“HMCS Minas”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

HMCS Minas was a {{sclass-|Bangor|minesweeper||ship}} that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Invasion of Normandy. She was named for Minas Basin.^[3] After the war she was reactivated for a short period of time in 1955 before being sold for scrap.

Design and description

A British design, the Bangor-class minesweepers were smaller than the preceding {{sclass-|Halcyon|minesweeper|1}}s in British service, but larger than the {{sclass-|Fundy|minesweeper|4}} in Canadian service.^[2]^[3] They came in two versions powered by different engines; those with a diesel engines and those with vertical triple-expansion steam engines.^[2] Minas was of the latter design and was larger than her diesel-engined cousins. Minas was {{convert|180|ft|m|1}} long overall, had a beam of {{convert|28|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|9|ft|9|in|m|1}}.^[2]^[3] The minesweeper had a displacement of {{convert|672|LT|t}}. She had a complement of 6 officers and 77 enlisted.^[3]

Construction and career

Second World War

In September 1941, Minas sailed for the East coast, arriving at Halifax on 19 October. The minesweeper was assigned to Sydney Force as a local escort. In January 1942, she transferred to Newfoundland Force, remaining with them until November that year. She joined the Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) as a convoy escort that month and served in an unaffiliated capacity until January 1943.^[8] On 21 November 1942, Minas, along with the corvette {{HMCS|Timmins|K223|2}}, rescued 60 survivors of the merchant ship Empire Sailor which had been torpedoed by {{GS|U-518||2}}. Several survivors later died of the phosgene gas they had inhaled when their ship was hit.^[5] In January 1943, WLEF reorganized its escorts into groups. Minas joined 24.18.2 alongside corvettes {{HMCS|Buctouche|K179|2}}, {{HMCS|Edmundston|K106|2}}, {{HMCS|Kamsack|K171|2}} and Timmins.^[8] She collided with {{HMS|Liscomb}} on 3 February, near Halifax; the damage resulted in a month of repairs. She became a part of EG W-7 of WLEF in June. She joined escort group W-4 in December.^[7]

On 20 February 1944, Minas left Halifax with three of her sisters, travelling to Great Britain as part of Canada's contribution to the invasion of Normandy. She arrived in March 1944 and was assigned to the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla, an all-Canadian flotilla of minesweepers taking part in the D-Day invasions.^[7]^[9] During the invasion, Minas and her fellow minesweepers swept and marked channels through the German minefields leading into the invasion beaches.^[10] The 31st Minesweeping Flotilla swept channel 3 on 6 June, completing the task unmolested by the Germans. Minas nearly collided with the {{ship|French cruiser|Georges Leygues}} as the assault fleet entered the swept channels.^[11] She returned to Canada, undergoing a refit at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in September 1944, rejoining the 31st Flotilla at Plymouth in January 1945.^[7] In April 1945, the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla joined the last large-scale combined operation in the European theatre in an attack on German naval bases in France that had been left untouched by Allied war effort to that point. Departing Plymouth on 12 April, the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla began operations in the mouth of the Gironde estuary on 14 April. They completed their duties on 16 April, unmolested by the Germans. While returning to Plymouth, the flotilla encountered a German trawler and captured it.^[12] Later that year in September Minas returned to Canada and was paid off into reserve at Shelburne on 6 October 1945.^[7]

Postwar service

After the war the decommissioned Minas was moved to Sorel. In 1952, she was reacquired by the Canadian Navy and recommissioned on 15 March 1955, to be used as a training vessel.^[7] On 15 April 1955, Minas, {{HMCS|Wallaceburg|J336|2}} and {{HMCS|Portage|J331|2}} were assigned to the Eleventh Canadian Escort Squadron based out of Halifax.^[13] Minas sailed for the West Coast on 30 September. After arrival, her crew transferred to {{HMCS|Sault Ste. Marie|J334|2}} and returned to Halifax.^[14] The minesweeper was paid off on 7 November 1955 and sold in August 1958.^[7] Minas was broken up at Seattle beginning on 20 August 1959.^[15] The ship's wheel remains on display at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 53 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.^[16]

References

Notes

Citations

1. ^¹Arbuckle, p. 67
2. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶Chesneau, p. 64
3. ^¹²³Macpherson and Barrie, p. 167
4. ^¹²Macpherson, p. 19
5. ^¹{{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2654.html |work=uboat.net |title=HMCS Minas (J165)|accessdate=1 June 2014}}
6. ^Macpherson and Barrie, p. 167
7. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷Macpherson and Barrie, p. 172
8. ^¹Rohwer, p. 222
9. ^Schull, p. 233
10. ^Schull, pp. 233–34
11. ^Schull, pp. 270–73
12. ^Schull, pp. 395–96
13. ^{{cite magazine |title=Coastal Escorts Form Squadron |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa |date=April 1955 |volume=7 |number=6 |pages=4}}
14. ^{{cite magazine|title=Minas Transfers to West Coast |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa|date=November 1955 |volume=8 |number=1 |pages=3}}
15. ^{{csr|register=MSI|id=6112071|shipname=Minas|accessdate=3 August 2016}}
16. ^{{cite web|title=Victoria – 053 |url=http://www.ns.legion.ca/districts.html |work=Nova Scotia Nunavut Command of the Royal Canadian Legion |accessdate=22 March 2012}}