The ''Halcyon'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of 21 oil-fired

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

(officially, "fleet minesweeping sloops") built for the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

between 1933 and 1939. They were given traditional small ship names used historically by the Royal Navy and served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Design

There were 21 ships in the ''Halcyon'' class, built in two groups; the first using reciprocating steam engines, with

steam turbines A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

in the latter. They were generally smaller versions of the escort sloops. ''Niger'' and ''Salamander'' of the reciprocating group used vertical triple expansion engines, instead of the vertical compound engines of their sisters. As a result of the increased installed power they had a half knot speed advantage, even though they used slightly shorter hulls. The turbine ships used the same shorter hulls as ''Niger'' and ''Salamander'', but with lower installed power, speed dropped back to . ''Gleaner'', ''Franklin'', ''Jason'' and ''Scott'' were completed as unarmed survey vessels, ''Sharpshooter'' and ''Seagull'' being converted to follow suit. They were all re-armed and deployed in their original role on the outbreak of war. ''Seagull'' had the first all-welded hull built for the Royal Navy.Lenton, p.252

Service history

''Halcyon''s served in Home waters, at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

, on Arctic convoy duty, and in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. On 3 February 1940 (Cdr. J. R. N. Taylor, RN) was sweeping an area north of

Kinnaird Head Kinnaird Head ( gd, An Ceann Àrd, "high headland") is a headland projecting into the North Sea, within the town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, on the east coast of Scotland. The 16th-century Kinnaird Castle was converted in 1787 for use as the ...

when attacked by enemy aircraft. A bomb pierced the

fo'c'sle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

deck and exploding destroying the fore part of the ship. She remained afloat and was taken in tow by ''Halcyon'' but steadily flooded and capsized and sank. The wreck was later washed ashore north of

Lybster Lybster (, gd, Liabost) is a village on the east coast of Caithness in northern Scotland. It was once a big herring fishing port. The Waterlines heritage museum is located in Lybster Harbour and provides information on the history and geology ...

and was sold for scrap. The Commanding Officer and forty of the men were killed in the explosion. (Lt.Cdr. F. B. Proudfoot, RN) was attacked and sunk by a force of German

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact through ...

s off

De Panne De Panne (; french: La Panne ) is a town and a municipality located on the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders. There it borders France, making it the westernmost town in Belgium. It is one of the most popular resort town des ...

, Belgium on 1 June 1940. On board ''Skipjack'' were between 250 and 300 soldiers just rescued from the

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

beaches during Operation Dynamo. Eyewitness William Stone said "she just disappeared". ''Halcyon''s were pressed into service as anti-submarine escorts; this task slowly decreasing as the ships specifically designed for this task, such as s, came off the slips. ''Halcyon''s accompanied most of the

Arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

, serving both as minesweepers and anti-submarine escorts. Several spent extended periods working out of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

naval bases in Northern Russia, such as Murmansk. Four ''Halcyon''s were lost during this period. * (Lt.Cdr. T. C. Crease), having escorted the very first Arctic convoy, attacked a German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

while escorting Convoy PQ 11, and helped rescue the crew of the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...

. ''Gossamer'' was dive-bombed and sunk on 26 June 1942 in the

Kola Inlet Kola Bay (russian: Кольский залив) or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma, Rosta ...

. * (Cdr. A. J. Cubison, DSC and Bar) was lost off Iceland on 5 July 1942 while escorting

Convoy QP 13 Convoy QP 13 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was the thirteenth of the numbered series of convoys of merchant ships westbound from the Arctic ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk to the United Kin ...

, when part of the convoy wandered into a British minefield. * was torpedoed and sunk in the

Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined a ...

on 29 September 1942 while escorting

Convoy QP 14 QP 14 was an Arctic convoy of the QP series which ran during World War II. It was one of a series of convoys run to return Allied ships from Soviet northern ports to home ports in Britain. It sailed in September 1942 from Archangel in Russia ...

. * On 31 December 1943 during the

Battle of the Barents Sea The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bare ...

, was attacked by the German

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

while escorting

Convoy JW 51B Convoy JW 51B was an Arctic convoy sent from United Kingdom by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early January 1943. JW 51B came under attack ...

. After sustaining serious damage, ''Bramble'' was finished off by the German destroyer ''Eckoldt''. and served in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the

14th/17th Minesweeper Flotilla The 14th/17th Minesweeper Flotilla was a Royal Navy minesweeper flotilla based in Malta during the Second World War. History The flotilla comprised four fleet minesweepers from the Devonport based 14th M/S Flotilla – two ( and ) and t ...

based in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The minesweepers saw action during the

Malta Convoys The Malta convoys were Allied supply convoys of the Second World War. The convoys took place during the Siege of Malta in the Mediterranean Theatre. Malta was a base from which British sea and air forces could attack ships carrying supplies ...

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while al ...

, and Operation Corkscrew. ''Hebe'' was lost to a mine off

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...

, Italy on 22 November 1943.

Friendly fire losses

As the Allied armies advanced following the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, , , and were assigned to the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla (1MF) clearing

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

minefields north of Normandy to open additional ports to supply the advance. On the afternoon of 27 August 1944, they were sweeping off Cap d'Antifer in preparation for the

battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

and

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

s and to engage

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...

delaying the advance of Canadian troops. The headquarters officer assigning the minesweeping project to 1MF neglected to inform the Flag Officer British Assault Area ( Rear‑Admiral Rivett‑Carnac), who was responsible for defending the invasion beaches from

E-boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

s operating out of Le Havre. 1MF was observed on a southwesterly leg of the minesweeping operation and assumed to be German ships proceeding to attack Allied shipping off the invasion beaches. The Admiral's staff requested

No. 263 Squadron RAF No 263 Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron formed in Italy towards the end of the First World War. After being disbanded in 1919 it was reformed in 1939 flying mainly strike and heavy fighter aircraft until becoming No 1 Squadro ...

and

No. 266 Squadron RAF No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. History First World War The squadron was formed from Nos 437 and 438 Flights at Mudros, Greece on 27 September 1918 to carry out anti-submarine patrols in that area, flying Sh ...

to attack the presumed enemy ships. The squadrons responded with 16

Typhoons A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

armed with 20 mm cannon and

High Explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...

"60 lb" RP-3 unguided rockets.

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

pilots identified 1MF as probably friendly shipping, but upon questioning their orders were told the

had no ships in the area. In a well-executed attack out of the sun at 13:30, the Typhoons sank ''Britomart'' (Lt. Cdr. Nash, MBE, RNR) and ''Hussar'' (Lt.Cdr. A. J. Galvin, DSC, RNR); and ''Salamander'' was damaged so far beyond economical repair she was written off as a constructive total loss. Eighty-six British sailors were killed and 124 more were injured. 1MF identified the Typhoons as friendly, and poor visibility into the sun prevented early recognition of the impending "

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

". ''Jason'' established radio contact to terminate the attack.

Ships in class

Reciprocating group

*Ordered 1932 ** HMS ''Halcyon'', built by

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling and Milton beyond) to the west, and the Yoker and Drumchapel ...

, sold for scrapping 1950 ** HMS ''Skipjack'', built by John Brown, bombed and sunk off

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

on 1 June 1940 *Ordered 1933 ** HMS ''Harrier'', built by John I. Thornycroft & Company,

Woolston Woolston may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Woolston, Cheshire, a village and civil parish in Warrington * Woolston, Devon, on the list of United Kingdom locations: Woof-Wy near Kingsbridge, Devon * Woolston, Southampton, a city suburb in Ham ...

, sold for scrapping 1950 ** HMS ''Hussar'', built by Thornycroft, sunk in error by RAF aircraft off Cap d'Antifer on 27 August 1944 *Ordered 1934 ** HMS ''Speedwell'', built by

William Hamilton and Company William Hamilton and Company was a British shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was bought by Lithgow Ltd., which later became Scott Lithgow and was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders in 1977. During the Second World War ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most rece ...

, sold out of service 1946, wrecked and scrapped 1954 *Ordered 1935 ** HMS ''Niger'', built by J. Samuel White & Company,

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Fl ...

, mined off Iceland on 4 June 1942 ** HMS ''Salamander'', built by White, damaged in RAF rocket attack off Cap d'Antifer on 27 August 1944 and written off as constructive total loss, sold for scrapping 1946

Turbine group

*Ordered 1936 ** HMS ''Franklin'', built by

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire. History The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie. In 1902 the Ailsa yard ...

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...

, sold for scrapping 1956 ** HMS ''Gleaner'', built by

William Gray & Company William Gray & Company Ltd. was a British shipbuilding company located in West Hartlepool, County Durham, in North East England. Founded in 1863 by John Denton and William Gray as a partnership, it became a private and then a public limited compa ...

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County D ...

, sold for scrapping 1950 ** HMS ''Gossamer'', built by

, bombed and sunk in

on 24 June 1942 ** HMS ''Hazard'', built by William Gray, sold for scrapping 1949 ** HMS ''Hebe'', built by

HM Dockyard, Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Ro ...

, mined and sunk off

, 22 November 1943 ** HMS ''Jason'', built by Ailsa, sold out of service 1946, sold for scrapping 1950 ** HMS ''Leda'', built by HM Dockyard Devonport, torpedoed and sunk by ''U-435'' in

on 20 September 1942 ** HMS ''Seagull'', built by HM Dockyard Devonport, sold for scrapping 1956 ** HMS ''Sharpshooter'', built by HM Dockyard Devonport, renamed ''Shackleton'' 1953 and converted to survey vessel, sold for scrapping 1965.Lenton and Colledge 1973, p. 201. *Ordered 1937 ** HMS ''Bramble'', built by HM Dockyard Devonport, sunk by gunfire from German warships in

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian terr ...

, 31 December 1942 ** HMS ''Britomart'', built by HM Dockyard Devonport, sunk in error by RAF aircraft off Cap d'Antifer, 27 August 1944 ** HMS ''Scott'', built by

Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company The Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Limited was a major Scottish shipbuilding company based in Dundee, Scotland that traded for more than a century and built more than 500 ships. History W.B. Thompson CBE (1837 - 1923) founded th ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, sold for scrapping 1965 ** HMS ''Speedy'', built by

, sold out of service 1946, sold for scrapping 1957 ** HMS ''Sphinx'', built by

, bombed by German aircraft off

on 3 February 1940, later sank under tow and wreck washed ashore off

, salvaged and scrapped 1950

References

* ''British and Empire Warships of the Second World War'', H. T. Lenton, Greenhill Books, * ''Warships of World War II'', by H. T. Lenton & J. J. Colledge, Ian Allan Ltd,

External links

''Halcyon'' class website

HMS ''Bramble'' "BBC People's War"

HMS ''Hussar'' "BBC People's War"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halcyon Class Minesweeper Mine warfare vessel classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy