| HMS Gazelle (J342) | |
|---|---|
| HMS Gazelle FL21976.jpg | |
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
| Name: | HMS Gazelle (J342) |
| Namesake: | Gazelle |
| Builder: | Savannah Machinery and Foundry Co. |
| Laid down: | 2 July 1942 as BAM-17 |
| Launched: | 10 January 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 28 July 1943 as HMS Gazelle (J342) |
| Out of service: | December 1946 |
| Fate: | Returned to the United States Navy |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Catherine-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 890 tons |
| Length: | 221' 3" |
| Beam: | 32' |
| Draft: | 10' 9" |
| Propulsion: | Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines |
| Speed: | 18 kts |
| Complement: | 105 |
| Armament: | One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two twin 40mm gun mounts, two 20mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks, five depth charge projectors[1] |
HMS Gazelle was a Catherine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy (the Catherine class was the British designation for the United States Navy's Auk-class minesweepers).[2][3]
In May 1945, as the war drew to a close, a flotilla of eight minesweepers including Gazelle took part in "Operation Cleaver" to clear the German mine barrage off the Skagerrak, making way for a squadron led by the light cruisers Birmingham and Dido with four destroyers to return the Danish government-in-exile to Copenhagen and take the surrender of German warships in Danish waters. The force reached Copenhagen on 9 May, taking control of the German cruisers Prinz Eugen and Nürnberg after their surrender.[4]
References[]
- ↑ "HMS Gazelle (J342) ex-BAM-17". http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/022017.htm.
- ↑ "HMS Gazelle (J 401) of the Royal Navy - British Minesweeper of the Auk class - Allied Warships of WWII". https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6546.html.
- ↑ "BAM-17". http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/022017.htm.
- ↑ "Cleaver – Operations & Codenames of WWII". https://codenames.info/operation/cleaver/.
The original article can be found at HMS Gazelle (J342) and the edit history here.