The ''Adjutant''-class
auxiliary motor minesweepers
Auxiliary motor minesweepers were small wood-hulled minesweepers commissioned by the United States Navy for service during World War II. The vessels were numbered, but unnamed. The auxiliary motor minesweepers were originally designated yard min ...
were built for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
throughout the 1950s and 1960s, even as late as 1978. Most were loaned to foreign countries under the
Military Defense Assistance Pact, with only 24 actually commissioned by the US Navy, with 13 of those eventually being transferred to foreign nations as well. Initially classified as auxiliary motor minesweepers (AMS), on 7 February 1955, they were reclassified as
coastal minesweepers (minesweeper, coastal) (MSC).
Design
The ''Adjutant''-class minesweepers were of a wooden construction with brass and stainless steel fittings to reduce magnetic attraction. The rated
displacement
Displacement may refer to:
Physical sciences
Mathematics and physics
*Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
was light and at full load, though the ships of the ''Redwing'' class show a displacement of and the ''Albatross'' class show a displacement of . They were
between the perpendiculars with an
overall length
The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of . They had a
beam of with a
draft
Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
.
Half of the US ships used four
Packard
Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958.
One ...
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
s. The rest and most of the ships built for use by foreign nations used two
General Motors
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
8-268A diesel engines.
Classes
The first ship of the class was to be USS ''Adjutant'' (AMS-60). However, the name ''Adjutant'' was canceled and the ship was transferred to the
Portuguese Navy
The Portuguese Navy (), also known as the Portuguese War Navy (''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'') or as the Portuguese Armada (''Armada Portuguesa''), is the navy of the Portuguese Armed Forces. Chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal, it is ...
as ''Ponta Delgada'' (M 405). The first ship
commissioned by the US Navy was . This is where the US ships got their class name. With slight changes in design, some of the ships are referred to by other class names, such as ''Falcon'' class, ''Redwing'' class, ''Albatross'' class, or even under ''Adjutant'' class.
While in the service of foreign navies they could be referred to under other class names:
Ships in class
Citations
Bibliography
Online resources
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Book resources
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External links
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{{Adjutant class minesweeper
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Mine warfare vessel classes
Ship classes of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
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