List of minesweeper classes explained
This is a list of minesweeper and minehunter classes
Royal Australian Navy
Canadian Navy
People's Liberation Army Navy
Danish Navy
- s (fitted for MCM operations)
- Holm-class multirole boats (fitted for remote controlled minesweeping)
- MSF-class drone minehunters
- MRD-class drone minehunters
French Navy
- , 12 built, 1918
- , 40 built, 1977–1995
German Navy
Kriegsmarine
Volksmarine
Bundesmarine
Indonesian Navy
Italian Navy
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Lithuanian Navy
- (2000-2020)
- (2006-active)
Royal Navy (United Kingdom)
- (112 ships in 4 sub-classes, launched 1914—1918) convoy sloops intended originally for minesweeping
- Hunt-class minesweeper, Belvoir group (20 ships, launched 1916—1917) Ailsa twin-screw coastal minesweeping sloops
- Hunt-class minesweeper, Aberdare group (87 ships, launched 1917—1919) Admiralty twin-screw coastal minesweeping sloops
- (14 ships, launched 1917–1919) tunnel-screw coastal minesweeping sloops
- (32 ships in 2 sub-classes, launched 1916—1918) paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops
- (7 reciprocating and 14 turbine ships, launched 1933—1939) twin-screw minesweeping sloops
- (14 ships, launched 1940—1942) diesel twin-screw single-role minesweeping sloops
- Blyth-class minesweeper (Bangor class II) (19 ships, launched 1940—1943) reciprocating Bangor variant
- Ardrossan-class minesweeper (Bangor class III) (26 ships, launched 1940—1942) turbine Bangor variant
- (47 ships, launched 1940—1943 only served with the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Indian Navy) Australian Bangor variant
- (403 ships, launched 1940—1945) inshore acoustic / magnetic motor minesweepers
- (98 ships, launched 1941—1945) twin-screw multi-role minesweeping sloops
- (22 ships, transferred from the US Navy in 1941 under the Lend-Lease program) twin-screw multi-role minesweeping sloops
- (150 ships, launched 1941—1943) British Yard acoustic / magnetic motor minesweepers
- (116 ships, launched 1952—1959) open-water minesweepers, minehunters and mine countermeasures vessels
- (93 ships, launched 1954—1959) inshore minesweepers
- (10 ships, launched 1952—1955) inshore minehunters
- Wilton class (1 ship, launched 18 January 1972) open-water minesweeper and minehunter. Prototype ship built in Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) to same hull design as Ton class and forerunner of Hunt and Sandown classes also constructed in GRP.
- (13 ships, launched 1978—1988) mine countermeasures vessels
- (2 ships, purchased 1979) deep-water single-role minesweepers
- (12 ships, launched 1982—1985) deep-water single-role minesweepers
- (12 ships, launched 1990—2001) single-role minehunters
United States Navy
World War II
United States Navy minesweepers in World War II can be put into 4 groups. First there were the 49 WW1-era s. Most of them were reclassified to serve as tugs, seaplane tenders and rescue ships.
The second group comprised the steel hull 2, 71 s and 123 s that were conceptually similar to submarine chasers (and). They were ocean-going, but their primary area of operation was coastal waters. They carried substantial anti-submarine warfare equipment: depth charges, depth charge throwers and hedgehogs and with this they could fulfill merchant escort duties. The 18 s were PCE-842 boats built as minesweepers, but considered unsatisfactory for their purpose and converted to regular patrol craft. Several Auks were given to the Royal Navy, numerous Admirables to the Soviet Union. The Ravens were the first new minesweepers after a gap of almost 2 decades and they were the first to use diesel propulsion. The Auks used diesel-electric propulsion, because the availability of electrical energy removed the need for additional service generators. At over 3000shp they were also quite powerful and thus relatively fast. The Admirables again used geared diesels, they were considerably shorter than the Auks and only had half the power,but they came with lower cost. The Auk and Admirable classes were produced in parallel and their hull numbers overlap.
The third group was formed by the 481 wooden hull s, similar in size and construction to the wooden hull s. Wooden hulls were especially useful for minesweepers for it virtually eliminated the magnetic signature of the boat. These boats were smaller than their steel hull counterparts, were (probably) not going to cross the ocean under their own power and seakeeping fortunes and had no hedgehogs and only 2 depth charge throwers.
The fourth group consisted of 24 s that were converted relatively late in the war, but which were much faster and also better armed than any of the other minesweepers, even after the reduction in armament that came with the conversion.
The 3 were converted fishing boats and they are pretty much irrelevant because of the small quantity and lack of impact on design.
In alphabetical order.
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- Littoral combat ship (LCS) with mine countermeasures module (MCM) – active and future
