The Antarctican Navy knew the value of dedicated offensive minelayers. They had been using the two Gazelle class which were getting older and older and due for replacement. The Antarcticans had been making destroyers capable of carrying mines, but they could only carry a small fraction of a real minelayer. The first pair were laid down in mid 1937 and completed in late 1939, straight into WW2. The second pair were completed in 1940, and a third pair completed in 1943 to replace the pair of early losses.



The armament of the ships reflected where they thought the most danger to the ship would come from - the air. Great pains were taken to keep the weight of the ships down so that they could make the best speed possible. With a full mine deck the ships could make 36 knots, with the empty deck, near 38 knots. Fast enough to get away from most ships, but not aircraft. Half the class was lost in the war, all in the Mediterranean, all to aircraft. The ships were hardly ever used to lay offensive mine fields, the large empty mine deck was perfect for running urgently needed spares and stores to Malta and Tobruk. 1942 and these ships were upgraded to the 40mm AA guns replacing the 2 pounder and 20mm cannons. Radar sprouted from everywhere space could be found. The idea was to see your enemy first - and avoid them.



The last two ships were completed with all of the upgraded armaments and radar in place. The remainder of the class was brought up to this standard when they went through their refit processes. The last two ships and the Jensen survived the war and were kept as training ships. Again the big mine deck was useful when it was partitioned up to provide accommodation for trainees. The Jensen was the first to the breakers yard, its engines had gone trough the war at full speed and were now pretty knackered. 1959 after 20 years service the Jensen was deleted from the service list and scrapped. The Cobra an Ferrari carried on for another ten years before they too became excess to requirements and were scrapped. The Jensen had been the ship with the claim to fame as the minelayer that had never carried a mine in its service life.

 

Displacement	5,000 tons standard, 5,800 tons full load
Length	495 ft
Breadth	50 ft
Draught	16 ft
Machinery	4 shaft, steam turbines, 80,000ihp
Speed	36 knots
Range	7,000 miles at 12 knots
Armament	As completed 8 x 4" (4x2) 12 x 2pd AA (3x4) 18 x 20mm (2x2, 14x1)	Refits to 1942 8 x 4" (4x2) 22 x 40mm (3x4, 5x2)
Mines	300-400 depending on size and type
Complement	430
Notes	Jaguar Stingray Jensen Mustang Cobra Ferrari