Royal Canadian Navy Armed Trawlers, Yachts (Q, S and Z Class), Patrol and Torpedo Boats, Auxiliaries, Examination and Training Vessels, 1931-1940

RCN 1931–1949, Armed Trawlers,

Yachts (Q, S and Z Class), Patrol and Torpedo Boats, Auxiliaries, Examination and Training Vessels, Armed trawlers, Isles Class

HMCS Anticosti (T274) (Isles class); HMCS Baffin (T275) (Isles class); HMCS Cailiff (T276) (Isles class); HMCS Ironbound (T284) (Isles class); HMCS Liscomb (T285) (Isles class); HMCS Magdalen (T279) (Isles class); HMCS Manitoulin (T280) (Isles class); HMCS Miscou (T277) (Isles class)

HMCS Anticosti (T274)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Anticosti (T274) (Isles class).  Built at Collingwood, Ontario for the RN, she was commissioned on 10 Aug 1942 as HMS Anticosti.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned in the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  She was returned to the RN at Plymouth and paid off on 17 Jun 1945.

HMCS Baffin (T275)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Baffin (T275) (Isles class).  Built at Collingwood, Ont. for the RN, she was commissioned on 26 Aug 1942 as HMS Baffin.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned in the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  She was engaged in minesweeping duties out of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  She was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy on 20 Aug 1945 . In 1947 she was sold for commercial use under the same name, becoming Niedermehnen in 1952. Subsequently named Kellenhusen, Kairos and Theoxenia, she was scrapped in 1983.

HMCS Cailiff (T276)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Cailiff (T276) (Isles class)

HMCS Ironbound (T284)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Ironbound (T284) (Isles class).  Built at Collingwood, Ontario for the RN, she was commissioned on 16 Oct 1942 as HMS Ironbound.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned in the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  Returned to the RN at Plymouth and paid off on 17 Jun 1945 . Sold to civilian use 19 Mar 1946.

HMCS Liscomb (T285)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Liscomb (T285) (Isles class).  Built for the RN at Kingston, Ont., she was commissioned on 08 Sep 1942 as HMS Liscomb.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned into the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  Returned to the RN at Plymouth and paid off on 17 Jun 1945.  Later sold in 1946 to Norwegian interests and renamed Aalesund.

HMCS Magdalen (T279)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Magdalen (T279) (Isles class).  Originally built for the RN, she was commissioned as HMS Magdalen on 24 Aug 1942.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned into the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  Returned to the RN and paid off on 17 Jun 1945.  She was sold to civilian use on 2 Jul 1946.

HMCS Manitoulin (T280)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Manitoulin (T280) (Iles class).  Built at Midland, Ontario for the RN, she was commissioned on 28 Sep 1942 as HMS Manitoulin.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned in the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  She arrived at Halifax on 04 Apr 1943 to join the Halifax Local Defence Force.  Returned to the RN at Plymouth and paid off on 17 Jun 1945, she was later sold for civilian use.

HMCS Miscou (T277)

(Dan Clermont Photo)

HMCS Miscou (T277) (Isles class).  Built for the RN, she was commissioned on 17 Oct 1942 as HMS Miscou.  She was loaned to the RCN, though never commissioned into the RCN; and was manned by RN personnel.  Prior to being commissioned as HMS Miscou, she had the names HMS Campenia and HMS Bowell.   She was returned to the RN at Plymouth and paid off on 17 Jun 1945.  Sold to Bergen in 1946 and renamed Cleveland (converted to motor vessel), purchased by Nordlandslinjen in 1950 and renamed Sigurd Hund.  Sold to Ålesund in 1963, renamed Vestfar the following year, then Hans Hansen in 1971 for owners in the Faroe Islands.  Sold for breaking up in 1974.

Armed Yachts

HMCS Ambler (Q11); HMCS Beaver (S10); HMCS Caribou (S12); HMCS Cougar (Z15); HMCS Elk (S05); HMCS Grizzly (Z14); HMCS Husky (S06); HMCS Lynx (Z07); HMCS Moose (Z14); HMCS Otter; HMCS Raccoon; HMCS Reindeer (S08); HMCS Renard (S13); HMCS Sans Peur (Z02); HMCS Vison (S11); HMCS Wolf (Z16).

HMCS Ambler (Q11)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Ambler (Q11).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3589808)

HMCS Ambler (Q11).

HMCS Cougar (Z15)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Cougar (Z15), Strait of Juan de Fuca, 1 Dec 1940.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Cougar (Z15).

HMCS Elk (S05).

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Elk (S05).

HMCS Otter

(RCN  Photo)

HMCS Otter.  Lost in a fire, sinking off Halifax on 26 Nov 1941.

(DND Photo)

Renard (S13), later Z13 during the Second World War.

Auxiliary Vessels

HMCS Adversus (auxiliary); HMCS Alachasse (auxiliary); HMCS Andrée Dupré (auxiliary); HMCS Bras d’Or (auxiliary minesweeper); HMCS Cedarwood (auxiliary); HMCS Dundalk (auxiliary); HMCS Dundurn (auxiliary); HMCS Eastmore (auxiliary); HMCS Fleur de Lis (auxiliary); HMCS French (auxiliary); HMCS Jalobert (auxiliary); HMCS Laurier (auxiliary); HMCS Laymore (auxiliary); HMCS Macdonald (auxiliary); HMCS Macsin (auxiliary); HMCS Marvita (auxiliary); HMCS Mastodon (auxiliary); HMCS Mont Joli (auxiliary); HMCS Moonbeam (auxiliary); HMCS Murray Stewart (auxiliary); HMCS Nitinat (auxiliary); HMCS Norsal (auxiliary); HMCS Preserver (auxiliary); HMCS Provider (auxiliary); HMCS Rayon d’Or (auxiliary); HMCS Reo II (auxiliary); HMCS Ross Norman (auxiliary); HMCS Sankaty (auxiliary); HMCS Shulamite (auxiliary); HMCS Standard Coaster (auxiliary); HMCS Star XVI (auxiliary); HMCS Sunbeam (auxiliary); HMCS Vencedor (auxiliary); HMCS Venosta (auxiliary); HMCS Venture II (auxiliary); HMCS Viernoe (auxiliary); HMCS Whitethroat (auxiliary)

HMCS Adversus

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Adversus (auxiliary), commissioned 7 Sep 1939, wrecked when she ran aground 20 Dec 1941.  Adversus was a Preventive Service patrol boat transferred to the RCMP in 1932.  She patrolled the North Sydney, Nova Scotia area until 1933 when she was reassigned to the West Coast.  She was the first RCMP vessel to transit the Panama Canal.  In August 1937 she returned to the East Coast and in 1939 was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and became HMCS Adversus.  On Dec 20, 1941 she was lost at sea when caught in a blizzard and run aground on McNutts Island near Shelburne, NS.

HMCS Alachasse (Z18)

(DND Photo)

Alachasse was a Preventive Service patrol boat transferred to the RCMP in 1932.  She was based in Shediac, New Brunswick.  In 1939 Alachasse was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and became HMCS Alachasse, with pendant number Z18.  She was declared surplus and turned over to CADC on 3 January 1946.  She was sold to Marine Industries Limited on 15 April 1946 who used her until she was scrapped in 1957.

HMCS Andrée Dupré

(DND Photo)

HMCS Andrée Dupré.  Originally a Sorel-built naval trawler of the TR class, she was sold for commercial use after the First World War and renamed Napoléon L.  Again renamed and in the hands of Marine Industries Ltd, as a tug, she was taken up by the RCN in 1939 for use as an examination vessel at Halifax.  Sold after the war, she resumed her former occupation as a tug, renamed Remorqueur 16, at Bordeau, France from 1947 to 1956.

Aristocrat (Z46), an ex-RCAF B113, was transferred to the RCN on 12 Feb 1944, for W/T Calibration service.  On 16 Jun 1945 she was still listed as providing W/T Calibration.  She was returned to her owners in 1946.

Attendant (Auxiliary Vessel D2, then Harbourcraft HC 33.  HC 33 was listed as a boom attendant vessel in Sydney, NS.  She entered into service on 6 Jun 1940 and was removed on 14 Sep 1945.

HMCS Bras d’Or

(DND Photo)

HMCS Bras d’Or (auxiliary minesweeper), former lightship No. 25.  The New York ship owner for whom this trawler was ordered at Sorel went bankrupt soon after her launching in 1919, and she and five sisters were sold incomplete.  She was completed in 1926 for service with the Department of Marine and Fisheries as Lightship No. 25.  Requisitioned on 15 Sep 1939 as an auxiliary minesweeper and renamed HMCS Bras d'Or, she patrolled the Halifax approaches from 1939 to 1940.  She joined the St. Lawrence patrol in Jun 1940, based at Rimouski, and on Jun 10 intercepted and seized the Italian freighter Cap Noli.  On the night of 18-19 Oct 1940, while following the Romanian freighter Ingerner N. Vlassopol in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, HMCS Bras d'Or disappeared.  No trace of her or her crew was found.

HMCS Cedarwood (auxiliary) (J84)

Launched in 1941 at Lunenburg, NS, as MV J. E. Kinney, this ship was taken up for war service with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps and renamed General Schmidlin. Her function was supplying army detachments at scattered harbours in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. She was commissioned in the RCN for oceanographic survey duties on the west coast, and renamed Cedarwood. Paid off in late 1956, she was fitted in 1958 with paddle wheels and other dummy fittings in order to play the role of the steamer Commodore during British Columbia’s centennial celebration

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Dundalk (auxiliary) (Z40 / 501)

The Dun Class tanker HMCS Dundalk was built originally for the Royal Canadian Navy to fill a World War II need. Prior to building HMCS Dundalk, a barge and a dredge had been converted to tankers, but they were not sufficient to answer all demands. For this reason orders were placed for the construction of 2 small ships, HMCS Dundalk and HMCS Dundurn. They were small tankers but had the carrying capacity sufficient to refill escort vessels for the hazardous voyages they undertook to protect merchant ship convoys as well as to maintain supplies in the storage tanks of ports along the east coast of Canada. HMCS Dundalk was built in Walkerville, Ontario and commissioned there on November 13, 1943.

HMCS Dundalk was used to deliver fuel oil from Halifax, Nova Scotia refineries to bases on the east coast of Canada and in Newfoundland. Occasionally HMCS Dundalk served as a lighter, a vessel used to load and unload other ships.

At war’s end, the navy expressed an interest to retain HMCS Dundalk as a naval auxiliary vessel, emphasizing their preference for her over commercial tankers. Both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts required one each for ship fuelling and coastal fuel deliveries. It was decided to keep HMCS Dundalk in Halifax while her sister was transferred to the Pacific Coast. HMCS Dundalk  was paid off at Halifax on April 9, 1946, and subsequently served with a civilian crew as Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel (CNAV) and Canadian Forces Auxiliary Vessel (CFAV) HMCS Dundalk until December 17, 1982.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Dundurn (auxiliary) (Z41 / 502)

The Dun Class tanker HMCS Dundurn was built originally for the Royal Canadian Navy to fill a World War II need. Prior to building HMCS Dundurn, a barge and a dredge had been converted to tankers, but they were not sufficient to answer all demands. For this reason orders were placed for the construction of 2 small ships, HMCS Dundurn and HMCS Dundalk. They were small tankers but had the carrying capacity sufficient to refill escort vessels for the hazardous voyages they undertook to protect merchant ship convoys as well as to maintain supplies in the storage tanks of ports along the east coast of Canada. HMCS Dundurn was built in Walkerville, Ontario and commissioned there on November 25, 1943.

HMCS Dundurn set sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia, the same day she was commissioned, in order to escape the freeze-up in the Saint-Lawrence River. On arrival, she was berthed at the Halifax Shipyards, so that the work still outstanding could be completed. On May 3, 1944, she sailed, with a cargo of oil, in a convoy to Sydney, Nova Scotia. After she had discharged the cargo, she remained Sydney to refuel escort ships lying there. This was the first of many similar voyages along the coast from Halifax to Sydney and other ports, such as Shelburne, Digby and Liverpool in Nova Scotia, Saint John, New Brunswick and St John’s Newfoundland. Occasionally, on these missions she sailed independently, but more often, while the U-boats continued to lurk in those dark waters, in convoy. After the war, HMCS Dundurn was employed in Sydney, landing stores and fuel from the escort ships that were pending disposal.

At war’s end the navy expressed an interest to retain HMCS Dundurn as a naval auxiliary vessel, emphasizing their preference for her over commercial tankers. Both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts required one each for ship fuelling and coast fuel deliveries. It was decided to sail HMCS Dundurn to Esquimalt, British Columbia wile her sister-ship remained in Halifax. Manned with a naval reserve crew, augmented by a few able seamen from the merchant navy, HMCS Dundurn left on November 10, 1946 in water ballast and arrived in Esquimalt on December 29, 1946. She was paid off January 2, 1947, and subsequently served with a civilian crew as Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel (CNAV) and Canadian Forces Auxiliary Vessel (CFAV) Dundurn, bringing oil from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the storage tanks at the base in Esquimalt and delivering to ships in refit and to those too big to go alongside the fueling jetties. She served until 1993.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Eastore (auxiliary) (Z56)

HMCS Eastore was one of two vessels of her class originally planned for the USN before they canceled the contracts mid-production, the other being her sister Laymore. Both ships would be acquired by the RCN before completion and fitted to the RCN’s needs. The USN had wanted to re-acquire Eastore, but she had already undergone refits for the RCN that made her unsuitable for the Americans’ purposes.

Eastore was built at Brunswick, GA, and commissioned in the RCN as a supply vessel. While stationed on the east coast she performed a variety of functions, including those of transport, boom defence, laying moorings and helping to remove and maintain defences built during the war. She served on the East Coast until she was paid off to become a Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel, changing her pennant to 515. She was sold on 30 July 1964.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Fleur de Lis (auxiliary) (Z31 / J16)

Originally built for the RCMP at Montreal, QC, in 1929, the triple-screw Fleur de Lis was commissioned as a patrol craft at Halifax. This put her in close proximity to the experimental work being done at Dalhousie University, and in March 1940, Fleur de Lis became the first RCN vessel to be fitted with degaussing technology designed to demagnetize her hull and protect against mines. She operated from Shelburne in 1942 and in 1943 joined Sydney Force for examination service in the Gut of Canso, based at Mulgrave, NS. In November 1945 she was paid off and acquired by Marine Industries Ltd., who still had her in 1953 when her register was closed.

HMCS French (auxiliary) (S01 /Z23)

French was former RCMP vessel built in Lauzon, QC, in 1938. HMCS French was commissioned at Halifax on 18 September 1939 for local patrol work. By the spring of 1942, she was based at Mulgrave, NS as an examination vessel, and that December was transferred to Saint John, New Brunswick Force. In May 1943 she joined Sydney Force and returned to examination service work in the Gut of Canso, based once more at Mulgrave. In January 1944 she rejoined Halifax Local Defence Force, but after completing a major refit at Lunenburg that July she returned again to Mulgrave. Sold to commercial interests after the war, French was operating out of Halifax as Le Français as recently as 1953. On 15 August of that year she was badly damaged in a hurricane off Cape May, NJ, and abandoned.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Jalobert (auxiliary) Examination Vessel

Built in Kingston as Polana in 1911 for the Department of Agriculture, she later became a quarantine patrol vessel for the Department of Health. In 1923 she was acquired by the Department of Marine and Fisheries as a pilot vessel and renamed Jalobert, commemorating one of Jacques Cartier’s master mariners. Commissioned in 1939, she served as an examination vessel in the St. Lawrence during the Second World War, and then returned to the Department of Transport. Sold out of government service in 1954, she served until 1980 as Macassa and later as Queen City. In 1982 she became a floating restaurant at Windsor, Ontario.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Laurier (auxiliary) (S09 / Z34)

Laruier and her sister MacDonald were built by Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd, Quebec. Launched there on 20 Aug 1936 she was assigned for use to the RCMP. Transferred to the RCN, she was commissioned on 09 Jul 1939 at Halifax for local A/S duties, and occasionally served as escort to the Sydney sections of Halifax convoys (SHX).  By 1943 she was a member of the Sydney Force, based at Mulgrave, N.S., for examination and patrol duty in the Gut of Canso.  In Feb 1944 Laurier returned to Halifax Local Defence Force, but rejoined Sydney Force in Sep 1944. Paid off on 25 Mar 1946, she was returned to the RCMP.  Transferred to the Department of Fisheries, she was re-named Fisheries Patrol Vessel Laurier. On 19 Jul 1946, she departed Halifax for Victoria, BC; arriving there on 09 Sep 1946. As with her sister, her wheelhouse was replaced in 1949. Taken out of service in the early 1980s, she was sold in 1984 and re-named Laurier II. For several years, the Laurier was seen at anchor at Deep Bay Harbour, BC as a derelict vessel.  In Oct 2016, she was towed alongside Ladysmith, BC, where she was broken up.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Laymore (auxiliary) (Z57)

LAYMORE, a sister ship to EASTORE, was built at Brunswick Marine Shipyard, Georgia, USA, and commissioned in the RCN on 12 Jun 1945.  Her specifications were: Displacement: 803 tons, Length: 175 ft 8 in Beam: 32 ft, Draught: 9 ft, Speed: 10 kts, Complement: 19. While stationed on the east coast she performed a variety of functions, including those of transport, boom defence, and laying moorings.  Designed with a round hull to facilitate landing of cargo in area without proper facilities, LAYMORE was able to test the theory behind the design.  On 09 Nov 1945, LAYMORE went aground near Sandy Beach Point Lighthouse off the coast of Nova Scotia. Having sailed into a thick fog, the Captain had mistaken the force of the current and set a course that brought her aground. She was able to free herself 5 hours later with the tide and her own power without having sustained any damage. The BOI had found that her captain had "neglected the most elementary precautions for the safe navigation of his ship" and was relieved of his command. This was not the only time she was grounded, but future ones for intentional to land scientists on beaches and for oceanographic research. She was paid off on 17 Apr 1946, to become a CNAV. After a few months of collecting boom defence nets, LAYMORE was temporarily re-commissioned in to the RCN and transferred to Esquimalt. After arriving in Esquimalt she was once again paid off and re-designated as CNAV LAYMORE. LAYMORE was tasked with hauling naval stores from the Lynn Creek depot in Vancouver to Esquimalt and occasionally used to haul equipment into government work camps such as in the construction of the LORAN Station at Spring Island. In the late 1950s and early 1960s she was used to dispose of expired high explosive and chemical munitions into designated deep ocean valleys. Following a grounding in 1963, she was repaired and refitted to become an oceanographic research vessel - a duty she performed from 1966 until removed from service. After being removed from service on 15 Feb 1976, LAYMORE was sold by Crown Assets in 1977 to Inter Coast Towing Ltd and was renamed Chilcotin Princess. She was used to transports stores and cargo along the west coast. In 1986 she was converted into a cruise ship with six cabins and would take up to 12 passengers to logging camps and First Nations villages. Last seen, she was a hulk at Namu, BC. The Chicoltin Princess was brought in by a company in Namu, BC to help in the clean-up of the waterfront industrial area. It now appears she has become part of the neglect and is a rusting hulk on the waterfront.

‍

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3224458)

HMCS Macdonald (auxiliary). (Z07)

MacDonald and her sister Laurier were built by Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd, Quebec. Launched there on 20 Aug 1936 she was assigned for use to the RCMP. She transferred to the West Coast and patrolled out of Vancouver until 11 Oct 1939 when she was transferred to the RCN and was renamed HMCS Macdonald with pendant number Z07 and P07. She was initially stationed at the Ucuelet BC Air Station as a rescue boat until 1940 when she was transferred to the East Coast. She was employed as a patrol boat and operated out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1945 she was returned to the RCMP but she was not put into service. She was transferred to the Department of Fisheries, and on 20 Feb 1947, renamed Fisheries Protection Vessel Howay and transferred to the West Coast. Howay had wheelhouse was replaced in 1949. On 24 Jul 1981 her engines were run off for the final time. In 1982 she was sold out of government service and re-named Jenny Marcel. Her registry was closed on 07 Jan 2013. Last seen, she was a derelict vessel laying in the mud on the banks of the Fraser River near Mission, BC.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3224457)

HMCS Macdonald (auxiliary) (Z07)

MacDonald and her sister Laurier were built by Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd, Quebec. Launched there on 20 Aug 1936 she was assigned for use to the RCMP. She transferred to the West Coast and patrolled out of Vancouver until 11 Oct 1939 when she was transferred to the RCN and was renamed HMCS Macdonald with pendant number Z07 and P07. She was initially stationed at the Ucuelet, BC Air Station as a rescue boat until 1940 when she was transferred to the East Coast. She was employed as a patrol boat and operated out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1945 she was returned to the RCMP but she was not put into service. She was transferred to the Department of Fisheries, and on 20 Feb 1947, renamed Fisheries Protection Vessel Howay and transferred to the West Coast. Howay had wheelhouse was replaced in 1949. On 24 Jul 1981 her engines were run off for the final time. In 1982 she was sold out of government service and re-named Jenny Marcel. Her registry was closed n 07 Jan 2013. Last seen, she was a derelict vessel laying in the mud on the banks of the Fraser River near Mission, BC.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Macdonald (auxiliary) (Z07)

HMCS Macsin (auxiliary) (FY07 / Z38)

A sister to Andrée Dupré and, like her, a TR class naval trawler built at Sorel in 1918, MACSIN was sold into commercial hands postwar and renamed Gedéon L.  She was later renamed and acquired by Marine Industries Ltd., from whom the RCN took her over in 1940.  She served throughout the Second World War as an examination vessel, and later was sold to the French government to serve as a tug at St. Nazaire.

(RCN Photo NF-2560)

HMCS Marvita (auxiliary) (Z44)

Built in Mahone bay, NS, this wooden-hulled craft saw service as a rum-runner during the early 1930s but was in the employ of the Newfoundland government when the RCN chartered her in 1941.  MARVITA served as an examination vessel until 1945, returning to her previous owners in 1946.  She was transferred to the federal Department of Revenue in 1949, and was lost on Cape Ballard, Newfoundland, on 15 July 1954.

(Tom Middleton Photo)

HMCS Mastodon (auxiliary tanker)

HMCS Mastodon was built by W. Simons & Co. Ltd. Renfrew, UK in 1910 as a Bucket Dredge under Canadian Registry 129529. She was a steel hull measuring 200.3' x 36.6' x 12.8' with a tonnage of 748. She was powered by a 145nhp compound steam engine of the builder's brand. She was owned and operated by the Department of Public Works, Ottawa as 'No. 508' and later as 'D.P.W. Dredge No. 306'.

She was involved in dredging the entrance into Vancouver Harbour 1912-1917 including removing the Parthia Shoal. On Jan 28, 1913 she was dredging outside Vancouver Harbour with the barge tender 'Point Ellice' alongside in heavy fog. CPR steamship 'Princess Charlotte' was in a collision with Mastodon and the Point Ellice. It is reported that the steamship lost some paint but the tug and the dredge were reported to be quite battered. In 1918 she was sent to dredge the harbour at Port Alberni and the Fraser River. In 1925 she was laid up due to the depression. There is no indication of when she returned to active dredging.

In 1942 she was converted to a tanker and commissioned on 09 Dec 1942 as HMCS MASTODON, a Canadian Naval Tanker Auxiliary and was in service with the Canadian Navy form 1942-1946. She worked transporting oil from refineries in the Lower mainland area to northern ports on the west coast throughout her war service. On July 4, 1947 she was sold and transferred to Peruvian Registry.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Mont Joli (auxiliary) (Fy93 / Z02 / Z24)

Originally, a privately owned wooden vessel built at Meteghan, Nova Scotia, in 1938, the east coast auxiliary HMCS Mont Joli was requisitioned on July 5, 1940, and chartered at a rate of $600 a month for use as an examination vessel at Halifax, Nova Scotia. HMCS Mont Joli underwent extensive refit in the Halifax Dockyard. The conversion was completed in May 1941.

She was employed as an accommodation ship alongside and conducted ship examination service between May 1942 and May 1943. The Royal Canadian Navy’s Examination Service controlled traffic into and out of the port of Halifax. Each arriving ship was met by a number of small boats at the Examination Anchorage off MacNab’s Island. There, the ship’s legitimacy was verified before it was allowed into port. Thus, in wartime, the chief examining officer essentially supplanted the role of harbour-master.

When her owner refused to sell, she was acquired on behalf of His Majesty on June 29, 1943. She was paid off on March 29, 1946, and shortly afterward sold for commercial use. She still existed under the same name as late as 1966, when she was destroyed by fire.

(Ken Macpherson Photo)

HMCS Moonbeam (auxiliary) (Z43 / J43)

Built by George T. Davie, Lauzon, Quebec, she was launched in 1913. Originally M & F Hopper Barge No 1. In 1918 she was listed as a water barge. Renamed D.M. Hopper Barge No. 1 circa 1930. Formerly the Department of Transport Hopper Barge No. 1, she was acquired by the RCN in Dec 1940, and converted to a fuel oil carrier for use on the east coast and at St. John's, Nfld.  MOONBEAM was paid off on 13 Nov 1945, and sold the following year to become OAKBRANCH, then about 1960, B.L.L. 24.  Her register was closed in 1971, the ship having been broken up.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3536387)

HMCS Murray Stewart (auxiliary) tug

(Robert Burns Photo)

HMCS Nitinat (auxiliary) (Z03)

A newly built fishing vessel, Nitinat was chartered in Sep 1939, for patrol and examination duties on the west coast.  She was returned to her owners in Jun 1945 only to be destroyed by fire on the Fraser River on 01 Feb 1977.

(RCN Photo, E-75)

HMCS Norsal (auxiliary) (Z12)

Norsal was hired from the Powell River Co. for miscellaneous duties, being returned to commercial service after the war. She was renamed Maui Lu in 1973. She sank in Hecate Strait on 07 Dec 1990. Her specifications were: Length: 122.3 ft, Beam: 19 ft, Draught: 10.5 ft, Speed: 10 knots, Complement: 3 officers, 17 men, Armament: 1 x .303 machine gun.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Preserver (auxiliary) (F94)

HMCS Preserver was built in 1941 and 1942 at Sorel, Quebec, and she arrived at Halifax on August 4, 1942, after escorting a Quebec-Sydney convoy en route. She was assigned to Newfoundland Force as a Fairmile base supply ship, arriving at St. John’s on September 18, 1942, but transferring almost immediately to Botwood, Newfoundland.

She returned to St. John’s in mid-December, staying until the end of July 1943, when she moved to Red Bay. Back at St. John’s in November, she returned to Red Bay in mid-June 1944, and at the beginning of September 1944 moved to Sydney. After a refit at Halifax in early 1945, HMCS Preserver returned once more to St. John’s, but was transferred to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, in June. Paid off at Shelburne, she was sold to the Peruvian Navy in 1946 and renamed Mariscal Castilla, then Cabo Blanco. She was broken up in 1961.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Provider (auxiliary) (F100)

HMCS Provider was a Fairmile depot ship constructed for the RCN during the Second.  Commissioned in December 1942, Provider served as a base ship in the Caribbean Sea, in Quebec and at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Following the war, the vessel was sold into commercial service and converted into a tanker in 1946. The ship re-entered service in 1947 and was renamed Maruba. The ship sailed under this name until 1956, when it was sold and renamed Olaya. Renamed Orgenos the same year, the tanker was acquired by the Peruvian Navy in 1960. In 1961, Orgenus was sold for scrap and broken up in Peru.

(Ken Macpherson Photo)

HMCS Rayon d’Or (auxiliary)

Requisitioned on 11 Sep 1939, this former fishing trawler became an auxiliary mine sweeper based at Halifax.  Her duties also included loop-laying and maintenance.  Early in 1943, following a winter refit, RAYON D'OR was assigned to Sydney Force and remained in that service until Feb 1944, when she rejoined the Halifax Local Defence Forc3.  Paid off in 1945, she resumed her commercial career until 1954.

HMCS Reo II (auxiliary)

HMCS Reo II was a former rum-running vessel turned military vessel from Meteghan, Nova Scotia. Built in 1931, the ship was used for rum running for five years until Prohibition ended, and was turned into a coastal freighter. She was commissioned during the Second World War by the RCN as an auxiliary minesweeper. Declared surplus by the navy in 1945, she was sold to private interests in 1946. Reo II ended up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, under the care of the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society. In 1984 Reo II was deemed unfit for repair, and was scuttled off Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1985.

HMCS Ross Norman (auxiliary) (J01)

Built at Lunenburg, NS, she was a wooden-hulled coaster. Chartered on 19 Jun 1940, Ross Norman served successively as auxiliary minesweeper, coil skid towing craft and mobile deperming craft with Halifax Local Defence Force. She was purchased on 26 Aug 1943. Paid off on 08 Apr 1946, she was sold in 1947 and, as Chicoutimi Trader, was lost by stranding on Grindstone Island, Que., on 18 Nov 1952.

HMCS Sankaty (auxiliary)

(DND Photo)

Sankaty (a.k.a. HMCS Sankaty, a.k.a. Charles A. Dunning) was a propeller-driven steamer purchased in 1940 for ferry service with Northumberland Ferries of Prince Edward Island, but before begining service she was requisitioned by the RCN for service as a minelayer during the Second World War.  She was commissioned on 24 Sep 1940 at Halifax, where she also served as a maintenance vessel.  After the war ended, she was paid off on 18 Aug 1945.  She was renamed Charles A. Dunning, and served from 1946 until 1964 in the waters between Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island and Caribou, Nova Scotia.  During this period her capacity was twenty-three cars and four trucks.  She was sold for scrap in 1964, but sank en route to Sydney, Nova Scotia on 27 Oct 1964.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3567289)

RCN ratings with a mine aboard the minelaying vessel HMCS Sankaty off Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 1941.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3567291)

RCN ratings with a mine aboard the minelaying vessel HMCS Sankaty off Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 1941.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3567295)

RCN ratings with a mine aboard the minelaying vessel HMCS Sankaty off Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 1941.

HMCS Shulamite (auxiliary)

HMCS Standard Coaster (auxiliary)

HMCS Star XVI (auxiliary)

HMCS Sunbeam (auxiliary)

HMCS Vencedor (auxiliary)

HMCS Venosta (auxiliary)

HMCS Venture II (auxiliary)

HMCS Viernoe (auxiliary)

HMCS Whitethroat (auxiliary)

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Patrol and Torpedo Boats

HMCS Santa Maria (patrol boat); HMCS San Thomas (patrol boat); HMCS CMTB-1 (torpedo boat); HMCS S-09 (torpedo boat)

(RCN Photo, E-1331)

HMCS Santa Maria.

Examination Vessel

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3566759)

HMCS Zoarces (FY62), Harbourcraft, 24 Oct 1940.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3566757)

HMCS Zoarces (FY62), Harbourcraft, 24 Oct 1940.

Training schooner, HMCS Venture

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3399223)

HMCS Venture on the right, HMS Seaborn on the left, 19 Aug 1940.

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