List of mine countermeasure vessels of the Royal Navy


Active ships

clearance was originally done by whatever type of vessel could easily be adapted to the task, paddle steamers proving particularly suited due to their shallow draught. In both World Wars naval trawlers were used, as they were naturally suitable for wire sweeping. In World War II this task was given to smaller trawlers of about 300 tons, larger ones being used for anti-submarine work. The increased sophistication and threat posed by the mine meant that specialist mine countermeasure vessels eventually had to be built: the Minesweeping Sloop. This term was officially dropped in 1937, but remained in use nonetheless. The Royal Navy has possessed such vessels since 1914.
There were also some conversions of ships originally built for other purposes for special minesweeping. This was mainly early in World War II for sweeping acoustic and magnetic mines, and later in the war for sweeping influence mines. The ships selected were of varying origin and age and thus do not form a class as such.