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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.

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, Ardrossan, 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) Ltd., 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 (part of Harland and Wolff)
  • 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

See also

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

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