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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Operators: | United States |
| In commission: | 1941-1944 |
| Completed: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 410 long tons (417 t) |
| Length: | 123 ft 10 in (37.74 m) |
| Beam: | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Armament: | |
The Kite-class minesweepers were a class of two ships operated by the United States Navy during World War II.
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
Both ships were built as fishing trawlers in 1928 by the Bath Iron Works Corporation of Bath, Maine, for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts.
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater at a specified depth. A trawler may also operate two or more trawl nets simultaneously.
Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. BIW has built private, commercial, and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy. The shipyard has built and sometimes designed battleships, frigates, cruisers, and destroyers, including the Arleigh Burke class which are currently among the world's most advanced surface warships.
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,514 at the 2010 census, and 8,357 as of 2013, the population has had a change of -10.2% since 2000. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its 19th-century architecture. It is home to the Bath Iron Works and Heritage Days Festival, held annually on the Fourth of July weekend. It is commonly known as "The City of Ships". Bath is part of the metropolitan statistical area of Greater Portland.
The ships were acquired by the U.S. Navy in late 1940, and converted to minesweepers at Bethlehem Steel Co. of East Boston, Massachusetts, and commissioned in early 1941. Both were disposed of towards the end of the war.
