ORIGINAL: el cid again
ORIGINAL: Terminus
MLE is a made-up classification in WitP. No such thing in real life.
Not sure where this idea comes from - and possibly people at Matrix even believe it - but it is real enough.
An MLE is a minelayer fitted with sensors and weapons to serve as an escort ship. Several classes of these were designed and built BEFORE WWII by IJN. Some were not fitted for their wartime role as escorts until 1942 or so, others always had dual fitting - but they were all so intended - and so designated. MLE is certainly a classification you will find in my data bases and writing going back at least 30 years.
Could be, as an abbreviation of Mine Layer - Escort. But certainly not the mine replenishment/ammo ship concept of WITP.
ML does not mean minelayer in any designation system of which I am aware. The Royal Navy, which likes to use full word descriptions in most cases (Cruier-Minelayer for example) uses ML as Motor Launch (in hull numbers, as in ML-301). The closest thing to a WITP-style MLE would be the British controlled minelayer depot ships (like Atreus, at Ceylon in 1942 along with controlled minelayer Alsey). These, and the smaller Australian mine tenders Gippsland and Uralba were primarily tenders - providing support for controlled minelayers that were too small for facilities. It is possible that the larger minelayer depot ships (Atreus was 6546 tons gross) may have had the ability to store and transfer mines. More likely, in my opinion, would be carriage of mines as cargo, for unload to shore mine depots. Transfer of mines ship-to-ship in a port seems overly risky when dock transfer is available.
Any documentation on the subject would be very welcom.
