Dance class armed trawler

300px HMT Foxtrot in December 1942
Class overview
Name:	Dance
Operators:	Royal Navy Portuguese Navy Marina Militare
Built:	1940 - 1941
In service:	1940 - 1946
Completed:	20
General characteristics
Type:	Armed trawler
Displacement:	545 tons
Length:	164 feet
Beam:	27 ft. 8 in.
Draught:	11 ft. 1 in. (mean)
Propulsion:	One triple expansion Reciprocating engine, 850 IHP
Speed:	12 kts
Complement:	40 men
Armament:	1 x 4 in gun; 3 x 20mm AA, 30 depth charges

The Dance class vessels of World War II were armed trawlers of the Royal Navy. They were used for anti-submarine (A/S) and minesweeping work and were nearly identical to the Isles class trawlers, of which they are usually considered a subclass.

One Dance class trawler (Sword Dance) was a war loss, and one (Saltarelo) was transferred to Portugal in 1945. Four were transferred to Italy in 1946: Gavotte, Hornpipe, Minuet and Two Step. None remained in service with the Royal Navy by the end of 1946.

Ships in class

• Built by the Ardrossan Dockyard Company, Ardrossa, UK
  • Cotillion - Launched 1940, sold 1946
  • Coverley - Launched 1940, sold 1946
• Built by Cochrane & Sons, Ltd. Selby, UK
  • Fandango - Launched 1940, sold 1946
  • Foxtrot - Launched 1940, sold 1946
• Built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell, Beverley, UK
  • Gavotte - Launched 1940, transferred to Italy 1946 as DR 312
  • Hornpipe - Launched 1940, transferred to Italy 1946 as DR 316
• Built by Ferguson Brothers, Port Glasgow, UK
  • Mazurka - Launched 1940, sold 1946
  • Minuet - Launched 1941, transferred to Italy 1946 as DR 307
• Built by Goole Shipbuilding & Repair Company, Goole, UK
  • Morris Dance - Launched 1940, sold 1946
  • Pirouette - Launched 1940, sold 1946
• Built by Hall, Russell & Company, Ltd., Aberdeen, UK
  • Polka - Launched 1941, sold 1946
  • Quadrille - Launched 1941, sold 1946
• Built by A. & J. Inglis, Ltd., Glasgow, UK
  • Rumba - Launched 1940, sold 1946
  • Sarabande - Launched 1940, sold 1946
• Built by Henry Robb, Ltd., Leith, UK
  • Saltarelo - Launched 6 August 1940, transferred to Portugal 1945 as Salvador Correia
  • Sword Dance - Launched 1940, war loss 5 July 1942
• Built by Smith's Dock Company, Ltd., South Bank-on-Tees, UK
  • Tango - Launched 1940, sold 1946
  • Two Step, ex-Tarantella - Launched 1941, transferred to Italy 1946 as DR 308
  • Valse - Launched 1941, sold 1946
  • Veleta - Launched 1941, sold 1946

References

• Robert Gardiner (ed. dir.), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, p. 66. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1980.
• Francis E. McMurtrie and Raymond V.B. Blackman (eds.), Jane's Fighting Ships 1949-50, pp. 217, 258. New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1949

See also

• Isles class trawler
• Portuguese class naval trawler
• Tree class trawler
• Shakespearian class trawlers
• Trawlers of the Royal Navy