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 turbines were difficult to manufacture, the ships were designed to accept a wide variety of engines. ''Felixstowe'' displaced at Displacement (ship), standard load and at deep load. The ship had an length overall, overall length of , a beam (nautical), beam of and a draft (hull), draught of .Lenton, pp. 253–54 The ship's complement consisted of 60 officers and naval rating, ratings.Chesneau, p. 64 She was powered by two Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion, vertical triple-expansion steam engines (VTE), each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ship carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at .Lenton, p. 254 The VTE-powered ''Bangor''s were armed with a QF 3 inch 20 cwt, 12 pounder anti-aircraft gun and a single QF 2-pounder naval gun, QF 2-pounder (4 cm) AA gun or a quadruple mount for the Vickers .50 machine gun. In some ships the 2-pounder was replaced a single or twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, 20 mm Oerlikon 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 charges.Construction and career
She was built by Lobnitz, Lobnitz and Company, Renfrew, Scotland and launched on 22 July 1941. She served in the Mediterranean during the Second World War. Thus far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy named after the Suffolk town of Felixstowe. She struck a naval mine, mine on 18 December 1943 and sank east of Capo Ferro, Sardinia, Italy.References
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