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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
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