The Admirable class and the overloaded minesweeper problem

The American design contrasts with the smaller Basset class and shows the penalties of stacking missions onto one hull. On only about 625 tons, the Admirable carried a three-inch gun, Bofors and Oerlikon weapons, Hedgehog, depth-charge gear, and paravanes. That combination turned a minesweeper into a gunboat and anti-submarine escort as well as a specialist mine-warfare vessel. The equipment helped explain a complement of 104, but it also placed many sailors and much topweight aboard a ship expected to enter minefields. The class anticipates later debates about overburdened multi-mission vessels, although a later expert contribution makes the crew size more defensible.