HMIS ''Malwa'' (J55) was a s built for the
Royal Navy, but transferred to the
Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during the Second World War.
Design and description
The ''Bangor'' class was designed as a small minesweeper that could be easily built in large numbers by civilian shipyards; as
steam turbine
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 ...
s were difficult to manufacture, the ships were designed to accept a wide variety of engines. ''Malwa'' displaced at
standard load and at
deep load. The ship had an
overall length of , a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draught of .
[Lenton, pp. 253–54] The ship's complement consisted of 60 officers and
ratings.
[Chesneau, p. 64]
She was powered by two
vertical triple-expansion steam engines (VTE), each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two
Admiralty three-drum boiler
Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...
s. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ship carried a maximum of of
fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
that gave her a range of at .
[Lenton, p. 254]
The VTE-powered ''Bangor''s were armed with a QF 12-pounder (7.62 cm)
anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
and a single
QF 2-pounder (4 cm) AA gun or a quadruple mount for the
Vickers .50 machine gun
The Vickers .50 machine gun, also known as the 'Vickers .50' was similar to the Vickers machine gun but enlarged to use a larger-calibre round. It saw some use in tanks and other fighting vehicles but was more commonly used as a close-in anti- ...
. In some ships the 2-pounder was replaced a single or twin
20 mm Oerlikon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...
AA gun, while most ships were fitted with four additional single Oerlikon mounts over the course of the war.
[ For escort work, their minesweeping gear could be exchanged for around 40 ]depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s.[
]
Construction and career
HMIS ''Malwa'' was ordered in 1942, and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers in India for the Royal Navy. She was commissioned in 1945, just months before the end of World War II. ''Malwa'' was a part of the Eastern Fleet, and escorted a few convoys before the end of the war.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Malwa (J55)
Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Indian Navy
Peshawar
1944 ships
British ships built in India
World War II minesweepers of India