Grimsby-class sloop

HMAS Swan in 1945
Class overview
Operators:	Royal Navy (8)  Royal Australian Navy (4)  Royal Indian Navy (1)
Preceded by:	Shoreham class
Succeeded by:	Bittern class
Cost:	£220,000 for Australian ships
Built:	1933–1940
In commission:	1934–1966
Completed:	13
Lost:	4
Preserved:	1
General characteristics RN Ships
Displacement:	RN ships : 990 long tons (1,006 t) standard 1,480–1,510 long tons (1,504–1,534 t)
Length:	266 ft 3 in (81.15 m) o/a
Beam:	36 ft (11.0 m)
Draught:	RN ships : 9 ft 11 in (3.02 m) – 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Propulsion:	Parsons geared steam turbines 2 Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers 2 shafts 2,000 shp (1,500 kW)
Speed:	16.5 knots (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h)
Complement:	100
Armament:	2 × 4.7 in (120 mm) Mark IX guns 1 × QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun 4 × 3-pounder guns 15-90 Depth charges

The Grimsby-class sloops were a class of 13 sloops-of-war laid down between 1933 and 1940. Of these eight were built in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy, four in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and one for the Royal Indian Navy. Main armament was initially two 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns for RN ships and three 4-inch (100 mm) for Australian ships, but armament varied considerably between ships, and was increased later.

Losses during World War II were Grimsby, Indus, Yarra, and Parramatta. Some survivors of this class served into the 1960s. One ship, Wellington, is preserved as the headquarters of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.

The Royal Navy started to build replacements for the Flower-class and Hunt-class sloops of the First World War, when the two vessels of the Bridgewater class were laid down, with the similar four-ship Hastings class laid down in 1929 and the eight ships of the Shoreham class being laid down in 1929–31. All of these ships were designed to combine the convoy-escort role of the Flower class with the minesweeping duties of the Hunt class, being fitted with equipment for both roles. By 1932, however, it became clear that what was needed was ships dedicated to a single role. Development therefore began of the Halcyon-class minesweepers as a cheaper mass-production minesweeper, while a new class of sloops would be built that was more closely matched to the escort role.

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Wikipedia