ALGERINE-Class
Fleet Minesweeper fitted with
Turbine
propulsion machinery ordered on 15th
November 1940 from Harland and
Wolff, Belfast. Laid down on 22nd
September 1942 at the same time as
sister ship ROSARIO, the ship was
launched on 20th March 1943 as the
fifth RN
ship to carry this name, introduced
in 1808 for a ten gun Brig Sloop
built at Deptford and sold in 1819.
It was
last borne by a Trawler purchased in
1814 for use as a minesweeper which
was sold in 1921. The build of this
minesweeper was completed on 18th
June 1943.and she had been adopted
by the civil community of Rotherham
Rural District in Yorkshire after a
successful WARSHIP WEEK National
Savings campaign held in March 1942.
B
a t t l e H
o n o u r s
BELGIAN
COAST 1914 - NORTH SEA 1943 -
ANZIO 1944 - SOUTH
FRANCE 1944 - AEGEAN 1944
H
e r a l d i c
D a t a
Badge:
On a field Blue, two swords in
saltire White,
pommels and
hilts
enfiled by a spur, Gold.
D
e t a i l s
o f W a r
S e r v i c e
(for
more ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and
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1
9 4 3
June
Contractors trials and
commissioned for service in 19th
Minesweeping Flotilla
18th
Build completion and commenced
Acceptance Trials
On completion took
passage to Tobermory to work-up for
operational service.
July
Deployed in Firth of Forth
based at Port Edgar for minesweeping
training on completion
of work-up.
August
Minesweeping training in
continuation.
September
Passage to Kyle of Lochalsh to join
ships of Flotilla.
October
Carried out training for
minesweeping and Flotilla operations
with HM Minesweepers
ROSARIO, BRAVE,
WATERWITCH and SPANKER which then
formed the 19th
Flotilla.
November
Nominated for foreign service with
ships of Flotilla and took passage
from Clyde to
Milford Haven.
Part of escort with
ships of Flotilla, for Convoy KX12
during passage from Milford Haven
to Gibraltar
(Note: Convoy
comprised two mercantiles and eight
smaller minesweepers and a coal
burning
trawler which limited speed of
convoy to 6 knots and produced
sufficient
smoke
to be a constant source of danger !)
December
Took passage from Gibraltar with HMS
BRAVE and HMS WATERWITCH for Malta.
.
(Note:
HMS SPANKER
was detached for service as a convoy
escort at Algiers and
HMS
ROSARIO remained at Gibraltar for
similar duties.)
Deployed for local
minesweeping and escort duties in
Malta on arrival.
1
9 4 4
January
Malta deployment in
continuation.
14th
Took passage from Malta with HMS
BRAVE and HMS WATERWITCH for Naples.
On arrival prepared
for minesweeping in support of
allied landings at Anzio as part of
2nd Minesweeping
Group.
21st
Sailed from Naples with HMS
WATERWITCH for clearance of mines in
advance of
assault ships.
22nd
Deployed to clear passage for
landing craft.
23rd
Deployed with same ships and HMS
BRAVE which had been detained at
Naples by
defect.
26th
Released from SHINGLE and took
passage to return to Malta.
February
Deployed at Malta with ships of
Flotilla including HMS SPANKER which
had rejoined
from Algiers.
Carried out local minesweeping and
escort duties
March
Malta and period detachment
for minesweeping off west coast of
Italy with 12th Flotilla
in support of
military operations by ensuring
clear passage for allied warships
and
shipping.).
(Note: HM
Minesweepers ARIES, ANTARES and
ARCTURUS, of this Class, built in
Canada
joined Flotilla in Malta during this
period.)
April
Deployed for minesweeping
off Malta
May
Malta deployment in
continuation.
Took passage to
Maddalena, Northern Sardinia with
Flotilla units deployed in Malta
On
arrival commenced
minesweeping with Flotilla in
Straits of Bonifacio.
June
Straits of Bonifacio
sweeping in continuation
16th
Deployed with Flotilla to carry
out minesweep in advance of ships on
passage to carry
out landings on
island of Elba (Operation BRASSARD).
40 mines were swept.
(Note: This
clearance enabled bombardment of
shore positions to be carried out by
HM
River Gunboats APHIS,
COCKCHAFER and SCARAB.)
On release from
BRASSARD took passage with Flotilla
to resume minesweeping
Operations off
west coast of Italy.
July
Deployed
with Flotilla in joint
minesweeping operations off
Civitavecchia to clear a
channel north of
Cape Corso (Operation LOBSTER)
(Note: Ships of
12th and 13th Minesweeping Flotilla
also took part.)
18th
On completion of LOBSTER continued
west coast deployment for clearance
of
passage towards
Leghorn.
August
Returned to Naples with ships
of Flotilla to prepare for planned
allied landings in
South France as
Senior Officer of Flotilla
(Operation DRAGOON formerly ANVIL)
(Note: Royal Navy
ships were under overall command of
Vice Admiral HK Hewett
US
Navy. This ship was
allocated to DELTA Attack Force
under command of
Rear
Admiral Rodgers, US Navy to whom
Commander CH Corbet-Singleton,
Royal
Navy as Senior Officer 19th
Minesweeping Flotilla was
responsible.)
12th
Deployed with HM Minesweepers
ROSARIO, ANTARES, ARCTURUS, SPANKER,
BRAVE and five US
Navy Patrol Craft as escort for
military convoy SF2A (DELTA)
during passage to
assault area.
(Note: Convoy
comprised three Landing Ships
(Infantry).)
13th
Called at Ajaccio with SF2A
14th
Sailed with convoy from Ajaccio as
escort to St Tropez for landings.
15th
Detached from escort with ships of
Flotilla to carry out minesweep in
advance of
assault convoy. No
mines were swept.
On completion of
swept channel work cleared area to
be used for naval gunfire support.
(Note: Ships assigned to DELTA area
for gunfire support included:
US
battleships USS TEXAS and USS
NEVADA, US cruiser
PHILADELPHIA,
French Cruisers GEORGES LEYGUES and
MONTCALM)
(For
details of Operation DRAGOON
See INVASION OF THE SOUTH OF
FRANCE (HMSO) and
ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by C
Barnett).
18th
Transferred from command of Task
Force Commander to Task Group 80.12
ton carry
out programme of
minesweeping.
19th
Deployed for minesweeping off
assault area with ships of Task
Unit.
to
(Note: During this period mine
clearance was carried out to enable
ports at Toulon and
30th
Marseilles to be
used. Both German
and French mines had
been laid in these
areas
September
Task Unit minesweeping operations
deployment in continuation.
4th
Flotilla released from service with
US Navy and took passage to Malta.
15th
Resumed service under RN
administration after R&R Period
(Note: Some ships
of Flotilla were then deployed at
Taranto for minesweeping and
convoy
escort)
October
Deployed with Flotilla for
minesweeping in Adriatic.
2nd
Took passage with HMS BRAVE and HMS
SPANKER
to Ancona for clearance
of passage
between Ancona and Sibinek,
Yugoslavia
for use by
ships deployed in
support of military operations.
23rd
Took passage from Ancona to Taranto
for
repair.
(Note: The Ships
of Flotilla except HMS WATERWITCH
rejoined
at Ancona for
clearance
of the cross-Adriatic channel.
November
On completion of repair rejoined
Flotilla at Ancona to resume
clearance of channel..
11th
Deployed with HM Minesweepers
ARCTURUS,
ANTARES, BRAVE and SPANKER
ahead of HM
Cruiser DELHI during passage through
islands into Split for support of
shore operations.
(Note: Area
around Split had been retaken by
Partisan forces on 10th.)
12th
Deployed for night patrol to
intercept
E-Boats and continued mine clearance
of cross
Adriatic passage
during daylight.
(Note: During
latter apart of month new type of
mine (OBOE) was encountered for
first
time. These exploded when surfacing
after being cut from mooring cable
and
were intended to damage any
following minesweeper.)
December
Cross-Adriatic channel clearance
in continuation.
6th
Clearance of cross-Adriatic channel
completed.
(Note: This task
had taken nine weeks during which
214 mines were swept.
Detached for loan
service in Aegean with 5th
Minesweeping Flotilla and took
passage
to
Pireaus,
Assisted HM
Destroyer BEAUFORT at Krioneri in
support of military and came
under shore fire.
Returned to Malta to rejoin Flotilla
on release from loan service.
1
9 4 5
January
Deployed at Malta
(Note: After
arrival in Malta the Flotilla were
despatched to carry out minesweeping
operation
after
suspected aircraft minelay. The
circumstances of this sudden
and
possibly inappropriate deployment
are suspect and no mines were
swept.)
25th
Took
passage with Flotilla for
minesweeping southern Adriatic.
(Operation
ANTAGONIZE III)
(Note: During
this operation HMS ANTARES was badly
damaged by a mine and
never
rejoined the
Flotilla.)
February
Southern Adriatic deployment
with Flotilla in continuation.
to
March
April
Based at Taranto for
mine clearance with Flotilla to
provide clear passage to Trieste
and Genoa..
May
Deployed for joint
sweeping operations with Flotilla
and 5th Minesweeping Flotilla
in
continuation of Adriatic mine
clearance.
12th
Channels to Trieste and Genoa
completed. 77 mines were swept.
June
Transferred to
Trieste with ships of Flotilla.
Deployed with
HM Minesweepers BRAVE, WATERWITCH
and FANCY for the
widening of
existing swept channels in northern
Adriatic.
July
On completion
returned to Malta for mine sweeping
in central Mediterranean.
August
Central Mediterranean
mine clearance in continuation with
ships of Flotilla.
P
o s t W a r
N o t e s
HMS
RINALDO remained in the
Mediterranean for mine clearance off
Malta, and in the Aegean until
returning
to UK in June 1946. The ship was
Paid-off at Portsmouth and placed in
Reserve
after de-storing. Recommissioned in
May 1951
she joined the 4th Minesweeping
Squadron after work-up at Portland
and was then deployed at Harwich
with the Flotilla for minesweeping
training and Home Fleet duties. She
remained
in service until 1955 and attended
the Coronation Review at Spithead in
June
1953. After reduction to Reserve
status
she was laid-up at Portsmouth where
she remained until placed on the
Disposal List in 1961. The ship was
sold to BISCO for demolition by CW
Dorkin at Sunderland where she
arrived in tow on 12th August that
year.
For more about Algerine-class
Minesweepers, see
http://www.minesweepers.org.uk/index.htm