Dance-class trawler

HMT Foxtrot in December 1942
Class overview
Name	Dance class
Operators	Royal Navy Portuguese Navy Italian Navy
Built	1940–1941
In service	1940–1946
Completed	20
General characteristics
Type	Armed trawler
Displacement	545 tons
Length	164 ft (50 m)
Beam	27 ft 8 in (8.43 m)
Draught	11 ft 1 in (3.38 m) (mean)
Propulsion	One triple expansion reciprocating engine, 850 ihp (630 kW)
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	40
Armament	1 × 4 in (102 mm) gun 3 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannon 30 depth charges

The Dance class 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, of which they are usually considered a subclass. They were very similar to Tree class trawlers, and were only more armed.

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. Many of these ships were named after dances or traditions.

Ships in class

Construction data for Isles-class trawlers of the Royal Navy

Ship	Pennant number	Builder	Launched	Completed	Notes
Cotillion	T104	Ardrossan Dockyard Company, Ardrossan, UK	21 December 1940	8 August 1941	Sold 28 March 1947
Coverley	T106	Ardrossan Dockyard Company, Ardrossan, UK	21 May 1941	8 August 1941	Mercantile Jannikke 1947, Otofjord 1949
Fandango	T107	Cochrane & Sons	26 March 1940	11 July 1940	Sold 1946
Foxtrot	T109	Cochrane & Sons	23 April 1940	30 August 1940	To War Department 1946, scrapped Barrow 1951
Gavotte	T115	Cook, Welton & Gemmell	7 May 1940	24 August 1940	To Italy 1946 as RD.312
Hornpipe	T120	Cook, Welton & Gemmell	21 May 1940	19 September 1940	To Italy 1946 as RD.316
Mazurka	T30	Ferguson Brothers (Port Glasgow) Ltd., Port Glasgow, UK	28 November 1940	8 January 1941	Sold March 1946
Minuet	T131	Ferguson Brothers (Port Glasgow) Ltd.	1 March 1941	10 June 1941	To Italy 1946 as RD.307
Morris Dance	T117	Goole Shipbuilding	6 August 1940	7 October 1940	Sold 1947
Pirouette	T39	Goole Shipbuilding	22 June 1940	30 August 1940	Mercantile Tridente 1947
Polka	T139	Hall, Russell & Company, Aberdeen	29 January 1941	17 June 1941	Sold April 1946
Quadrille	T133	Hall, Russell & Company	16 March 1941	14 July 1941	Mercantile Elsa 1946, Murten 1950
Rumba	T122	A. & J. Inglis, Glasgow	31 July 1940	2 October 1940	Mercantile Rumba 1946, Buk Hae Ho 1953
Sarabande	T125	A. & J. Inglis	29 August 1940	17 December 1940	Mercantile Volen 1946, Betty 1953
Saltarelo	T128	Henry Robb, Leith	6 August 1940	19 October 1940	To Portugal 1947 as Salvador Correia
Sword Dance	T132	Henry Robb	3 September 1940	16 January 1941	Sank after collision with Thyra-II off east coast of Scotland 5 July 1942
Tango	T146	Smith's Dock Company	29 November 1940	21 April 1940	Sold July 1946
Tarantella	T142	Smith's Dock Company	27 January 1941	9 May 1941	Renamed Two Step 1943 To Italy 1946 as RD.308
Valse	T151	Smith's Dock Company	12 March 1941	23 May 1941	To War Department 1946, scrapped Port Glasgow September 1951
Veleta	T130	Smith's Dock Company	28 March 1941	6 June 1941	Sold March 1946

See also

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

References

• Elliott, Peter (1977). Allied Escort Ships of World War II: A complete survey. London: Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Limited. ISBN 0356-08401-9.
• Robert Gardiner (ed. dir.), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, p. 66. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1980.
• Hepper, David (2022). British Warship Losses in the Modern Era 1920–1982. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-3990-9766-6.
• Lenton, H. T.; Colledge, J. J. (1973). Warships of World War II (Second ed.). London: Ian Allen. ISBN 0-7110-0403-X.
• 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