HMCS Cowichan (J146)

For other ships of the same name, see Cowichan.
Career (Canada)
Name: Cowichan
Namesake: Cowichan Valley
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
Ordered: 23 February 1940
Builder: North Vancouver Ship Repairs Ltd., North Vancouver
Laid down: 24 April 1940
Launched: 8 September 1940
Commissioned: 4 July 1941
Decommissioned: 9 October 1945
Identification: pennant number: J146
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic 1941-1943, Normandy 1944[1]
Fate: Sold 1946 for mercantile conversion.
General characteristics
Class and type:Bangor-class minesweeper
Displacement:672 tons
Length:180 ft (55 m)
Beam:28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Draught:8 ft (2.4 m)
Propulsion:Single shaft, 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 triple expansion steam engines, 2,400 ihp.
Speed:16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:83
Armament:1 × QF 12-pounder (3 inch (76 mm)) gun

1 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) guns
2 × QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns

2 × Mk.II DC throwers, 4 × DC rails, 40 depth charges

HMCS Cowichan was a Bangor-class minesweeper 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. After the war she was sold for mercantile use. She was named for Cowichan Valley in British Columbia.

Cowichan was ordered on 23 February 1940[2] as part of the 1939-40 shipbuilding programme.[3] She was laid down on 24 April 1940 by North Vancouver Ship Repairs Ltd. at North Vancouver and launched on 8 September later that year.[2] The ship was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy 7 April 1941 at Vancouver, British Columbia.[4]

War service

After commissioning, Cowichan transferred to the east coast, arriving in September 1941. She worked up in Bermuda and upon her return was assigned to the Halifax Local Defence Force for local patrol and mine-sweeping duty. In January 1942, she transferred to Newfoundland Force and remained with them until September. That month the ship was ordered to join the Western Local Escort Force (WLEF), the command charged with escorting convoys along the coast of Canada and into the United States.[4]

In June 1943, WLEF divided its escorts into groups, with Cowichan becoming a part of escort group W-6. She remained with the group until February 1944. That month she traveled to the United Kingdom as one of the Canadian escorts assigned to the naval component of the invasion of Normandy. She arrived in March and was assigned to the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla.[4] Immediately preceding the D-Day Invasions of 6 June 1944, Cowichan was tasked, as part of a larger allied mine sweeper squadron, with mine clearance of Omaha Beach. She swept and destroyed 26 total mines prior to American forces landing on Omaha Beach.

Cowichan remained in British waters until returning to Canada in February 1945. She underwent a refit that kept her out of action until June, when she returned to the United Kingdom. She returned home for the final time in September 1945 and was paid off on 9 October 1945 and placed in reserve at Shelburne.[4]

Postwar service

Following the war, Cowichan was sold in 1946 to a buyer from New York who had her converted for mercantile purposes.[4][5] She kept her name but worked under a Greek flag until 1956.[2][4]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "HMCS Cowichan (J146)". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  3. ↑ McClearn, Sandy (2007). "Bangor Class". hazegray.org. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces, 1910-2002 (3 ed.). St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Limited. p. 170. ISBN 1551250721.
  5. ↑ Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
Sources