HMCS ''Quatsino'' ( pennant J152) was a constructed for 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 1941, the minesweeper spent the entire war on the West Coast of Canada. Following the war, the vessel was sold for mercantile conversion in 1947 and renamed ''Chen Hsin''. In 1950 the merchant ship was sold and renamed ''Concord'' before being broken up for scrap in 1951.

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. ''Quatsino'' was of the latter design and was larger than her diesel-engined cousins. ''Quatsino'' 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 . The minesweeper 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. ''Quatsino'' 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 ...

. ''Quatsino'' was armed with a single quick-firing (QF) /40 caliber Mk IV gun mounted forward. For anti-aircraft purposes, the minesweeper was equipped with one QF 2-pounder Mark VIII and two single-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns. As a convoy escort, ''Quatsino'' was deployed with 40

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 ...

s launched from two depth charge throwers and four chutes.Macpherson (1997), p. 19

Operational history

The minesweeper was ordered as part of the 1939–40 building programme. The ship's keel was laid down on 20 June 1940 by Prince Rupert Dry Dock and Shipyards Co. at their yard in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Named for

Quatsino Sound , image = Coal Harbour, Port Hardy, BC.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Coal Harbour, a village located in Holberg Inlet , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_b ...

in British Columbia, ''Quatsino'' was launched on 9 January 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy at Prince Rupert on 3 November 1941.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 174 ''Quatsino'' spent the entirety of the Second World War on the West Coast of Canada. Assigned to the patrol units Esquimalt Force (operating out of Esquimalt, British Columbia) or Prince Rupert Force (operating out of Prince Rupert), the main duty of ''Bangor''-class minesweepers after commissioning on the West Coast was to perform the Western Patrol. This consisted of patrolling the west coast of Vancouver Island, inspecting inlets and sounds and past the Scott Islands to Gordon Channel at the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Strait and back. On 8 July 1942, a Royal Canadian Air Force

Bristol Bolingbroke The Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke is a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Built by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. De ...

maritime patrol aircraft of No. 115 Squadron reported that it had bombed and damaged an Imperial Japanese Navy

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

at . ''Quatsino'' rendezvoused with the United States Coast Guard

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Side cutter * Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...

and the U.S. Coast Guard-manned United States Navy patrol vessel on 9 July 1942, and the three ships began a search for the submarine in Dixon Entrance southeast of

Annette Island Annette Island or ''Taak'w Aan'' (Tlingit) is an island in the Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at . It is about long and about wide. The land area ...

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

, but ''Quatsino'' did not take part in an

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

action later that day in which ''McLane'' and ''YP-251'' received credit for sinking a submarine in the Pacific Ocean off Southeast Alaska. Following the war ''Quatsino'' was paid off on 26 November 1945 at Esquimalt. The vessel was sold for mercantile conversion in 1947 and renamed ''Chen Hsin''. Registered in Shanghai the vessel was owned by Chung Yuan SN Co. The vessel was sold in 1950 to Transcontinental Corporation, registered in Monrovia and renamed ''Concord''. The merchant ship was broken up in Hong Kong beginning on 13 January 1951.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

*Bruhn, David D. ''Battle Stars for the "Cactus Navy": America's Fishing Vessels and Yachts in World War II''. Berwyn Heights, Maryland: Heritage Books 2014. * * * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quatsino, HMCS Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy Ships built in British Columbia 1941 ships World War II minesweepers of Canada