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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive


Courtesy of Tommy Trampp

HMS Gazelle (J 342)
ex-BAM-17


BAM-17 was built for Great Britain

Auk Class Minesweeper/Catherine Class British Minesweeper:

  • The second Gazelle was laid down 2 July 1942 as BAM-17 by the Savannah Machinery and Foundry Co., Savannah, GA
  • Launched 10 January 1943
  • Completed 27 July 1943
  • Transferred to Great Britain and named HMS Gazelle (J 342), 28 July 1943
  • Returned to U.S. custody in December 1946
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in July 1947
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 890 t.
  • Length 221' 3"
  • Beam 32'
  • Draft 10' 9"
  • Speed 18 kts.
  • Complement 105
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two twin 40mm gun mounts, two 20mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks, and five depth charge projectors
  • Propulsion: Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image
    Size Image Description Source
    BAM-17 49k
    Namesake:

    Photo: Arabian gazelle
    Any of numerous small, graceful, and swift antelopes, with lustrous eyes, found especially in South Africa, northern Africa, Iran, and India

    Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 7 December 2021
    BAM-17 149k HMS Gazelle (J 342) of the 40th Minesweeping Flotilla Robert Hurst
    BAM-17 50k Imperial War Museum photo FL 21976 by Royal Navy official photographer
    BAM-17 106 27 January 1944
    Wallasey, England
    Maneuvering to tie up at dock
    Imperial War Museum Admiralty Official Collection, by McNeil, M.H.A. (Lt), Photos © IWM (A 21486) and © IWM (A 21490)
    Mike Green
    BAM-17 103k
    BAM-17 71k 27 January 1944
    Wallasey, England
    Imperial War Museum Admiralty Official Collection, by McNeil, M.H.A. (Lt), Photo © IWM (A 21489)
    BAM-17 108k c. March 1944
    Ministry of Defence photo from "Allied Escort Ships of World War II" by Peter Elliott
    Krlicbegovic Edib
    Bosnia & Hercegovina

    View the BAM-17
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minesweeper (AM) Photo Index

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