HMCS ''Reo II'' was a former

rum-running Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ter ...

vessel turned military vessel from Meteghan,

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 ...

. Built in 1931, the ship was used for rum running for five years until

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

ended, and was turned into a coastal freighter. She was commissioned during

World War II 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 ...

by 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 ...

as an auxiliary

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 ...

. Declared surplus by the navy in 1945, she was sold to private interests in 1946. ''Reo II'' ended up in

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg is a port town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. The economy was traditionally based on the offshore fishery and today L ...

under the care of the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society. In 1984 ''Reo II'' was deemed unfit for repair, and was scuttled off

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 ...

in 1985.

Design and construction

''Reo II'' was designed specifically with

rum running Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The t ...

in mind. The ship was built with a low silhouette and was painted grey in order to avoid detection from the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

and Canadian coastal patrols. The ship was built in Meteghan,

, the vessel was completed in 1931. In Canadian naval service, the ship was measured at 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 , 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 and a maximum speed of . In Canadian naval service, the ship had a

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...

of four officers and 32 ratings.

Service history

Rum running

During

, ''Reo II'' was used for five years as a supply vessel for illegal liquor and

spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

, also known as

. Under direction of its

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, Aubrey Backman, the ship made countless trips along the North Atlantic Coast. The usual trip saw ''Reo II'' leave Nova Scotia for St. Pierre, where she would load up on goods. She then travelled down the United States to various drop off points, and returned to Nova Scotia. ''Reo II'' often visited other ports in Nova Scotia, such as Halifax and Lunenburg. After Prohibition ended, ''Reo II'' was used as a coastal freighter.

War

''Reo II'' was chartered by the

on 30 July 1940, but was not commissioned until 23 January 1941. ''Reo II'' served the navy mainly as an auxiliary

Shelburne, Nova Scotia Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. History Shelburne lies at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, at roughly the same latitude as Portland, Maine in the United States. The Mi'kmaq call the large and well-sheltered h ...

, but also as an

examination vessel An examination vessel is a vessel used to inspect ships and boats entering a port during wartime. An examination vessel would typically be responsible for examining and verifying all merchant ships and small craft entering or departing a port. T ...

and coil skid towing vessel. She ended her naval duties on 19 October 1945, when she was declared surplus and

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 ...

. The ship was then sold in 1946.

Post war

In 1970, ''Reo II'' was purchased by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society, who placed her on display at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg. She remained there until 1984, when marine architects determined that the boat was not fit for repair. ''Reo II'' was taken from her mooring at the museum on 24 February 1985, and was towed out to sea roughly northeast of Halifax where the ship was

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

at an explosive dumping ground. The wheelhouse was kept as a static monument on the dock outside the Lunenburg Marine Museum.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reo II 1931 ships Merchant ships of Canada Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy Shipwrecks of the Nova Scotia coast Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy