Construction and service
Venture was ordered in 1935 as the Royal Canadian Navy began to expand. [4] The vessel was constructed by Meteghan Shipbuilding Ltd. Co. at Meteghan, Nova Scotia. The schooner was launched in June 1937 and was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 25 October 1937. Venture was based at Halifax, Nova Scotia as a training ship. [1] [5]
Venture was paid off on 1 September 1939 with war imminent. [1] She was one of only thirteen Royal Canadian Navy ships in service at the outbreak of the Second World War. [6] She became an accommodation vessel at Halifax for Royal Navy ratings assigned to the 3rd Battleship Squadron. In November 1941, she was recommissioned as a guard ship at Tuft's Cove, which lies at the entrance to Bedford Basin. [1]
Venture served as such until 13 May 1943, when she lost her name to the former yacht Seaborn. The schooner was renamed Harbour Craft 190 and remained as such until sold on 10 December 1945 to a Halifax firm. Upon being sold she was renamed Alfred & Emily and initially served as a sealing vessel. The vessel eventually became a coal carrier, which she served as until she was lost in an explosion/fire off of Bellburns, Newfoundland on 3 October 1951. [1]
HMCS Nootka was a Fundy-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1938–1945. She saw service during the Second World War as a local minesweeper working out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was named for Nootka Sound. In 1943 she was renamed HMCS Nanoose to allow the unit name Nootka to be used by the destroyer HMCS Nootka. Following the war the ship was sold for mercantile use, becoming the tugboat Sung Ling. The ship's registry was deleted in 1993.
HMCS Arras was one of twelve Battle-class naval trawlers that saw service with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The vessel entered service in 1918 near the end of the First World War and was used for patrolling and escort duties along the Atlantic Coast of Canada. Following the war, Arras was transferred to the Department of Marine and Fisheries where the ship was used as a fisheries patrol vessel. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the ship re-entered RCN service as a gate vessel. In 1943, the ship was heavily damaged by fire and was broken up in 1957.
HMCS Festubert was one of twelve Battle-class naval trawlers constructed for and used by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the First World War. Following the war, Festubert remained in Canadian service as a training ship until 1934. Reactivated for the Second World War, the ship was used as a gate vessel in the defence of Halifax, Nova Scotia and re-designated Gate Vessel 17. Following the war, the trawler was sold for commercial use and renamed Inverleigh. Inverleigh was scuttled off Burgeo, Newfoundland on 30 June 1971.
HMCS Beaver was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally named Aztec, the yacht was requisitioned for service in the United States Navy during the First World War under the same name. Returned to her owner in 1919, the yacht was laid up in 1931 following her owner's death. The vessel was purchased via a third party for service in the Royal Canadian Navy and after commissioning, Beaver was primarily used as a training ship with limited time as a patrol vessel. Following the war she was sold in 1946 and broken up for scrap in 1956.
HMCS Caribou was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally named Memory III, the vessel was renamed Elfreda while in private use as a personal yacht. After her commissioning and renaming to Caribou, she was used as a patrol and training vessel on the East coast of Canada. Following the war the ship was sold for commercial use until her registry was deleted in 1963.
HMCS Comox was a Fundy-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1938–1945. She served during the Second World War as a local patrol craft for Esquimalt, British Columbia before transferring to Halifax, Nova Scotia performing general minesweeping duties. After the war she sold for mercantile service and converted to a tugboat named Sung Ming. The ship's registry was deleted in 1993.
HMCS Comox was a Bay-class minesweeper built for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Cold War. The vessel was named for Comox Harbour, a bay in British Columbia. The minesweeper was later transferred to the Turkish Navy where she was renamed Tirebolu and served until 1996.
HMCS Gaspé was a Fundy-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1938 to 1945. She saw service during the Second World War as part of the local defence of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was named for Gaspé Bay in Quebec. Following the war the ship was sold for mercantile use, becoming the tugboat Sung Li. The ship's registry was deleted in 1993.
HMCS Fundy was a Fundy-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1938 to 1945. The minesweeper was the first warship built for Canada since 1918. She saw service in the Atlantic Ocean during the Second World War. The vessel was named for the Bay of Fundy. After the war she had an extensive civilian career.
CGS Margaret was the first vessel to be built specifically for the Canadian Customs Preventive Service. Delivered in 1914, she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and served as HMCS Margaret during the First World War. Following the war, Margaret was returned to the Customs Preventive Service spending most of the 1920s intercepting smugglers during American Prohibition. In 1932 the ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The ship was sold shortly thereafter, and was subsequently acquired by the Brazilian Navy and renamed Rio Branco, utilized as a hydrographic survey vessel. Rio Branco was discarded in 1958.
HMCS Reindeer was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served mainly in local waters, escorting convoys until becoming a training ship at Halifax, Nova Scotia at the end of 1942. The ship remained as such until being paid off to reserve in 1945 and was sold. Constructed as Josephine in 1926 in the United States and renamed Mascotte, the yacht was acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940. Following the war, the vessel was sold.
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 World War II by the Royal Canadian Navy 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 Noranda was a Canadian Bangor-class minesweeper built for the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940. She was launched on 13 June 1941 and escorted convoys for the rest of the war. After the war the minesweeper was refitted and was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as Irvine. In 1962, the ship was sold and was turned into the yacht Miriana. Renamed Marijana and Viking L&R in 1969, the yacht sank in May 1971 off the coast of Jamaica.
HMCS Transcona was a Bangor-class minesweeper built for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She was launched on 26 April 1941. After the war, she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the name French. The vessel served until 1961 before being sold for scrap and broken up later that year.
HMCS Thunder was a Bay-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy for three and a half months in 1954 before being sold to the French Navy to become La Paimpolaise. The ship was named for Thunder Bay and was the second vessel to carry the name. Her name was given to her replacement, HMCS Thunder.
HMCS Grandmère was a Bangor-class minesweeper constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Entering service in 1941, the minesweeper took part in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the St. Lawrence before being taken out of service in 1945. The ship was sold for mercantile service following the war, first as the yacht Elda and then the cargo ship Jacks Bay. The ship was sold for scrap in 1968.
The Llewellyn-class minesweepers were a series of ten coastal minesweepers constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Based on the Admiralty type MMS-class minesweeper, the Llewellyn class were constructed of wood and used for the removal of magnetic influence mines. Two were built in Quebec, with the eight constructed on the Western Coast of Canada. Mostly used as guard ships during the war, only three of the ten remained in Royal Canadian Navy service following the war, with the last being discarded in 1957. Following naval service, vessels of the class ended up in commercial service, with some becoming fishing vessels, cargo ships and one a floating restaurant. Six of the ten ships were lost in commercial service.
HMCS Provider was a Fairmile depot ship constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. 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. The ship's registry was not deleted until 1992.
HMCS Preserver was a depot ship of the Coastal Forces of the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Commissioned in July 1942, Preserver supported Canadian Fairmile B motor launches in Canadian and Newfoundland waters during the war.
HMCS Husky was an armed yacht used for patrol and training purposes during World War II by the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship was constructed as the yacht Wild Duck in 1930 in Bay City, Michigan. Having several owners through the 1930s, the vessel was renamed Xania II. Acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940 for patrol, escort and training duties in Atlantic Canada, the ship was taken out of service at the end of the war and sold into commercial service. The vessel was purchased by the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana for use as an inspection ship. In 1967 the ship was sold again, renamed Aquarius No. 2 and used as a diving tender based in Honduras. In 1979 the vessel was acquired by American interests who brought the ship back to New Orleans and converted it to a floating restaurant.
Canada