Destroyer minesweeper was a designation given by the United States Navy to a series of destroyers that were converted into high-speed ocean-going minesweepers for service during World War II. The hull classification symbol for this type of ship was "DMS." Forty-two ships were so converted, beginning with USS Dorsey (DD-117), converted to DMS-1 in late 1940, and ending with USS Earle (DD-635), converted to DMS-42 in mid-1945. The type is now obsolete, its function having been taken over by purpose-built ships, designated as "minesweeper (high-speed)" with the hull classification symbol MMD.
The Clemson-class destroyers and Wickes-class destroyers chosen for conversion were obsolete four-stack destroyers built in 1918 that still had usable power plants; they were nicknamed "four-pipers" on account of their four smokestacks. Although the full conversion process to minesweepers for the original 17 Wickes and Clemson-class destroyers began in October—November 1940, it was not completed for all 17 until around mid-1942. When they were fully converted from destroyers to destroyer minesweepers, the number 4 boiler, the fourth stack from the bow, and the torpedo tubes were removed, the depth charge racks repositioned forward from the stern and angled outboard, and the stern modified to support sweep gear: davits, winch, paravanes, and kites. Two 60-kilowatt turbo-generators replaced the three original 25-kilowatt generators to improve capability for sweeping magnetic and acoustic mines.
The majority of mines left by the Japanese in the Pacific were contact mines which were usually moored and could be removed by a paravane. The Japanese never created their own magnetic or pressure mines, though they captured a very limited number of magnetic mines from the British which they laid off Balikpapan in 1945. Magnetic mines in the European theater were usually disabled by towing a magnetized cable, often swept by wooden-hulled ships, but occasionally swept by iron-clad ships that were degaussed to mask their magnetic properties. Minesweeping in the Pacific theater in World War II consisted primarily in the use of sweep wires suspended between paravanes and kites, particularly among destroyer minesweepers.[1]
^Cite error: The named reference Clemsons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 25 Related for: Destroyer minesweeper information
Destroyerminesweeper was a designation given by the United States Navy to a series of destroyers that were converted into high-speed ocean-going minesweepers...
applied to a vessel that combines both roles. List of minesweeper classes Demining Destroyerminesweeper List of mine warfare vessels of the United States...
Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard two destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Among its themes, it deals...
smaller ships, Destroyers, Destroyer Escorts, and Destroyer/Minesweepers. One might also note, that though the Destroyer/Minesweepers (DMS) and likely...
novel is influenced by his experiences as Executive Officer on the Destroyer/Minesweeper USS Southard after she ran aground at Okinawa due to a typhoon,...
P. Whitemarsh in Terror DestroyerMinesweeper Group (Task Group 52.3) Capt. R.A. Larkin 13 fast minesweepers (ex-destroyers): Forrest, Hobson, Macomb...
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle...
auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly...
1944. There she entered the Naval Shipyard and was converted to destroyer-minesweeper and commissioned DMS-26 on 15 November 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph I...
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a 20-knot (37 km/h; 23 mph) warship designed with the endurance necessary...
minelayers (DM) DMS: Destroyerminesweepers: List of mine warfare vessels of the United States Navy § High speed/Destroyerminesweepers (DMS) APD: High-speed...
This is a list of destroyers of the Second World War. The List of ships of the Second World War contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically...
light gun could not be relied on to stop a destroyer. Heavier guns could not be relied on to hit a destroyer, as experience at the Battle of Jutland showed...
Department of Defense A US Navy hull classification symbol: High speed/Destroyerminesweeper (DMS) Design Manufacture Service, an outsourcing business model...
and may refer to: USS Howard (DD-179), a destroyer in commission from 1920 to 1922 and, as destroyer-minesweeper USS Howard (DMS-7), from 1940 to 1945 USS Howard (DDG-83)...
use as a satellite launch platform. Current 2 Izumo-class multi-purpose destroyers – 250-metre-long (820 ft), 19,500-tonne (27,000 tonnes full load) STOVL...
a seagoing escort ship intermediate in size between a corvette and a destroyer. After World War II, a wide variety of ships have been classified as frigates...
the Soviet Kildin-class destroyer and Whiskey-class submarines. By the end of the 1950s, smaller vessel classes such as destroyers, which formerly offered...
Mercuur (A 856). Commissioned in 1956, as an ocean going Aggressive-class minesweeper, built in the US, and later used as a submarine tender. The Russian Navy...
Australian minesweepers, or as minesweeping sloops by the Royal Navy, and were named after Australian towns. The Bird-class minesweepers or trawlers...
The National Interest. February 28, 2021. Aircraft cruiser Helicopter destroyer This article includes a list of related items that share the same name...
British destroyer and a minesweeper (also damaging another destroyer), they failed to damage any of the convoy's merchant ships. A German destroyer was lost...