USS Admirable (AM-136) |
|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Hawk class minesweeper |
| Succeeded by: | Agile class minesweeper |
| Planned: | 147 |
| Completed: | 123 |
| Cancelled: | 24 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 625 tons |
| Length: | 184 ft 6 in (56.24 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Speed: | 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
| Complement: | 104 officers and men |
| Armament: | 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun 4 × Bofors 40 mm gun 6 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 4 × Depth charge projectors 2 × Depth charge racks 2 × Minesweeping paravanes |
The Admirable class was the largest and one of the most successful classes of minesweepers the United States Navy ordered during World War II. Typically, the minesweeper detected and removed mines before the rest of the fleet arrived, thereby ensuring safe passage for the larger ships. They were also charged with antisubmarine warfare (ASW) duties with rear-mounted depth charge racks and a forward-firing Hedgehog. Their job was essential to the safety and success of U.S. naval operations during World War II and the Korean War. These minesweepers were also employed as patrol and escort vessels.
The USS Hazard (AM-240) is a museum ship on dry land in Omaha, Nebraska.
Famous quotes containing the words admirable and/or class:
“The child who has been taught to make an accurate elevation, plan, and section of a pint pot has had an admirable training in accuracy of eye and hand.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“He has more to impart than to receive from his generation. He is another such a strong and finished workman in his craft as Samuel Johnson was, and, like him, makes the literary class respectable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)