View source for HMCS Transcona

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name= ''Transcona''
|Ship namesake=[[Transcona, Winnipeg|Transcona]], [[Manitoba]]
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|Ship builder=[[Marine Industries|Marine Industries Ltd.]], [[Sorel, Quebec|Sorel]]
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|Ship laid down=18 December 1940
|Ship launched=26 April 1941
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|Ship commissioned=25 November 1942
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=31 July 1945
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|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: J271
|Ship honours=Atlantic 1943-45<ref name=Britain>{{cite web|title= Battle Honours | url=http://www.britainsnavy.co.uk/Battle%20Honours/A%20Battle%20Honour%20Date.htm#1900|work=Britain's Navy|access-date=25 Jan 2019}}</ref>
|Ship fate=Scrapped, 1961
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper|1|ship}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|592|LT|t|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|162|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|28|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|8.25|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 9-cylinder diesel, {{convert|2000|bhp|kW|-2|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship complement=83
|Ship armament=*1 × [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]]
*1 × [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder Mark VIII]]
*2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|QF 20 mm Oerlikon]] guns
*40 [[depth charge]]s as escort
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'''HMCS ''Transcona''''' was a {{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper}} built for the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. She was launched on 26 April 1941. After the war, she was transferred to the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] under the name '''''French'''''. The vessel served until 1961 before being sold for scrap and [[Ship breaking|broken up]] later that year.<ref>{{Cite web|title =HMCS Transcona|url = http://naval-museum.mb.ca/mbships/hmcs-transcona/|publisher=Naval Museum of Manitoba|access-date =5 August 2016}}</ref>

==Design and description==
The ''Bangor'' class was initially to be a scaled down minesweeper design of the {{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper|4}} in [[Royal Navy]] service.<ref name=Brown>Brown, p. 124</ref><ref name=Chesneau>Chesneau (1980), p. 61</ref> However, due to the difficulty procuring diesel engines led to the small number of the diesel version being completed.<ref name=Chesneau/> The ships [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|592|LT|t}} standard and {{convert|690|LT|t}} fully loaded. They were {{convert|162|ft|m|1}} [[Length overall|long]] with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|28|ft|m|1}} and a [[Draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|8|ft|3|in|m|2}}.<ref name=Chesneau/><ref name=m1>Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 185</ref> However, the size of the ship led to criticisms of their being too cramped for magnetic or acoustic minesweeping gear.<ref name=Chesneau/> This may have been due to all the additions made during the war with the installation of [[ASDIC]], radar and [[depth charge]]s.<ref name=Brown/>

The ''Bangor'' class came in two versions. ''Transcona'' was of the diesel-powered version, being equipped with a 9-cylinder diesel engine driving two shafts that produced {{convert|2000|bhp|kW|-2|lk=in}}. This gave the ship a maximum speed of {{convert|16.5|kn|km/h|lk=in}}. The vessels carried {{convert|65|LT|t}} of oil.<ref name=Chesneau/>  The vessels had a complement of 6 officers and 77 ratings.<ref name=m1/>

The Canadian diesel-powered ''Bangor''s were armed with a single [[Quick-firing gun|quick-firing]] (QF) [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder 12 cwt gun]] mounted forward.<ref name=Chesneau/><ref name=m1/>{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} The ships were also fitted with a [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder Mark VIII]] gun aft and were eventually fitted with single-mounted [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|QF 20 mm Oerlikon]] guns on the [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]] wings.<ref name=mac>Macpherson (1997), p. 58</ref> For those ships assigned to convoy duty, they were armed with two depth charge launchers and two chutes for the 40 depth charges they carried.<ref name=Chesneau/><ref name=mac/>

==Service history==
''Transcona'' was ordered as part of the 1940–41 building programme. The minesweeper's [[keel]] was laid on 18 December 1940 by [[Marine Industries|Marine Industries Ltd.]] at [[Sorel, Quebec]]. The ship was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 26 April 1941 and ''Transcona'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] at Sorel on 25 November 1942. She was the last ''Bangor'' to join the Royal Canadian Navy.<ref name=m188>Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 188</ref>

After commissioning, ''Transcona'' escorted {{HMCS|Provider|1942|6}} to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] and remained at the shipyard there from 22 December 1942 to 6 March 1943 due to engine defects. Once those were repaired, the minesweeper performed her workups and was assigned to the [[Western Local Escort Force]] (WLEF) in April. In June, WLEF's escorts were divided into groups and ''Transcona'' was placed in W-2.<ref name=m188/>

She remained with that unit until May 1944 when the minesweeper was transferred to Halifax Force, a local escort force based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. On 23 December, with [[sister ship]] {{HMCS|Clayoquot|J174|2}} and the [[frigate]] {{HMCS|Kirkland Lake|K337|2}}, ''Transcona'' sailed from Halifax on a pre-convoy escort submarine sweep of the swept channel near the [[Sambro Island Light|Sambro Light Vessel]]. While the convoy was forming up, the {{GS|U-806}} fired a torpedo which hit ''Clayoquot'', sinking the minesweeper. ''Transcona'' dropped four [[Carley float]]s for the survivors while searching for the submarine. Ten minutes after ''Clayoquot''{{'}}s sinking, a [[G7es torpedo|torpedo]] detonated close to ''Transcona''. The submarine was not found and the [[corvette]] {{HMCS|Fennel|K194|2}} collected survivors.<ref>Darlington and McKee, pp. 197–99</ref> From February to May 1945, ''Transcona'' was under refit at [[Lunenburg, Nova Scotia]]. She remained with this unit until June, after which the ship was deployed on various local tasks until her decommissioning. The minesweeper was [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] on 31 July 1945 at [[Sydney, Nova Scotia]] and laid up.<ref name=m188/>

On 1 September 1945, ''Transcona'' was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Marine Division and renamed ''French''.<ref name=m188/>{{efn|name=RCMP}} The ship remained in service at Halifax until 1960.<ref>Haycock, p. 172</ref> The vessel was turned over to the Crown Assets Corporation, sold for scrap on 2 February 1961 and broken up at [[LaHave, Nova Scotia]] later that year.<ref>Colledge, p. 640</ref><ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6114228|shipname=Transcona|access-date=5 August 2016}}</ref>

==References==

===Notes===
{{notes
| notes =

{{efn
| name = gun nomenclature
|  "Cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
}}
{{efn
|name=RCMP
|Colledge has the ship transferred to the RCMP in 1950.
}}

}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|last=Brown |first=D.K. |title=Nelson to Vanguard: Warship Design and Development 1923–1945 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |date=2000 |isbn=1861761368}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Chesneau |editor-first=Roger |date=1980 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich, UK |isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Darlington |first=Robert A. |last2=McKee |first2=Fraser |date=1996 |title=The Canadian Naval Chronicle 1939–1945: The Successes and Losses of the Canadian Navy in World War II |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-032-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Haycock |first=John |editor-last=Vassilopoulos |editor-first=Peter |date=2011 |title=The History of the RCMP Marine Services |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa |isbn=978-0-919317-47-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002  |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}
* {{cite book|title=Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy 1938–1945 |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |date=1997 |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=0-920277-55-1}}

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{{Bangor class minesweeper}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transcona}}
[[Category:Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Sorel-Tracy]]