RCN Armed Yachts (Q, S and Z Class): HMCS Moose (Z14), HMCS Otter, HMCS Raccoon, HMCS Reindeer (S08), HMCS Renard (S13), HMCS Sans Peur (Z02), HMCS Vison (S11), HMCS Wolf (Z16)
HMCS Moose (Z14)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Moose (Z14)
Moose left Halifax on June 3, 1940, for conversion and arming at Quebec City, where she was commissioned on September 8. She was then assigned to Halifax Local Defence Force until may, 1942, transferring then to Sydney, where by September, 1943, she was employed as training ship and examination vessel under control of HMCS Cornwallis. Moose was paid off on July 20, 1945, and sold the following year to Marine Industries Ltd., who renamed her Fraternite. Sold to a U.S. buyer in 1956, she became Ottelia, and is apparently still in service in the Mediterranean.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Moose (Z14)
HMCS Otter
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Otter. Lost in a fire, sinking off Halifax on 26 Nov 1941.
On 26 March 1941 she was destroyed by an accidental explosion and fire, near Sambro Island just off Halifax. Two Officers and 17 men were lost.On the morning of 26 March 1941, as the OTTER sailed only 24 nautical miles from Halifax, an explosion and a fire ripped through the vessel. Soon the crew of the steel hulled, but wooden superstructure, vessel recognized that the fire was too much and the captain ordered to abandon ship.The crew barely fit into the two lifeboats and one carley float. Rescue was close at hand, as a Polish freighter and a Royal Navy submarine was nearby. However, due to the extremely heavy seas, rescue proved to be very difficult. In fact, one of the lifeboats was flipped by an unusually large wave when a polish freighter came alongside. The already waterlogged sailors were flung into the icy water, and some were never seen again. Once they were rescued, some were in such bad shape they never even survived the trip into Halifax, despite the efforts of the Polish merchantmen who took turns applying artificial respiration and trying to warm the men.A British Submarine also found the carley float with 15 men on it. However, by the time they rescued the men only four were still alive.
HMCS Raccoon
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Raccoon
Originally the yacht Halonia, built in 1931 for Charles A. Thorne of Chicago, she was acquired by the RCN in Mar 1940 , converted to an armed yacht and commissioned as HMCS RACCOON. On 20 Mar 1942, Racoon sailed from Halifax as convoy escort to St. John’s, Nfld arriving at St. John’s on 26 Mar 1942. She departed St. John’s on31 Mar 1942 as convoy escort to Halifax, arriving at Halifaxon 07 Apr 1942. From 07 Apr to 12 May 1942 she served on Local Escort duty from Halifax to Sydney, NS and from Halifax to Shelburne, NS. From 12 May 1942 onward she was part of the Sydney and Gulf Escort Force. She was assigned to HMCS FORT RAMSAY near Gaspé, Quebec on 25 May 1942 to patrol and escort convoys in the river and Gulf of St. Lawrence. During the night of 06-07 Sep 1942, U-165 attacked Convoy QS-33, escorted by the armed yacht HMCS Racoon. Some time later, the ship set out in search of the submarine, when she was hit and sunk by two torpedoes from U-165. All 37 hands were lost.
HMCS Reindeer (S08)
(DND Photo)
HMCS Reindeer (S08)
Reindeer accompanied Husky and Lynx to Quebec City for conversion and arming in the summer of 1940. She was commissioned at Halifax on July 25 for service with Sydney Force, returning to Halifax on December 26 for the winter. She joined Gaspe Force in July 1941, but by year’s end was back again with Halifax Local Defence Force. In May, 1942, she moved to Sydney Force, and that November, to Saint John, N.B. Force. On December 24, 1942, Reindeer was assigned as training ship to HMCS Cornwallis, then located at Halifax, transferring with the establishment to Digby in 1943. She was employed there on A/S training with RN submarines until the end of the war, except for a stint at Saint John, N.B., during the first half of 1944. She was paid off to reserve at Sydney on July 20, 1945, and sold later that year.
HMCS Renard (S13)
(DND Photo)
HMCS Renard (S13), later Z13 during the Second World War.
Built by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Manie, USA in 1916. In her prime, Renard had shown a turn of speed to match her destroyer-like appearance, but she was 24 years old when commissioned on 27 May 1940, at Halifax. She left the following day for Quebec City for conversion and arming, returning on 03 Dec 1940 to Halifax, where she was assigned to Halifax Local Defence Force. In Apr 1942, she began a long refit at Liverpool, N.S., and Pictou, on completion of which in July she became a torpedo and gunnery training ship attached to HMCS Cornwallis, with torpedo tubes fitted for the purpose. She moved with the establishment to Digby in Jul 1943, but returned that Nov 1943 to Halifax to serve as a torpedo-firing ship. Surveyed in 1944 and found not to be worth repairing, she was paid off on 01 Aug 1944. She was sold in 1945, purportedly to become a floating power plant for a Cape Breton mine, but was derelict at Sydney in 1955. Her specifications were: Length: 225 ft, Beam: 21 ft, Draught: 8 ft, Speed: 15 kts, Armament: 1-12pdr, 2-21″ TT.
HMCS Sans Peur (Z02)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Sans Peur (Z02)
In 1933 this luxury yacht was built as the Trenora by John I. Thorneycroft & Co. Ltd., Southampton UK for a British surgeon, Dr. Ernest G. Stanley. She was sold to the Duke of Sutherland, who renamed her as Sans Peur, and was an investor in British Columbia owning Sutherland Canadian Lands Co. and he had been a Commander RNR during the First World War serving in Motor Launches. The yacht was cruising in California waters at the outbreak of the war. She was laid up temporarily when the Duke returned to the UK to assume wartime duties. The yacht was under the authority of the Admiralty, but was berthed in Esquimalt Harbour. She was requisitioned in 1939 at Esquimalt and commissioned for patrol service on 05 Mar 1940. From May 1942, SANS PEUR served the dual function of patrol vessel and training vessel, but after Nov 1942 was used for training alone. Originally chartered, the ship was purchased in 1943. Following an extensive refit at Esquimalt, she left on 24 Jan 1944 for Halifax, arriving late in Feb 1944. In Mar 1945 she was sent to HMCS Cornwallis, where she carried out A/S training in conjunction with RN submarines, and after Feb 1946, she was a training ship at Halifax. Paid off on 31 Jan 1947, she was sold to Maple Leaf Steamships of Montreal, but on resale the following year she reverted, under Panamanian flag, to her original name, Trenona. Later refitted by her builders at Southampton, she resumed her career as a yacht for Italian owners, but by 1975 was in use as VIP accommodation at Okinawa, Japan.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Sans Peur (Z02)
HMCS Vison (S11)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Vison (S11)
Built by Pusey & Jones Corp., Wilmington, Del. in 1931. VISON left Halifax on 23 Jun 1940, for Pictou, where she was to be converted and armed. She returned to Halifax on 02 Oct 1940 and was commissioned three days later. She was then assigned to the base at Gaspé, but returned to Halifax in Nov 1940 when the base was closed for the winter. In Dec 1940, she was sent southward, operating out of Trinidad and Bermuda until her return to Halifax on 13 May 1941. In Jul 1942 she became a member of Gaspé Force, proceeding to Halifax for passage to Trinidad in Dec 1941. She rejoined Halifax Local Defence Force in Apr 1942, but was transferred to Sydney Force in Jul 1942. In Feb 1943, VISON returned to Halifax as a training ship attached to HMCS CORNWALLIS and moved with the establishment to Digby in Apr 1943. She remained there until the end of the war as a seamen’s training ship, exercising with RN submarines in the Bay of Fundy, and was paid off for disposal on 04 Aug 1945.
HMCS Wolf (Z16)
(DND Photo)
HMCS Wolf (Z16)
Aged 25 years at the time of her commissioning on 02 Oct 1940, Wolf spent the entire war as a member of Esquimalt Force, at first on training and patrol duty and then, from Sep 1943, as an examination vessel. Paid off on 16 May 1945, she was sold in 1946 to become the merchant vessel Gulf Stream. She was wrecked off Power River, B.C., on 11 October 1947.