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The ''Algerine''-class minesweeper was a large group of minesweepers built for the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. 110 ships of the class were launched between 1942 and 1944. ==Design and description== By 1940 the Royal Navy had realized that the s were too small to handle the equipment needed to handle magnetic mines. A bigger ship was designed, ironically about the same size as the older that the Royal Navy had rejected earlier as too large and expensive for mass production. The size of the new ship made them suitable for use as ocean-going escort ships and many were used in that role to fill a critical shortage of escorts. In fact most of the ships built for the RCN were solely employed as such and were fitted with more dedicated anti-submarine weapons than the RN ships. To maximise production, alternate designs were made to use either steam turbines or reciprocating steam engines.〔Lenton, pp. 260–61〕 The turbine-powered ships displaced at standard load and at deep load while the reciprocating group displaced at standard load and at deep load. The hull's dimensions were the same for both groups and the ship measured long overall with a beam of . The turbine group had a draught of while the reciprocating ships sat deeper in the water. The ships' complement consisted of 85 officers and ratings.〔Lenton, p. 261〕 The turbine-powered ships had two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The reciprocating ships substituted two vertical triple-expansion steam engines for the turbines and reached the same speed. They carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at .〔 The ''Algerine'' class was armed with a anti-aircraft gun〔Chesneau, p. 65〕 and four twin-gun mounts for Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. The latter guns were in short supply when the first ships were being completed and they often got a proportion of single mounts. By 1944, single-barrel Bofors 40 mm mounts began replacing the twin 20 mm mounts on a one for one basis. All of the ships were fitted for four throwers and two rails for depth charges. Many Canadian ships omitted their sweeping gear in exchange for a 24-barrel Hedgehog spigot mortar and a stowage capacity for 90+ depth charges.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Algerine-class minesweeper」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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