Bird-class minesweeper

Bird class

HMS Blackbird on 11 June 1943
Class overview
Name:	Bird class
Builders:	Henry Robb Ltd, Leith, Scotland.
Succeeded by:	Isles class
Completed:	45
General characteristics
Type:	Minesweeper
Displacement:	607 standard, 923 full load
Length:	168 ft (51 m) overall 157.5 ft (48.0 m) keel
Beam:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Draught:	15.3 ft (4.7 m)
Propulsion:	1,100 ihp (820 kW) oil
Speed:	13 knots (24 km/h)
Complement:	33-35
Sensors and processing systems:	asdic
Armament:	1 × 4 inch gun 2 × 1 Hotchkiss guns Twin Lewis guns 40 depth charges

The Bird-class minesweeper was a naval trawler built to Admiralty specifications so it could function as a minesweeper. Forty-five were built. The Royal New Zealand Navy ships were also referred to as corvettes.

The Bird class evolved from the experimental minesweeping trawler HMS Basset, 1935, followed by HMS Mastiff, 1938, both built by Henry Robb Ltd. They were slightly larger and more powerful than these prototypes of what ultimately became the Isles class.

On 29 January 1943, in a classic duel, the Royal New Zealand Navy Kiwi and Moa rammed and wrecked the Japanese submarine I-1. On 19 August 1943 the Royal New Zealand Navy Tui and some United States Kingfisher floatplanes jointly sank the Japanese submarine I-17.