HMCS Wallaceburg (J336)

As Belgian Georges Lecointe
Career (Canada)
Name: Wallaceburg
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
Ordered: 12 December 1941
Builder: Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company Ltd.
Laid down: 6 July 1942
Launched: 17 December 1942
Commissioned: 18 November 1943
Decommissioned: 7 October 1946
Identification: pennant number: J 336
Recommissioned: 1 November 1950
Decommissioned: 24 September 1957
Identification: pennant number: FSE 172
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic 1944-45[1]
Fate: sold to Belgian Navy
Career (Belgium)
Name: Georges Lecointe
Namesake: Georges Lecointe
Operator: Belgian Navy
Acquired: 31 July 1959
Commissioned: 7 August 1959
Decommissioned: 1969
Struck: 23 December 1970
Identification: 901
Fate: sold for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type:Algerine-class minesweeper
Displacement:990 tons
Length:68.6 (225 ft)
Beam:10.8 (35.5 ft)
Draught:2.6 (8.5 ft)
Propulsion:2 3-drum Yarrow style water tube all welded boilers, 2 1250 HP triple expansion engines
Speed:16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:
Armament:1 4" HA single, 4 20mm twin guns, 1 Hedgehog ASW mortar, depth charges

HMCS Wallaceburg was an Algerine-class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. After the war the vessel was used from 1950 to 1959 for cadet training.[2][3] In 1959 she was sold to the Belgian Navy and served until 1969 as the F901 Georges Lecointe, the second ship to be named after Georges Lecointe.

Wallaceburg was ordered on 12 December 1941.[4] The ship was laid down on 6 July 1942 by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company Ltd. at Port Arthur, Ontario and launched 17 December later that year.[4][5] The vessel was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 18 November 1943 at Port Arthur.[5]

Service history

Royal Canadian Navy

After commissioning Wallaceburg worked up around Halifax. Upon completion of her trials, the vessel was assigned to the Western Escort Force. She initially joined escort group W-8 in February 1944 before joining group W-6, where she became the Senior Officer's Ship.[5]

In December 1944, Wallaceburg was reassigned to escort group W-8 and remained with the group until July 1945. In July and August 1945, the vessel was attached to HMCS Cornwallis as a training vessel before being placed in reserve at Sydney, Nova Scotia. The ship was transferred to Halifax and paid off on 7 October 1946.[5]

On 1 November 1950, Wallaceburg was recommissioned as a cadet training vessel and spent the summers of 1956 and 1957 on the Great Lakes. The ship was paid off again on 24 September 1957.[5]

Belgian Navy

Georges Lecointe with unchanged main gun

On 31 July 1959, Wallaceburg was sold to Belgium and renamed Georges Lecointe. Upon acquisition, the vessel was redesignated a coastal escort and had the 20mm anti-aircraft armament replaced with 40mm anti-aircraft guns in single mounts.[6] In 1960 she participated in operations in Congo, as the flagship.[7] In 1966 the vessel had the 4-inch main gun replaced with another 40mm gun.[6] She remained in service until 1969 when she was discarded,.[5] She was sold in 1970 for breaking up.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "HMCS Wallaceburg". Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  3. ↑ McClearn, Sandy. "Algerine Class - convoy escort". Haze Gray & Underway. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "HMCS Wallaceburg (J 336)". uboat.net. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces, 1910-2002 (3 ed.). St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Limited. p. 200. ISBN 1551250721.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. 1996. p. 26.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "M 901 et F 901 Georges Lecointe" (in French). La Marine Belge. Retrieved 6 May 2013.

External links