RCN Minesweepers (Bangor Class): HMCS Cowichan J146/HMCS Digby J267/HMCS Drummondville J253/HMCS Esquimalt J272/HMCS Fort William J311/HMCS Gananoque J259/HMCS Georgian J144/HMCS Goderich J260/HMCS Granby J264/HMCS Grandmère J258

RCN Minesweepers (Bangor Class)

HMCS Cowichan (J146)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Cowichan (J146) (Bangor-class).  Built by North Vancouver Ship repairs Ltd., she was commissioned at Vancouver on 4 Jul 1941.  She sailed from Esquimalt for Halifax on 06 Aug 1941 arriving on 10 Sep 1941.  After working up in Bermuda she was initially assigned to Halifax Local Defence Force, but was transferred in Jan 1942, to Newfoundland Force and in September to WLEF.  With WLEF's division into escort groups in Jun 1943, HMCS Cowichan became a member of EG W-6.  She remained with the group until Feb 1944, when she was ordered to the UK for invasion duties.  She left Halifax on 19 Feb 1944 with HMCS Caraquet, HMCS Malpeque and HMCS Vegreville via the Azores for Plymouth, arriving on 13 Mar 1944.  Assigned to the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla, she was present on D-Day.  HMCS Cowichan returned to Canada for refit late in 19 Feb 1945, but resumed her duties overseas in June.  Proceeding home in Sep 1945, she was paid off on 9 Oct 1945, and placed in reserve at Shelburne.  Sold in 1946 to a New York buyer and converted for mercantile purposes under Greek flag, she still existed in 1956 under her original name.

(DND Photo via the CFB Esquimalt Naval Museum)

HMCS Cowichan (J146) (Bangor-class).

HMCS Digby (J267)

(Ryan Lee Photo)

HMCS Digby (J267) (Bangor-class).

(DND Photo via the CFB Esquimalt Naval Museum)

HMCS Digby (J267) (Bangor-class).  Built at Levis, Quebec, she was commissioned at Quebec City on 26 Jul 1942.  She arrived at Halifax on 15 Aug 1942, and after completing workups at Pictou, was assigned to WLEF.  When WLEF was divided into escort groups in Jun 1943, HMCS Digby became a member of EG W-5.  In Apr 1944, she arrived at Lunenburg to commence a refit that continued at Shelburne and at Halifax and was completed on 7 Aug 1944.  She then proceeded to Bermuda for workups.  On returning she was allocated to Sydney Force and, in Feb 1945, to Newfoundland Force.  She was paid off on 31 Jul 1945, and placed in reserve at Sydney.  HMCS Digby was proposed for transfer to the marine section of the RCMP in 1945, to be re-named Perry, but was not taken over.  She lay in strategic reserve at Sorel until re-acquired by the RCN in 1951 and refitted for training duties. She was re-commissioned on 29 Apr 1953 (179), finally being paid off on 14 Nov 1956 and scrapped.

(Brian Dobing Photo)

HMCS Digby (J267) (Bangor-class).

(Ryan Lee Photo)

HMCS Digby (J267) (Bangor-class).

HMCS Drummondville (J253)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Drummondville (J253) (Bangor-class).  Built at Montreal, she was commissioned there on 30 Oct 1941.  She arrived at Halifax on 11 Nov 1941 and served at various times with WLEF, Gulf Escort Force, Halifax Local Defence Force, and Sydney Force before joining Newfoundland Force in Feb 1944.  Following a major refit at Louisbourg, she proceeded to Bermuda in mid-Aug 1944 to work up, returning to St. John's early in Oct 1944.  The Newfoundland Force was disbanded in Jun 1945, and from then until Oct 1945 HMCS Drummondville was employed at miscellaneous duties on the east coast.  She was paid off at Halifax on 29 Oct 1945, and in 1946 placed in strategic reserve at Sorel.  Re-acquired by the RCN in 1952, she was placed in reserve at Sydney but never re-commissioned, and in 1958 she was sold for conversion to a merchant ship.  As SS Fort Albany she was sunk by collision near Sorel on 8 Dec 1963, and raised and broken up there the following year.

(Bill Abercrombie Photo)

HMCS Drummondville (J253) (Bangor-class), with possibly HMS P.514 and another RN sub alongside in Halifax, NS, ca 1941.  HMS P.514 and the Dutch submarine O-15 were used for anti-submarine training by the RCN.  P514 was lost on 20 June 1942, so this photo was taken before then.

(ussubvetsofworldwarii Photo)

HMS P.514, shown here as USS R-19.  She was transferred to the Royal Navy on 9 March 1942 at New London.  HMS P514 was sunk by accident in western Atlantic while she was on passage around the coast of Newfoundland from Argentia to St Johns, on 20 June 1942. HMS P514, commanded by Lt. Walter Augustus Phillimore, RN, in company with Lt.Cdr. Richard Michael Eames Pain, RN (not in command but was taking passage) left Argentia bound for St Johns.  At 0300 hours on the 21st the Canadian minesweeper HMCS Georgian, under the command of A/Lt.Cdr. A.G. Stanley, RCNR, was waiting to provide escort for a convoy bound for Sydney.  HMCS Georgian, unaware that any friendly submarines were in the area, assumed that the dark shape of HMS P514 crossing her bow, was an enemy vessel.  HMCS Georgian rammed the mystery submarine amidships and reported it sunk in position 46°33N, 53°39W.  A rescue mission was immediately sent out but no survivors were found.  A Board of Enquiry into the accident accepted that the Commanding Officer of HMCS Georgian had acted correctly as there had been no reply from the submarine to his identification challenge.

The R-class submarines were a class of USN submarines active from 1918 until 1945.  With the first of the class laid down following the the US entry into the First World War, they were built rapidly.  Although R-15 through R-20 were completed July–October 1918, they did not serve overseas, and the bulk of the class were not completed until after the Armistice.

HMS P514 was armed with 21-inch (533-mm) torpedo tubes and a 3-inch (76-mm)/50 calibre deck gun.  Three (R-3, R-17, and R-19) were transferred to the RN as HMS P.511, HMS P.512 and HMS P.514.

(Catherine Crew Photo)

British submarine, Halifax, ca 1942.

HMCS Esquimalt (J272)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Esquimalt (J272).  Commissioned at Sorel on 26 Oct 1942, HMCS Esquimalt arrived at Halifax on 21 Nov 1942.  Chronically plagued by mechanical troubles, she underwent repairs there until 27 Mar 1943, and again throughout most of May 1943.  She was then assigned to Newfoundland Force until Sep 1944, when she was transferred to Halifax Local Defence Force.  Late in Sep 1944 she underwent a three-month refit at Halifax.  While on A/S patrol on 16 Apr 1945, she was torpedoed and sunk by U-190 five miles off Chebucto Head, near Halifax, with the loss of 44 of her ship's company.  HMCS Esquimalt's survivors were rescued by HMCS Sarnia (J309).

U-190 was a IXC/40 type U-boat, built by Deutsche Schiff und Machinenbau AG Weser, Bremen, launched 8 Jun 1942, commissioned 24 Sep 1942, in service 32 months, with a record of sinking 2 ships, for a total of 7,605 tons.  She was taken over by the RCN at the end of the war and commissioned as HMCS U-190, serving for a year or so before being sunk near the last resting place of HMCS Esquimalt.

(Author Photo, 30 Jan 2019)

HMCS Esquimalt (J272) memorial in the town of Esquimalt.

HMCS Fort William (J311)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Fort William (J311) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Port Arthur on 25 Aug 1942, HMCS Fort William arrived at Halifax on 24 Sep 1942 with a good many defects, and did not commence working up until mid-Oct 1942.  A month late she was assigned to Halifax Force for local convoys.  On 11 Jan 1943, she suffered considerable damage in collision with the government vessel Lisgar at Halifax, and was under repair there for a month.  In Jun 1943, she was transferred to Newfoundland Force . She returned to Halifax in Feb 1944, for a short refit, and on 20 Feb 1944 left with HMCS Blairmore, HMCS Milltown and HMCS Minas for Plymouth via the Azores, arriving on 8 Mar 1944.  Assigned to the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla, she was present on D-Day.  HMCS Fort William refitted at St. John's Mar 1945, re-joining the 31st Flotilla in Jul 1945 and remaining until 21 Sep 1945, when she left Plymouth for Canada.  She was paid off on 23 Oct 1945, at Sydney and was placed in strategic reserve at Sorel in 1946.  Re-acquired in Jun 1951, and extensively modernized, she lay in reserve at Sydney until 29 Nov 1957, when she was transferred to the Turkish Navy and re-named Bodrum.  She was removed from service in 1971 and broken up.

HMCS Gananoque (J259)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Gananoque (J259) (Bangor-class).  Built at Toronto, she was commissioned there on 8 Nov 1941.  HMCS Gananoque arrived at Halifax on 23 Nov 1941.  She was assigned to Halifax Local Defence Force and subsequently for brief periods to Halifax Force, St. John's Local Defence Force, Gulf Escort Force, and Sydney Force.  In Jan 1943, she was assigned to WLEF, returning to Halifax Force in Jul 1943, and to Sydney Force once again in May 1944.  During this period she had the distinction of twice refitting at other than Atlantic coast ports: in May 1943, she underwent a six-week refit at Quebec City, and in Jul 1944, an eight-week refit at Charlottetown.  In Feb 1945, she was allocated to Newfoundland Force, based at St. John's, until the force was disbanded in Jun 1945, whereupon she went to Atlantic Coast Command. Gananoque was paid off at Sydney on 13 Oct 1945, and laid up at Shelburne.  Placed in strategic reserve at Sorel in 1946, she was re-acquired by the RCN in 1952 but not re-commissioned, and in Feb 1959, she was sold for scrap.

(USN Naval History and Heritage History Photo)

HMCS Gananoque (J259)

HMCS Georgian (J144)

(Paul Lake Photo)

HMCS Georgian (J144) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Toronto on 23 Sep 1941, HMCS Georgian arrived at Halifax on 13 Oct 1941.  On completing workups she was assigned to Sydney Force, but in Jan 1942, she joined Newfoundland Force and remained with it until Feb 1944.  Through a tragic error on 12 Jun 1942, she rammed and sank the British submarine P.514 off Newfoundland.  

It was just after midnight on 21 Jun 1942.  The tragedy took place off Cape Race when the path of the eastbound submarine & her corvette escort, which were heading for St. John's from Argentia, intercepted that of a westbound convoy CL.43 being escorted by the minesweeper.  Problems with one of the ships in CL.43 had delayed the start of the convoy & it was several hours behind schedule.  At the same time an eastbound convoy, SC.88, which had been blown north of its intended track, intercepted & passed through CL.43.  The situation was confusing & dangerous.  Visibility was poor & the night sky was overcast with frequent mist patches.  HMCS Georgian detected approaching diesel engine HE on her hydrophones & turned onto the bearing to investigate.  When the lookouts spotted the submarine the helm was immediately put over & she rammed P.514 amidships.  According to one testimony, the submarine's navigation lights flicked on, then off.  According to the CO of the corvette escorting P.514, her lights had been on for some time.  The bridge personnel in Georgian could look down into the bridge of the submarine & they observed that it was empty & the hatch was shut.  At 00:40 hours Atlantic Time, the submarine went down in 27 fathoms.  There were no survivors.  A lone body was spotted in the water at the time but sank before it could be recovered.  The body of ERA, N.C. Bennett came ashore near Ferrylands a month later.  He was interred in the local graveyard with full military honors.  At the enquiry, no blame was attached to anyone concerned.  It was NSHQ policy then, & throughout the war, to not inform escort forces of the movements of Allied submarines for fear they would hesitate in attacking U-boats.  The only measure of safety offered to Allied submarines passing through an operational area was the establishment of temporary no-attack zones for aircraft, but the submarines were always on their own when it came to both ships & aircraft.

Nominated for duties in connection with the invasion of Europe, she left Halifax on 18 Feb 1944,with HMCS Bayfield, HMCS Mulgrave and HMCS Thunder for Plymouth via the Azores, arriving on 07 Mar 1944. Assigned to a series of minesweeping flotillas, particularly the 14th, she was present on D-Day.  She returned to Canada in Jan 1945, for refit at Lunenburg, NS, then returned to the UK for service with the 31st Flotilla in Apr 1945.  That fall she sailed again for Canada, where she was paid off at Sydney on 23 Oct 1945 and laid up at Shelburne until sold for scrap.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Georgian (J144) (Bangor-class).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3524172)

HMCS Georgian (J144) (Bangor-class).

HMCS Goderich (J260)

(Rick Murray Photo)

HMCS Goderich (J260) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Toronto on 23 Nov 1941, HMCS Goderich arrived at Halifax on 6 Dec 1941. She spent her whole career based at Halifax as a member, alternately, of Halifax Local Defence Force and Halifax Force.  She was damaged on 18 Nov 1942, in a collision with the tanker Iocoma in Halifax harbour, which necessitated three weeks' repairs there.  HMCS Goderich saw almost continuous service service, undergoing only one major refit at Liverpool, NS, from 5 Mar to 15 May 1943.  On 29 Jan 1943, she rescued survivors from the after section of the U.S. tanker Brilliant, which had broken in half during a storm.  She was paid off at Halifax on 6 Nov 1945, and in 1946 placed in strategic reserve at Sorel.  In 1951 she was re-acquired by the RCN and underwent modernization at Lauzon (198).  Never re-commissioned, however, she lay in reserve at Sydney until sold in Feb 1959 for scrap.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Goderich (J260) (Bangor-class).

(IWM Photo, FL 13507)

HMCS Goderich (J260). Visible at top centre are two aerial depth charges and a Yagi antenna for Mk. II ASV radar.

HMCS Granby (J264)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Granby (J264) (Bangor-class).  Built at Levis, Quebec, she was commissioned at Quebec City on 2 May 1942. Granby arrived at Halifax on 13 May 1942.  She completed working up and was assigned first to Sydney Force and then to Western Local defence Force.  In Jun 1943, when the latter was divided into escort groups, she became a member of EG W-3 until May 1944, when she returned to Sydney Force.  During this period she had an extensive refit at Lunenburg from Jun to Oct 1944, afterward proceeding to Bermuda to work up.  She returned in Nov 1944 and was assigned to Shelburne Force in Feb 1945.  In Apr 1945 she was transferred to Halifax Force and remained under repair at Halifax until paid off on 31 Jul 1945.  Although allocated to the marine section of the RCMP as Col. White, she was not actually taken over. She was re-commissioned on 23 May 1953 (180) for conversion to a deep-diving tender, and served as such until finally paid off on 15 Dec 1966, and sold.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Granby (J264) (Bangor-class).

HMCS Grandmère (J258)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3554190)

HMCS Grandmère (J258) (Bangor-class).  Built by Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, Quebec.  HMCS Grandmere was commissioned at Montreal on 11 Dec 1941.  En route to Halifax she broke down in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 21 Dec 1941, and was towed to Sydney by HMCS Kamsack.  Later that month, while alongside at Sydney undergoing repairs, she suffered serious damage to her No.2 boiler, and was taken to Pictou for repairs, which were not completed until May 1942.  She finally arrived at Halifax, her original destination, on 5 May 1942.  She served for varying periods with WLEF, Sydney Force, Halifax Force, and Halifax Local Defence Force.  On 14 Oct 1942, while with Sydney Force, she rescued 101 survivors of the passenger ferry Caribou, torpedoed in the Cabot Strait - 126 passengers and crew of the Caribou perished.  In July 1943, she had a seven-week refit at Louisbourg and underwent a second major refit at Sydney and Halifax in Sep 1944, following which she worked up in Bermuda in Feb 1945.  The ship was paid off at Sydney on 23 Oct 1945, and placed in reserve at Shelburne.  Sold in 1947, she operated as the yacht Elda.  In 1951, she was converted to a cargo vessel, 664 gt, and renamed Jack's Bay.  She operated under British registry out of Nassau, Bahamas ports between Florida and Cuba.  In 1961 she was renamed Proton.  In Oct 1968, she was broken up at Pinto Island Metals Co., Mobile, Alabama.

(Cathy Masters Photo)

HMCS Grandmère (J258), 20-mm Oerlikon AA gun, ca 1945.

‍

‍