HMCS Milltown

History
Canada
Name	Milltown
Namesake	Milltown, Ontario
Builder	Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co., Port Arthur
Laid down	18 August 1941
Launched	27 January 1942
Commissioned	18 September 1942
Decommissioned	16 October 1945
Identification	Pennant number: J317
Honours and; awards	Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942, Normandy 1944
Fate	Sold for scrap 1959
General characteristics
Class and type	Bangor-class minesweeper
Displacement	672 long tons (683 t)
Length	180 ft (54.9 m) oa
Beam	28 ft 6 in (8.7 m)
Draught	9 ft 9 in (3.0 m)
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum water tube boilers, 2 shafts, vertical triple-expansion reciprocating engines, 2,400 ihp (1,790 kW)
Speed	16.5 knots (31 km/h)
Complement	83
Armament	1 × 12-pounder (3 in (76 mm)) 12 cwt HA gun; 1 x QF 2 pdr Mark VIII; 2 × QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns; 40 depth charges as escort;

HMCS Milltown (

invasion of Normandy. Milltown was laid up following the war, but reacquired in 1952 during the Korean War

. The ship never re-entered service with the Royal Canadian Navy and was sold for scrap in 1959.

Design and description

A British design, the Bangor-class minesweepers were smaller than the preceding Halcyon-class minesweepers in British service, but larger than the Fundy class 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] Milltown was of the latter design and was larger than her diesel-engined cousins. The minesweeper was 180 feet (54.9 m) long overall, had a beam of 28 feet 6 inches (8.7 m) and a draught of 9 feet 9 inches (3.0 m).^[2]^[4] Milltown had a displacement of 672 long tons (683 t). She had a complement of 6 officers and 77 enlisted.^[4]

Milltown had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two

Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of 2,400 indicated horsepower (1,800 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph). The minesweeper could carry a maximum of 150 long tons (152 t) of fuel oil.^[2]

Milltown was armed with a single

QF 2-pounder Mark VIII aft and were eventually fitted with single-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns on the bridge wings.^[6] The 2-pounder gun was later replaced with a twin 20 mm Oerlikon mount.^[5] Those ships assigned to convoy duty had two depth charge launchers and four chutes to deploy the 40 depth charges they carried.^[2]^[5]

Operational history

The minesweeper was ordered as part of the 1941–1942 construction programme.

launched on 27 January 1942. The ship was commissioned on 18 September 1942 at Port Arthur.^[7]

After arriving at

Battle of the Saint Lawrence.^[7]

In November 1943, Milltown returned to Halifax Force and remained with the unit until February 1944. That month, the ship sailed to Europe as part of Canada's contribution to the

invasion of Normandy. Upon arrival in March, Milltown was assigned to the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla. During the invasion, Milltown and her fellow minesweepers swept and marked channels through the German minefields leading into the invasion beaches in the American sector.^[8] The 31st Minesweeping Flotilla swept channel 3 on 6 June.^[9] The Canadian Bangors spent most of June sweeping Channel 14, the widened area that combined assault channels 1 to 4.^[10]

The minesweepers spent the following months clearing the shipping lanes between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. Towards the end of 1944, the minesweepers were also being used as a cross channel convoy escorts.[11] Milltown returned to Canada in March 1945 to undergo a refit at Saint John, New Brunswick. The refit was completed in June and the ship returned to European waters and remained there until 21 September.^[7]

The ship returned to Canada and on 16 October 1945, Milltown was

Sorel, Quebec and placed in strategic reserve. Reacquired in 1952 by the Royal Canadian Navy during the height of the Korean War, the vessel was taken to Sydney and given the new hull number FSE 194 and re-designated a coastal escort.^[7]^[12] However, the ship never re-entered service with the Royal Canadian Navy and remained at Sydney until 1959.^[7] Milltown was sold to Marine Industries in February 1959 and broken up for scrap at Sorel.^[13]^[14]

References

Notes

^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Citations

^ "Royal Canadian Warships that Participated in the Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence". Veterans Affairs Canada. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Chesneau, p. 64
^ Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 167
^ ^a ^b Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 180
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Macpherson (1997), p. 70
^ Macpherson (1997), p. 58
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 192
^ Schull, pp. 233–34
^ Schull, pp. 270–273
^ Douglas et al., A Blue Water Navy, pp. 290–291
^ Douglas et al., A Blue Water Navy, p. 334
^ Blackman, p. 99
^ Colledge, p. 411
^ "Milltown (6113710)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 12 November 2016.