HMCS ''Fortune'' was a built for the
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 subma ...
. Named for
Fortune Bay, located in
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, the vessel served in the Royal Canadian Navy for ten years before being sold for commercial purposes. Renamed MV ''Edgewater Fortune'' she saw service as a commercial yacht.
Design
The Bay class were designed and ordered as replacements for 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 ...
-era
minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
s that the Royal Canadian Navy operated at the time. Similar to the , they were constructed of wood planking and aluminum framing.
[Macpherson and Barrie, p. 271.][Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 49.]
Displacing and at deep load, the minesweepers were long with a
beam of and a
draught of .
[ They had a complement of 38 officers and ratings.][Gardiner and Chumbley claim the complement was 40.] The Bay-class minesweepers were powered by two GM 12-cylinder diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...
s driving two shafts creating . This gave the ships a maximum speed of .[ The ships were armed with one ]Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:
*Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s
...
and were equipped with minesweeping gear.[
]
Service
Initially named ''Belle Isle'',[Colledge, p. 245] ''Fortune'' 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 24 April 1952 by Victoria Machinery Depot at Victoria with the yard number 51 and launched on 14 April 1953.[Macpherson and Barrie, p. 273.][
''Fortune'' joined the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron after commissioning. In November 1955, the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron was among the Canadian units that took part in one of the largest naval exercises since the Second World War off the coast of California.
After nine years of naval service, including acting as the ]flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...
of the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron during the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
, ''Fortune'' was decommissioned on 28 February 1964.[ Put up for auction by the Crown Assets Corporation, the ship was then sold into mercantile service. She was initially known as ''Greenpeace Two'' and used in an unsuccessful attempt to stop nuclear testing in the ]Aleutians
The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large vo ...
in November 1971.[ The vessel was then refitted as the charter ]yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
MV ''Edgewater Fortune''[ and was used for short cruises along the ]coast of British Columbia
, settlement_type = Region of British Columbia
, image_skyline =
, nickname = "The Coast"
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Canada
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = British ...
. She was also occasionally used for fishing, and for school trips to learn about the wildlife on the coast and in the water. Subsequently, the ship was turned into a floating home in Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
HMCS ''Fortune'' today
Ship’s Badge HMCS ''Fortune''
MV Edgewater Fortune homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, HMCS
Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy
Bay-class minesweepers
1953 ships
Cold War minesweepers of Canada
Ships built in British Columbia