Navarin-class minesweeper
{{Short description|Minesweeper class of the French Navy}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:Canadian Car & Foundry, in Fort William, Ontario, built minesweepers for France, in WW1 -a.jpg |Ship caption=Ships of the class under construction in 1918 }} {{Infobox ship class overview | Name=Navarin-class minesweeper | Builders=Canadian Car and Foundry | Operators = {{navy|France|1918}} | Class before= | Class after= | Cost= $2.5 million (for entire class) | Built range = 1918 | In service range = | In commission range= | Total ships planned=12 | Total ships completed=12 | Total ships cancelled= | Total ships retired= | Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Minesweeper |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{convert|41.3|m|ft}} |Ship beam= {{convert|6.9|m|ft}} |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship propulsion= Twin screws |Ship speed= {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship complement= 36 crew |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament= 2 × {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} deck-mounted guns |Ship armour= |Ship armor= }} |
The Navarin class was a class of 12 minesweepers built by Canadian Car and Foundry for the French Navy in 1918, near the end of World War I. The class is mainly remembered for the disappearance of two of its members, Inkerman and Cerisoles, during their maiden voyage on Lake Superior in November 1918.
Description
The ships were designed to clear naval mines along the coast of France and in the English Channel.{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Bourrie |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/711961--treasure-hunters-seek-lake-superior-s-holy-grail |title=Treasure hunters seek Lake Superior's 'Holy Grail' |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=18 October 2009 |accessdate=31 December 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203100531/https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/711961--treasure-hunters-seek-lake-superior-s-holy-grail |archive-date=3 February 2012}} French naval documents refer to the ships as chalutiers rather than dragueurs de mines, as the ships were designed to function as fishing trawlers after the war.{{cn|date=July 2023}}
A contract for $2.5 million awarded to Canadian Car and Foundry to construct 12 minesweepers for the French government was reported in February 1918.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-steel-productscanadian-ca/127633655/ |title=Steel Products—Canadian Car |newspaper=National Post |location=Toronto |page=2 |date=February 9, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} Built in what was then known as Fort William, Ontario, half of the order was completed by early November 1918,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-car-and-foundry/127634199/ |title=Car and Foundry |newspaper=National Post |location=Toronto |page=4 |date=November 9, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} and the entire order was finished before the end of the year.{{cite news |url= http://www.chroniclejournal.com/opinion/blueberry-boat-made-here/article_fef56cce-9926-11e6-83dc-c3d19a9b7031.html |title=Blueberry Boat made here |work=The Chronicle-Journal |location=Thunder Bay, Ontario |first=Tory |last=Trunrud |date=2016-10-16 |accessdate=2018-07-09}}
Each vessel was {{convert|135|ft|m}} long and rated at 321 gross register tonnage. Their steel-framed wooden hulls were divided into four water-tight compartments. Each ship was fitted with twin screws and a single funnel, and had a top speed of about {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}}. Two {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} deck-mounted guns, with a range of about {{convert|20|km|yd mile}}, were located forward and aft.
In November 1918, three of the minesweepers—Inkerman, Cerisoles, and Sebastopol—encountered severe weather while attempting to cross Lake Superior; Sebastopol reached its destination, but the other two ships and their crews were lost; no wreckage of the ships has been located.{{cite news |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/08/lake-superiors-biggest-mystery-2-french-minesweepers-built-for-war-vanished-in-1918.html |title=Lake Superior’s biggest mystery: 2 French minesweepers built for war vanished in 1918 |first=Tanda |last=Gmiter |website=mlive.com |date=August 18, 2022 |accessdate=July 4, 2023}}
{{main|French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles}}
Ships of the class
A total of 12 Navarin-class minesweepers were built; their names, as listed below, were published in The Gazette of Montreal in November 1918.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette-weather-reports-not-availabl/127622674/ |title=Weather Reports Not Available—Lake Shipping on Move |newspaper=The Gazette |location=Montreal |page=4 |date=November 23, 1918 |accessdate=July 4, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} Seven members of the class are known to have been lost; the fate of the other five members of the class is unclear.
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References
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- {{cite book |last=Couhat |first=Jean Labayle |title=French Warships of World War I |year=1974 |location=Shepperton, IK |publisher=Ian Allan |isbn=0-7110-0445-5}}