Auk-class minesweeper

The "Auk" class were Allied minesweepers serving with the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. In total, there were 95 "Auk"s built.
Design and development.
The "Auk" class displaced 890 tons on average, and had an approximate length of . They could reach a maximum speed of about . "Auk"s were equipped with a single gun, two 40 mm Bofors guns, and eight 20 mm Oerlikon guns. They were visually similar to the preceding but adopted diesel-electric, rather than diesel, propulsion to permit magnetic mine sweep gear to be powered.
Twenty of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-lease and named as the Catherine class, with "J" pennant number prefixes. Of these twenty, three were sunk in action, and 17 were returned to the U.S. after the war.
Eleven minesweepers of the "Auk" class were lost in World War II, six to direct enemy action including , torpedoed by .
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