Abdiel - class minelayer The Abdiel " class were a class of six fast minelayer s commissioned into the Royal Navy and active during the Second World War . They were also known as the Manxman " class and as " mine - laying cruisers " . These ships were armed with a wide variety of defensive weapons from 0 . 5 - inch ( 12 . 7mm ) machine guns to main armament . They were also equipped with a wide array of radars , along with their normal complement of mines . They were easily mistaken for destroyers . Half the class was lost through enemy action during World War II ; the others saw post - war service , the last example was scrapped in the early 70s . Design . The Royal Navy ordered the first four ships in 1938 , with a further two acquired as part of the War Emergency Programme . They were specifically designed for the rapid laying of minefield s in enemy waters , close to harbours or sea lanes . As such they were required to be very fast and to possess sufficient anti - aircraft weaponry to defend themselves if discovered by enemy aircraft . A large mineload of up to 150 mines was required to be carried under cover , therefore a long , flushdecked hull with high freeboard was required . The mines were laid through doors in their sterns ; the ships carried their own cranes for loading . < br > In size these ships were almost as long as a cruiser , but laid out much like a large destroyer . However , the three straight funnels were an instant identifying feature . Top speed was specified as . To achieve this they were given a full cruiser set of machinery and with an installed output of on two shafts , they made light and deep load . To put this into perspective , the contemporary Town class cruisers had and a full load displacement of 12 , 980 tons , just short of four times that of the " Abdiels " . The ships were initially to be armed much as destroyers , with three twin CP Mark XIX mounts for the QF Mark XII gun ( which had a maximum elevation of only 40° ) in ' A ' , ' B ' and ' X ' positions , a quadruple " multiple pom - pom " mounting Mark VIII for the QF 2 - pdr Mark VIII and a pair of quadruple 0 . 5 inch Vickers machine guns . Wartime modifications involved adding a Type 279 Radar at the masthead , a primitive metric wavelength air warning set , later replaced by a Type 286 then a Type 291 , as they became available . A Type 285 Radar was fitted to the rangefinder - director on the bridge , this was a metric set and could provide target ranging and bearing information . The centimetric Type 272 , a target indication radar with plan position indicator ( PPI ) , was fitted to the front leg of the foremast . Following the loss of " Latona " to air attack , the surviving ships were re - armed with three twin HA / LA Mark XIX mounts for the QF L / 45 Mark XIV gun with an elevation of 70° to remedy the shortcomings in anti - aircraft defence . Those on the stocks were armed with these mountings from new , but ' B ' mount was suppressed and replaced ( in " Ariadne " only ) by a twin Mark IV " Hazemeyer " mounting for the 40 mm Bofors . Both " Ariadne " and " Apollo " had two such mountings sited amidships , replacing the pom - pom in ' Q ' position , and these mounts carried their own Type 282 Radar for target ranging . Six single 20 mm Oerlikon guns were initially added on P Mark III pedestal mountings , although these were later replaced by powered twin Mark V mountings . In 1945 " Ariadne " was refitted in the United States in July 1945 for far eastern service , when the Bofors mounts were replaced by American pattern models ( Mark I ) with off - mounting " simple tachymetric directors " ( STD ) fitted with Type 282 Radar and the Oerlikon mounts regunned with Bofors guns ( this combination was known as the " Boffin " ) . Service . Although they were effective ships in their intended role , the combination of high internal capacity and exceptionally high speed meant that they were equally valuable as fast transports . As such , for much of their service , they were used for running supplies , particularly men and matériel , to isolated garrisons such as during the siege of Tobruk and Malta in Operation " Harpoon " . With three funnels and the outline of a destroyer , was camouflaged to appear like the Vichy French " contre torpilleurs " ( large destroyer ) " Le Tigre " . For this , a false bow was fitted , funnel caps were added , the mine chutes were plated over and a false deckline was painted on to camouflage the high flush - deck . " Manxman " received a similar disguise to pass for the Vichy cruiser " Leopard " so she could pass Corsica and mine the approaches to Livorno . On 25 October 1941 , " Latona " was hit by a 250 - pound bomb in the engine room , causing a serious fire that spread to the munitions she was carrying and caused her loss . " Welshman " was torpedoed and sunk by in 1943 . " Manxman " took a torpedo in her engine room but survived , although repairs took two years . " Apollo " , " Ariadne " and " Manxman " survived the war and saw post - war service , with their pennant number s changed from " M " to " N " . " Apollo " served as a despatch vessel and " Manxman " as a mine warfare support ship . In 1953 , " Manxman " was used to depict a German raider in the re - made film of C . S . Forester ' s novel " Brown on Resolution " ; for this her funnels were enlarged to alter her outline , dummy 6 - inch barrels were fitted over her 4 - inch guns , and her bow was painted to indicate ' torpedo damage ' .