HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' was a

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

(RCN) base located at Sandy Beach on the southern shore of

Gaspé Bay Gaspé Bay () is a bay located on the northeast coast of the Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The town of Gaspé, Quebec lies on a part of its southern shore, while most of its northern shore is in the Forillon National ...

, several kilometres east of Gaspé,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Its construction was commissioned in 1940 and the base was inaugurated by the RCN on May 1, 1942. Several shore batteries were linked to this base, such as Fort Prével, Fort Haldimand, and Fort Péninsule. On March 31, 1946, the base was decommissioned, almost a year after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

ended. Today the base property is operated as the Sandy Beach Terminal of the Port of Gaspé and is primarily used for industrial and commercial purposes.

History

The Gaspé area played a big role during the war. Gaspé Bay was strategically located near the mouth of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

and was considered a very suitable place for harbouring merchant ships and allied warships, such as the British fleet in case Great Britain would be invaded. The depth and the shape of the bay allowed for maximum accessibility and defence. This mandate was given by the Department of National Defence in early 1940 and the RCN's High Command worked on top-secret plans for procedures to defend shipping by convoy escorts in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and

. Throughout the year many army, navy and air force bases were constructed along the St. Lawrence River between Gaspé and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. was the first navy vessel to operate from Gaspé, starting from October 1940, but returned to Sydney, Nova Scotia () later and was replaced by . Together with the armed yachts , and , these vessels formed the extent of the RCN's fleet based at HMCS ''Fort Ramsay''. The base also supported other RCN warships operating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence throughout the war. After the first sightings of German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s in the waters near Newfoundland and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in 1941, facilities at HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' were augmented. This included construction of the outlying batteries along the shore around the bay as well as a submarine net. The base's inauguration ceremony was held on May 1, 1942, witnessed by a crew of thirteen officers and nearly sixty men from the 1st Battalion of Les Fusiliers du S^t-Laurent. On December 14, 1942, Ottawa appointed the 3rd Battalion of Les Fusiliers du S^t-Laurent to HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'', which would grew to 34 officers and 291 men at the end of that year. Construction continued until 1943 which saw around 2000 soldiers, airmen and sailors fortifying the bay. One week after the official opening, the first U-boats were observed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This marked the beginning of the

Battle of the St. Lawrence The Battle of the St. Lawrence involved marine and anti-submarine actions throughout the lower St. Lawrence River and the entire Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Strait of Belle Isle, Anticosti Island and Cabot Strait from May–October 1942, September ...

, which was fought intensely until the U-boats generally withdrew in late 1942, though some sinkings occurred in the area through late 1944. By the end of 1944 the situation in Europe had evolved to the advantage of the allies and by October 1 of that year the first shore batteries at HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' began to be dismantled. On March 31, 1946, the last remaining regiment, the Gaspé-Bonaventure Regiment (the 3rd Battalion of Les Fusiliers du S^t-Laurent having changed their name in August 1944) was officially disbanded. In total 26 ships were torpedoed by German submarines in the Battle of the St. Lawrence.

Fort Péninsule

Fort Péninsule was a shore battery affiliated with HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' that was located on the north shore of the bay, near the southern entrance to what is now

Forillon National Park Forillon National Park (french: Parc national de Forillon), one of 42 national parks and park reserves across Canada, is located at the outer tip of the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec and covers . Created in 1970, Forillon was the first nationa ...

. It was equipped with four searchlights, two 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns and several storage rooms. Located along the main road passing nearby ''Boulevard Forillon'' ( Route 132) were 15 buildings to house personnel. The site is now open to the public with no entry fee. Two QF 4.7-inch B Mark IV* guns are still displayed in their original casemated positions. According to information displayed on site this station was able to sink any ship or submarine in the bay within 15 seconds after it was spotted.

Fort Prével

Fort Prével was on the south shore of the bay opposite Fort Péninsule, on what is now the Auberge et Golf Fort Prével. During World War II it was armed with two ex-US 10-inch (254 mm) guns, one on a

disappearing carriage A disappearing gun, a gun mounted on a ''disappearing carriage'', is an obsolete type of artillery which enabled a gun to hide from direct fire and observation. The overwhelming majority of carriage designs enabled the gun to rotate bac ...

and one on a

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...

carriage. One of two QF 4.7-inch B Mark IV* guns (120 mm), the same type as at Fort Péninsule, is displayed. It is mounted upside down on the carriage.Coast Artillery Defences of Gaspé Bay at www.northamericanforts.com
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References

External links

Canadian War Museum
Their website hosts various pictures about the "Battle of the Saint Lawrence", including HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' and its fleet.
The Naval Reserve
Case study on the Battle of the St. Lawrence.
Flickr album from the Naval Museum of Québec
The link takes you to the first picture of Fort Haldimand, one of the battery stations of HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' and you can continue until ''Gaspé Naval Base Headquarters''.
Parks Canada
on Fort Péninsule. {{Coord, 48.825, -64.444, display=title Royal Canadian Navy bases Coastal fortifications in Canada