600 ton Minesweepers/Escorts/Tenders
One of the clauses that interested the Admiralty from the treaties was the
one where ships under 600 tons had no limit. Many countries tried to build
useful units to that level but none were really good enough for those countries
to want to mass produce any of them. (Real life French La Melpomene, UK
Kingfisher corvettes). In my AU the RN sacrifices speed for sturdier building
practices and using a common hull with two different sized diesel engine layouts
for the different uses. The two types were both regarded as coastal units but
during the war the Escort types ended up serving all over the world from
duelling with E-Boats in the Channel to fighting U-Boats and aircraft on the
Arctic Convoys. The three types were perfect for mass production and hundreds
were produced all over the Commonwealth, with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and
South Africa all producing units of this type. The basic M/s hull and equipment
came in at 590 tons while the Escort version came in at 600 tons. The M/s and
Tender units had 2,000bhp diesels for 16 knots while the Escorts had 2,750bhp
diesels for 20 knots.