RCN Minesweepers (Bangor Class): HMCS Port Hope J280/HMCS Quatsino J152/HMCS Quinte J166/HMCS Red Deer J255/HMCS Sarnia J309/HMCS Stratford J310/HMCS Swift Current J254

RCN Minesweepers (Bangor Class)

HMCS Port Hope (J280)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Port Hope (J280) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Toronto on 30 Jul 1942, HMCS Port Hope arrived at Halifax on 29 Aug 1942 and on completion of workshops, joined Halifax Force.  In May 1943, owing to U-boat activity in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, she was transferred to Gaspé Force, but returned to Halifax Force in Nov 1943.  In Jan 1944, she was transferred to Newfoundland Force.  In Oct 1944 she underwent an extensive refit at Saint John and Halifax, on completion of which she went to Bermuda to work up.  Returning, HMCS Port Hope served a short further stint with Halifax Force from Apr to Jun 1945, then performed miscellaneous duties on the east coast until paid off at Sydney on 13 Oct 1945.  She lay in strategic reserve at Sorel until 1952, when the RCN re-acquired her (183).  She was was not re-commissioned, and was sold in February, 1959, for breaking up at Sorel.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Port Hope (J280) (Bangor-class).

HMCS Quatsino (J152)

(Linda Carleton Photo)

HMCS Quatsino (J152) (Bangor-class).  Named for Quatsino Sound, Vancouver Island, she was built by Prince Rupert Dry Dock & Shipyards Co., Prince Rupert, BC and commissioned on 3 Nov 1941.  HMCS Quatsino spent her entire service life on the west coast, alternately a member of the Prince Rupert and Esquimalt Force.  She was paid off at Esquimalt on 26 Nov 1945, and converted for commercial purposes in 1947, to be re-named Chen Hsin and domiciled at Shanghai.  Sold again in 1949, she was renamed Concord.  She was last listed in Lloyd's Register in 1950

HMCS Quinte (J166)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Quinte (J166) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Vancouver on 30 Aug 1941, HMCS Quinte left Esquimalt 10 Oct 1941 for Halifax, arriving on 14 Nov 1941.  She was assigned at first to WLEF, and then, in Jun 1942, to Halifax Force.  On 28 Nov 1942, after completing a six-week refit at Lunenburg, she grounded, causing extensive damage to her bottom and had to be beached.  In the memoirs of L/Tel George Crewe, the CO had him send a message requesting permission to enter Halifax to oil as the ship was low on oil.  Permission was denied and HMCS Quinte was ordered to proceed without stopping at Halifax.  As a result, she ran out of fuel oil, drifted and was driven ashore in a storm, grounding on 28 Nov 1942 on Horse Head Shoal and was beached near St. Peter’s, Cape Breton.  Quinte was re-floated ten days later and moved to the wall at St. Peter’s Canal to continue pumping operations.  The next day she took an unexpected list, rolling on her side and sank making her the only ship in the RCN to sink twice in 10 days.  

Salvage work continued throughout most of the winter, and on 25 Apr 1943, she arrived at Pictou in tow for repairs, which were not completed until Jun 1944.  She was then sent to HMCS Cornwallis as a training ship, arriving at Digby on 21 Aug 1944, and remained there until the end of 1945.  In 1946 she was employed with the Naval Research Establishment at Halifax until paid off on 25 Oct 1946.  In August 1947, HMCS Quinte sold to the Steel Co. of Canada, Hamilton, Ontario, and was broken up at Sydney, NS, later that year.

(Catherine Crewe Photo)

HMCS Quinte (J166) (Bangor-class).

(Catherine Crewe Photo)

HMCS Quinte (J166) (Bangor-class), twin Browning.50-calibre water-cooled AA machine guns.

(Author Photo)

Twin Browning.50-calibre water-cooled AA machine guns on display in the Army Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

(Walter Gregory Photo)

HMCS Quinte (J166), being salvaged by the Foundation Maritime Ltd’s ship Foundation Aranmore in November 1942, Cape Breton, NS.

HMCS Red Deer (J255)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Red Deer (J255) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 24 Nov 1941, HMCS Red Deer arrived at Halifax on 3 Dec 1941.  She was assigned to WLEF, later serving at various times with Halifax Local Defence Force, Gulf Escort Force, and Sydney Force.  On 12 Jan 1942, she rescued survivors from the British SS Cyclops, which was torpedoed 125 miles southeast of Cape Sable, the first victim of the epic U-boat campaign off the US east coast.  In May 1944, she began a refit at Liverpool, NS, and was sent to Bermuda to work up late in July.  In Feb 1944, she had been allocated to Newfoundland Force, and she continued a member of this force until VE-Day.  She was paid off at Halifax on 30 Oct 1945, and laid up at Shelburne, later being placed in strategic reserve at Sorel.  Re-acquired by the RCN in 1952 (196), she was never re-commissioned, and was sold in Feb 1959, for breaking up at Sorel.

(Red Deer Digital Archives, P7540)

HMCS Red Deer (J255) (Bangor-class).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3203178)

HMCS Red Deer (J255) (Bangor-class).

HMCS Sarnia (J309)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Sarnia (J309) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Toronto on 13 Aug 1942, HMCS Sarnia arrived at Halifax on 22 Sep 1942, having escorted a Quebec-Sydney convoy en route, and was assigned to Newfoundland Force.  In Sep 1944, she underwent a major refit at Lunenburg, and on completion went to Bermuda in Nov 1944 to work up.  On her return to Canada she was assigned to Halifax Force and, later, to Halifax Local Defence Force until Jun 1945.  On 16 Apr 1945, she rescued survivors of HMCS Esquimalt, torpedoed outside Halifax.  She then performed miscellaneous duties until paid off on 28 Oct 1945, at Sydney and laid up at Shelburne.  In 1946 she was placed in strategic reserve at Sorel and in 1951 re-acquired by the RCN and extensively refitted (190).  She did not re-commission, however, and on 29 Mar 1958 was transferred to the Turkish navy to serve until 1972 as Buyukdere.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Sarnia (J309) (Bangor-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Sarnia (J309) (Bangor-class).  

HMCS Stratford (J310)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Stratford (J310) (Bangor-class).  Commissioned at Toronto on 29 Aug 1942, HMCS Stratford and arrived at Halifax on 22 Sep 1942, where she was assigned to Newfoundland Force.  She remained with this force as a convoy escort throughout her wartime career, and saw continuous service.  She did not require a major refit until Dec 1944, when this was done at Dartmouth, NS.  On its completion she carried out workups in Bermuda from 15 Feb to 08 Mar 1945.  Returning from Bermuda, she was involved in a collision with HMCS Ottawa in the Halifax approaches on 11 Mar 1945, receiving extensive damage to her fo'c's'le.  Though inactive thereafter, she was not paid off until 4 Jan 1946, and was then sold for scrap.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Stratford (J310)

HMCS Swift Current (J254)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Swift Current (J254) (Bangor-class).  Built at Montreal, she was commissioned there on  11 Nov 1941. She arrived at Halifax on 24 Nov 1941 and was based there for A/S training.  In May 1942, HMCS Swift Current was moved to Pictou in the same capacity, and continued in this role until Feb 1943, when she was transferred to Halifax Force.  She went to Gaspé Force in Jun 1943, but returned to Halifax Force in Nov 1943.  In Feb 1944, following a major refit at Lunenburg, she was transferred to Newfoundland Force, remaining there until Jun 1945.  Miscellaneous duties occupied her until she was paid off at Sydney on 23 Oct 1945, and laid up at Shelburne.  HMCS Swift Current was placed in strategic reserve at Sorel the following year, but re-acquired by the RCN in 1951 (185), owing to the Korean emergency.  However, she was not re-commissioned and was handed over to the Turkish Navy on 29 Mar 1958.  Re-named Bozcaada, she remained in Turkish service until 1971.