HMCS ''Comox'' was a that served in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, 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 s ...

from 1938–1945. She served during 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 opposin ...

as a local patrol craft for

Esquimalt, British Columbia The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquim ...

before transferring to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

performing general minesweeping duties. After the war she sold for mercantile service and converted to a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

named ''Sung Ming''. The ship's registry was deleted in 1993.

Design and description

In 1936, new minesweepers were ordered for the Royal Canadian Navy.Johnston et al., p. 979 Based on the British ,Chesneau, p. 65 those built on the west coast would cost $403,000 per vessel.Johnston et al., p. 1075 At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy considered constructing more, but chose to build s instead upon learning of that design due to their oil-burning engines.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 167 The ''Fundy'' class, named after the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

, displaced . They were long, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . They had a complement of 3 officers and 35 ratings.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 32 The ''Fundy'' class was propelled by one shaft driven by

vertical triple expansion A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up h ...

engine powered by steam from a one-cylinder boiler. This created between and gave the minesweepers a top speed of . The ships were capable of carrying between of coal. The ships were armed with one QF Mk IV gun mounted forward on a raised platform.Macpherson and Barrie state that the ships were equipped with one

QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun (abbreviated as Q.F. 12-pdr. (12-cwt.)Gun ...

.Mark IV = Mark 4. Britain used

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

s to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. The minesweepers were armed with two

20 mm Oerlikon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

cannons. They were later equipped with 25

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

Service history

''Comox'' was ordered on 23 August 1937. The ship was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 5 February 1938 by Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd. at

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

with the yard number 117 and launched on 9 August later that year. She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 23 November 1938. ''Comox'' was initially assigned to the west coast. At the onset of the Second World War, she remained at Esquimalt carrying out local patrol duties. In March 1940, she and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

were reassigned to the east coast. Arriving in April 1940 ''Comox'' spent the rest of the war performing minesweeping duties for

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...

. Along with her sister ship, , she rescued survivors of the torpedoed

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

SS ''Martin Van Buren'' on 15 January 1945. ''Comox'' was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

on 27 July 1945. The vessel was sold in 1946 for commercial service to Ming Sung Industrial Co Ltd and converted to the

''Sung Ming''. The ship was deleted in 1993.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comox (J64) Fundy-class minesweepers Ships built in North Vancouver 1938 ships World War II minesweepers of Canada