HMSAS Bloemfontein

History
United Kingdom
Name	Rosamund
Ordered	15 March 1943
Builder	Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company, Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada
Laid down	26 April 1944
Launched	20 December 1944
Completed	10 July 1945
Decommissioned	1947
Identification	Pennant number: J439
Fate	Sold to the South African Navy, 1947
South Africa
Namesake	Bloemfontein
Acquired	Purchased from the Royal Navy, 1947
Renamed	Bloemfontein, mid-1948
Reclassified	As a training ship, April 1961
Fate	Sunk as a target, 5 June 1967
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Algerine-class minesweeper
Displacement	950 long tons (965 t) (standard); 1,250 long tons (1,270 t) (deep load);
Length	225 ft (68.6 m) o/a
Beam	35 ft 6 in (10.8 m)
Draught	12 ft 3 in (3.7 m)
Installed power	2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers; 2,400 ihp (1,800 kW);
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 × vertical triple-expansion steam engines;
Speed	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Range	5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	85
Sensors and ; processing systems	Type 271 surface-search radar; Type 291 air-search radar;
Armament	1 × QF 4 in (102 mm) Mk V DP gun; 2 × twin and 2 × single Oerlikon 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns;

HMSAS Bloemfontein was an Algerine-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy in Canada during World War II. The ship was originally HMS Rosamund (pennant number: J439) and spent several years clearing minefields in European waters after she was completed in 1945 before she was placed in reserve. Rosamund was purchased by South Africa in 1947 and renamed HMSAS Bloemfontein in 1948.

The ship spent most of its early career in the South African Navy training or making good-will visits to foreign countries. She was laid up in the late 1950s and was recommissioned in 1961 to serve as an interim training ship until the shore-based training establishment then under construction was completed. This occurred in 1963 and Bloemfontein returned briefly to reserve before she was deemed surplus to requirements. The ship was sunk as a target in 1967.

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