20mm and two machine guns. By 1949, only 12 vessels of the type remained in RN service. Of these, ''MMS-1060'' and ''1061'' were in use as minesweepers, while ''1003'', ''1004'' and ''1011'' were described in ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' as "mobile wiping deperming units." Seven were in use as tenders to

divisions: ''Bernicia'' (ex-''MMS-1090''), ''Curzon'' (ex-''MMS-1017''), ''Graham'' (ex-''MMS-1045''), ''hUMBER'' (EX-''mms-1030''), ''Kilmorey'' (ex-''MMS-1034''), ''Mersey'' (ex-''MMS-1075'') and ''Montrose'' (ex-''MMS-1077''). Six were transferred to the

: ''D341'' (ex-''MMS-1069''), ''D342'' (ex-''MMS-1054''), ''D343'' (ex-''MMS-1065''), ''D344'' (ex-''MMS-1055''), ''D345'' (ex-''MMS-1070'') and ''D346'' (ex-''MMS-1056''). All were returned to the RN for disposal in October 1947 Eight were transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy: ''Duiveland'' (ex-''MMS-1044''), ''Ijselmond'' (ex-''MMS-1026''), ''Overflakee'' (ex-''MMS-1046''), ''Schokland'' (ex-''MMS-1082''), ''Tholen'' (ex-''MMS-1014''), ''Voorne'' (ex-''MMS-1043''), ''Wieringen'' (ex-''MMS-1025'') and ''Walcheren'' (ex-''MMS-1042'') ''MMS-1085'' and ''1086'' were transferred to the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, ...

, where they were named ''Orka'' and ''Vefsna'', respectively They were retained postwar. Of the 16 laid down for the RCN, ''Ash Lake'', ''Birch Lake'', ''Cherry Lake'', ''Fir Lake'', ''Maple Lake'' and ''Oak Lake'', were cancelled. The remaining ten - ''Alder Lake'', ''Beech Lake'', ''Cedar Lake'', ''Elm Lake'', ''Hickory Lake'', ''Larch Lake'', ''Pine Lake'', ''Poplar Lake'', ''Spruce Lake'' and ''Willow Lake'' - were transferred to the Soviet Navy as ''T-193-202''.Preston, p. 239 Two others were transferred from the RN to the Soviet Navy: ''T-121'' and ''122'' (ex-''MMS-1005'' and ''1023''). ''MMS-1020'' was loaned postwar to the

for use as a fishery protection vessel.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * McMurtrie, Francis E., and Blackman, Raymond V.B. (1949). ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1949-50.'' New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. * * {{WWII British ships Mine warfare vessel classes Minesweepers of the Royal Navy Ship classes of the Royal Navy