HMCS ''Kenora'' ( pennant J281) was a that served with 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 ...

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 ...

. Entering service in 1942, the minesweeper took part in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

as a convoy escort and in the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. Following the war, the vessel was laid up until reacquired in 1952 during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Never re-entering service with the Royal Canadian Navy, ''Kenora'' was sold to the Turkish Navy in 1957. Renamed ''Bandirma'' by the Turkish Navy, the vessel was discarded in 1972.

Design and description

A British design, the ''Bangor''-class minesweepers were smaller than the preceding s in British service, but larger than the in Canadian service.Chesneau, p. 64Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 167 They came in two versions powered by different engines; those with a

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-call ...

s and those with vertical triple-expansion steam engines. ''Kenora'' was of the latter design and was larger than her diesel-engined cousins. The minesweeper was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

, had 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 .Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 180 ''Kenora'' had a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of . She had a complement of 6 officers and 77 enlisted. ''Kenora'' had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two

Admiralty three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The minesweeper could carry a maximum of of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

. ''Kenora'' was armed with a single quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder () 12 cwt HA gun mounted forward.Macpherson (1997), p. 70 The ship was also fitted with a QF 2-pounder Mark VIII aft and were eventually fitted with single-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns on the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

wings.Macpherson (1997), p. 58 The 2-pounder gun was later replaced with a twin 20 mm Oerlikon mount. Those ships assigned to convoy duty had two

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 ...

launchers and four chutes to deploy the 40 depth charges they carried.

Operational history

The minesweeper was ordered as part of the 1941–1942 construction programme. The ship's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid down on 18 August 1941 by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co at their yard in Port Arthur,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Named for a

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

in Ontario, ''Kenora'' was launched on 20 December 1941. The ship was commissioned on 6 August 1942 at Port Arthur.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 191 ''Kenora'' arrived at

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 ...

on 7 September and after work ups, the vessel was assigned to the

Western Local Escort Force Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point (WOMP or WESTOMP) near Newfoundland where ships of the Mi ...

(WLEF) as a convoy escort in the

. In June 1943, the minesweeper was assigned to the WLEF escort group W8. She remained a member of the group until February 1944, when the ''Kenora'' sailed for Europe as part of Canada's contribution to the

. Upon arrival in March, ''Kenora'' was assigned to the 14st Minesweeping Flotilla. During the invasion, ''Kenora'' and her fellow minesweepers swept and marked channels through the German minefields leading into the invasion beaches in the American sector. The 14th Minesweeping Flotilla swept the

Baie de la Seine The Baie de Seine (Bay of the Seine River) is a bay in northern France. Geography It is a wide, rectangular inlet of the English Channel, approximately 100 kilometres (east-west) by 45 kilometres, bounded in the west by the Cotentin Peninsula, i ...

an hour after the assault began. The Canadian ''Bangor''s spent most of June sweeping Channel 14, the widened area that combined assault channels 1 to 4. The minesweepers spent the following months clearing the shipping lanes between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. Towards the end of 1944, the minesweepers were also being used as a cross channel convoy escorts. In October 1944, ''Kenora'' returned to Canada to undergo a refit at

Liverpool, Nova Scotia Liverpool is a Canadian community and former town located along the Atlantic Ocean of the Province of Nova Scotia's South Shore. It is situated within the Region of Queens Municipality which is the local governmental unit that comprises all ...

. The ship returned to European waters in February 1945, joining the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla upon her arrival. In April 1945, the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla was assigned to the last large-scale combined operation in the European theatre. Sailing to the

Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Gar ...

on 12 April, the minesweeping flotilla swept an invasion channel for the attack force landing in the area. Once their minesweeping duties were completed, the minesweepers performed an anti-submarine patrol in the area. They continued in these duties until 16 April when the minesweepers returned to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. While returning to Plymouth, the flotilla encountered a German trawler and captured it. ''Kenora'' and the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla spent the next five months sweeping the English Channel. ''Kenora'' remained in European waters until 4 September, when the minesweeper returned to Canada. After returning to Canada, the minesweeper 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 ...

at Halifax on 6 October 1945 and laid up at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. ''Kenora'' was taken to Sorel, Quebec and placed in strategic reserve in 1946. In 1952 the minesweeper was reacquired by the Royal Canadian Navy during the

and modernized. The vessel was taken to Sydney, Nova Scotia and given the new hull number FSE 191 and re-designated a coastal escort. However, the ship never recommissioned and remained in reserve at Sydney until 29 November 1957 when ''Kenora'' was formally transferred to the Turkish Navy.Colledge, p. 340 Renamed ''Bandirma'' by the Turkish Navy, the vessel remained in service until 1972 when ''Bandirma'' was discarded. The vessel was broken up in Turkey in 1972. The ship's

registry Registry may refer to: Computing * Container registry, an operating-system-level virtualization registry * Domain name registry, a database of top-level internet domain names * Local Internet registry * Metadata registry, information system for re ...

was deleted in 1980.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenora (J281) Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy Ships built in Thunder Bay 1941 ships World War II minesweepers of Canada