Allied Warships

Minelayers


The Abdiel class minelayer HMS Welshman (M 84) of the Royal Navy. She was lost on 1 Feb 1943.

All Minelayer classes

The list is divided by navy, then ordered by commissioned date of each class (oldest first).

Commissioned

Royal Navy

 Adventure (1)1926 - 1926
 Plover (1)1937 - 1937
 Linnet (3)1938 - 1938
 Auxiliary minelayers (11)1939 - 1941
 M 1 (8)1939 - 1944

Royal Dutch Navy

 Hydra (2)1911 - 1912
 Douwe Aukes (1)1922 - 1922
 Pro Patria (1)1923 - 1923
 Krakatau (1)1924 - 1924
 Nautilus (1)1930 - 1930
 Prins van Oranje (2)1932 - 1932
 Jan van Brakel (1)1936 - 1936
 Rigel (1)1939 - 1939
 Willem van der Zaan (1)1939 - 1939
 Soemenep (1)1940 - 1940
 Bangkalan (1)1942 - 1942

Polish Navy

 Gryf (1)1938 - 1938

Royal Hellenic Navy

 no class name (4)1906 - 1926

18 ship classes.


Please note that we list the classes by navies that initiated/owned the class. Often vessels of certain classes were then built for other nations (or lent), those ships are not visible here but only through the navies pages or by looking into each class.

War losses: Minelayers


 DateVesselClass

1939

Polish Navy3 Sep 1939ORP GryfGryf 

1940

Royal Dutch Navy15 May 1940HNMS HydraHydra 
Royal Navy19 May 1940HMS Princess Victoria (M 03)Auxiliary minelayers 
Royal Navy27 Nov 1940HMS Port Napier (M 32)Auxiliary minelayers 

1941

Royal Hellenic Navy22 Apr 1941RHS AliakmonAixos 
Royal Hellenic Navy23 Apr 1941RHS NestosAixos 
Royal Hellenic Navy28 Apr 1941RHS AxiosAixos 
Royal Dutch Navy22 May 1941HNMS Nautilus (M 12)Nautilus 
Royal Navy19 Dec 1941HMS Redstart (M 62)Linnet 

1942

Royal Dutch Navy11 Jan 1942HNMS Prins van OranjePrins van Oranje 
Royal Navy14 Feb 1942HMS Kung WoAuxiliary minelayers 
Royal Dutch Navy15 Feb 1942HNMS Pro PatriaPro Patria 
Royal Dutch Navy2 Mar 1942HNMS BangkalanBangkalan 
Royal Dutch Navy2 Mar 1942HNMS RigelRigel 
Royal Dutch Navy2 Mar 1942HNMS SoemenepSoemenep 
Royal Dutch Navy7 Mar 1942HNMS Gouden LeeuwPrins van Oranje 
Royal Dutch Navy8 Mar 1942HNMS KrakatauKrakatau 

1943

Italian Navy5 Oct 1943IT LegnanoAzio 

18 Minelayers lost. See all Allied Warship losses.

See all Allied Warship types



Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939-45 Vol 2

Williamson, Gordon

Books dealing with this subject include:

Hitler's Forgotten Flotillas, Lawrence Paterson, 2017
Kriegsmarine U-boats 1939-45 Vol 2, Williamson, Gordon, 2002
World War II American Destroyer Minelayers DM-1 through DM-22, Borchers, Duane D., Sr.,



Return to the Allied Warships section