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Admirable-class minesweeper

{{Short description|Class of United States Navy minesweeper ships}}

{{More citations needed|date=June 2013}}

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=Admirable-136.jpg

|Ship image size=300px

|Ship caption=USS Admirable underway, ca. 1944.

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{{Infobox ship class overview

|Name=

|Builders=(8 companies in 8 states)

|Operators=*World War II

  • {{Navy|United States}}
  • {{Navy|Soviet Union}}
  • Post-War
  • {{Navy|Taiwan}}
  • {{Navy|Dominican Republic}}
  • {{Navy|South Korea}}
  • {{Navy|Mexico}}
  • {{Navy|Myanmar}}
  • {{Navy|Philippines}}
  • {{Navy|South Vietnam}}
  • {{Navy|United States}}
  • {{Navy|Soviet Union}}
  • {{flagicon|Taiwan}} Chinese Maritime Customs Service

|Class before={{sclass|Hawk|minesweeper|4}}

|Class after={{sclass|Agile|minesweeper|4}}

|Subclasses=

|Cost=

|Built range=

|In service range=

|In commission range=

|Total ships building=

|Total ships planned=147

|Total ships completed=123

|Total ships cancelled=24

|Total ships active=

|Total ships laid up=

|Total ships lost=

|Total ships retired=

|Total ships preserved=1

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship type=Minesweeper

|Ship displacement=625 tons

|Ship length={{Convert|184|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam={{Convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|Ship height=

|Ship draft={{Convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|Ship depth=

|Ship decks=

|Ship power=

|Ship propulsion=2 × 855shp diesel engines, single reduction gear, 2 shafts

|Ship speed={{Convert|15|kn|lk=in}}

|Ship range=

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|Ship complement=104 officers and men

|Ship armament=*1 × 3"/50 caliber gun

|Ship armor=

|Ship notes=

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The Admirable class was one of the largest and most successful classes of minesweepers ordered by the United States Navy during World War II. Typically, minesweepers detected and removed naval mines before the rest of the fleet arrived, thereby ensuring safe passage for the larger ships. They were also charged with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) duties with rear-mounted depth charge racks and a forward-firing Hedgehog antisubmarine mortar. Their job was essential to the safety and success of U.S. naval operations during World War II and the Korean War. These minesweepers were also employed as patrol vessel and convoy escorts. The only remaining ship of this class is located at Freedom Park, Omaha, NE.

The {{sclass|PCE-842|patrol craft|0}} of patrol craft escorts was based on the Admirable-class design.{{cite book|last1=Gardiner|first1=Robert|last2=Chesneau|first2=Roger|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|year=1980|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-146-7|page=151}}

Service in other Navies

As a part of Project Hula – a secret 1945 program that transferred 149 U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy at Cold Bay, Territory of Alaska, in anticipation of the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan – the U.S. Navy transferred 24 Admirable-class minesweepers to the Soviet Navy between May and August 1945. At least some of them saw action in the Soviet offensive against Japanese forces in Northeast Asia in August 1945. The Soviet Union never returned them to the United States.Russell, Richard A., Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan, Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, pp. 12, 35, 37–38, 39.

After World War II, the United States transferred Admirable-class minesweepers to the Republic of China Navy, the Republic of China{{'}}s Chinese Maritime Customs Service, the Republic of Korea Navy, the Republic of Vietnam Navy, and the Dominican, Mexican, Myanmar, and Philippine navies.

{{USS|Hazard|AM-240|6}} survives as a museum ship on dry land in Omaha, Nebraska. {{USS|Inaugural|AM-242|6}} was a museum ship on the Mississippi River in St. Louis, until she sank during the Great Flood of 1993.

{{USS|Scuffle|AM-298|6}} was scuttled off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico in 1999. It is now a popular site for scuba diving.

File:Popov on minesweeper.jpg Rear Admiral Boris Dmitrievich Popov, commander of the 5th Independent Brigade of Soviet Navy Ships at Cold Bay, Territory of Alaska, speaks aboard an unidentified Admirable-class minesweeper at Cold Bay on 21 or 22 May 1945 during the ceremony transferring the ship from the United States Navy to the Soviet Navy in the secret Project Hula training-and-transfer program.]]

Production

Engines

  • Two 855shp ALCO 539 diesel engines, Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts. (30)
  • AM-136 ... AM-165
  • Two 855shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts (84)
  • AM-214 ... AM-226, AM-232 ... AM-235, AM-240 ... AM-242
  • AM-246 ... AM-291, AM-294 ... AM-311
  • Two 855shp Busch-Sulzer 539 diesel engines, Farrel Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts (9)
  • AM-356, AM-357, AM-359, AM-361 ... AM-366
  • ref:individual ship navsource.org pages. Two 1,710shp engines is assumed to be incorrectly summed

See also

References

  • http://shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/minesweepers1.htm
  • http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/willamette.htm
  • http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/tasco.htm
  • http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/savannah.htm

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Admirable-class minesweepers}}

{{Project Hula ships}}

{{WWII US ships}}

{{WWII Soviet ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Admirable Class Minesweeper}}

Category:Mine warfare vessel classes

Admirable