Algerine-class minesweeper

The Algerine class was a large group of ocean-going minesweepers built for the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, with 110 ships launched between 1942 and 1944. The Royal Navy had concluded that the smaller Bangor class could not carry the gear needed against magnetic mines, so a bigger hull of about 225 feet was drawn up that could also serve as an escort. To spread the work across yards, two machinery layouts were allowed: Parsons geared steam turbines, or merchant-style vertical triple-expansion steam engines. Of the 45 ships built in the United Kingdom, Harland and Wolff at Belfast built 22, including the lead ship Algerine, and nearly all of the turbine-powered ships came from that yard; Lobnitz, Blyth, Fleming and Ferguson and William Simons built the rest, and Canadian yards built many more. A further 15 British orders placed in 1943 were cancelled to free yard space for Loch-class frigates.