HMCS Chaleur (MCB 144)
{{other ships|HMCS Chaleur}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Canada |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}} |Ship name=Chaleur |Ship namesake=Chaleur Bay |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co., Port Arthur |Ship laid down=8 June 1951 |Ship launched=21 June 1952 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=18 June 1954 |Ship decommissioned=30 September 1954 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship identification=MCB 144 |Ship fate=Sold to France as La Dieppoise |Ship status= |Ship badge= A field pile or and gules above a barry wavy azure and argent, and in the center an equilateral triangle azure bearing a fern leaf or.{{sfn|Arbuckle|1987|p=24}} |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=France |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|naval}} |Ship name=La Dieppoise |Ship acquired=9 October 1954 |Ship commissioned= 13 November 1954 |Ship decommissioned=9 July 1987 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck=1987 |Ship reinstated= |Ship identification=P 655 |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Sunk as artificial reef at Nouméa, 19 January 1988 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass2|Bay|minesweeper}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|390|LT|t|lk=on|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|152|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|28|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|8|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 GM 12-cylinder diesels, {{convert|2400|bhp|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship complement=38 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=1 × Bofors 40 mm gun |Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
HMCS Chaleur was a {{sclass2|Bay|minesweeper}} that served in the Royal Canadian Navy for three and a half months in 1954 before being sold to the French Navy to become La Dieppoise. The ship was named for Chaleur Bay, located between Quebec and New Brunswick. Her name was given to her replacement, {{HMCS|Chaleur|MCB 164|3}}. As La Dieppoise, the vessel served as a coastal patrol vessel in the France's Pacific Ocean territories. The ship was taken out of service in 1987. In January 1988, the vessel was sunk as an artificial reef in the lagoon of Nouméa.
Design
The Bay-class ships were designed and ordered as replacement for the Second World War-era minesweepers that the Royal Canadian Navy operated at the time. Similar to the {{sclass2|Ton|minesweeper|1}}, they were constructed of wood planking and aluminum framing.{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}}{{sfn|Gardiner|Chumbley|Budzbon|1995|p=49}}
Displacing {{convert|390|LT|t}} and {{convert|412|LT|t}} at deep load, the minesweepers were {{convert|152|ft|m|abbr=on}} long with a beam of {{convert|28|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a draught of {{convert|8|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}}{{sfn|Gardiner|Chumbley|Budzbon|1995|p=49}} They had a complement of 38 officers and ratings.{{efn|Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon claim the complement was 40.{{sfn|Gardiner|Chumbley|Budzbon|1995|p=49}}}}{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}}
The Bay-class minesweepers were powered by two GM 12-cylinder diesel engines driving two shafts creating {{convert|2400|bhp|lk=in}}. This gave the ships a maximum speed of {{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}.{{sfn|Gardiner|Chumbley|Budzbon|1995|p=49}} The ships were armed with one Bofors 40 mm gun and were equipped with minesweeping gear.{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}}{{sfn|Gardiner|Chumbley|Budzbon|1995|p=49}}
Service history
Chaleur was laid down on 8 June 1951 by Port Arthur Shipbuilding at Port Arthur, Ontario with the yard number 107 and launched 21 June 1952.{{csr|register=MSI|id=6123270|shipname=Chaleur |accessdate=30 April 2016}}{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}} The vessel was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 18 June 1954 with the hull identification number 144.{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}}
Following commissioning, Chaleur spent three months in service with the Royal Canadian Navy. The minesweeper was paid off on 30 September 1954. She was transferred to France on 9 October 1954. The minesweeper was commissioned on 13 November 1954 and renamed La Dieppoise.{{sfn|Macpherson|Barrie|2002|p=271}}{{sfn|Moore|1981|p=171}} The vessel was based at Brest, France and then Diego Suarez in 1972.{{cite web |url=https://museemaritime.nc/fortunesdemer/epaves/11-la-dieppoise |title=La Dieppoise |publisher=Association Fortunes de Mer Calédoniennes |language=fr |access-date=20 September 2024}} She served as a minesweeper until 1973 when the minesweeping gear was removed and she transferred to the Pacific for duty as an overseas territories patrol vessel.{{sfn|Moore|1981|p=171}} The ship was transferred to Nouméa on 29 June 1976, where La Dieppoise remained for the rest of her career. She was paid off 9 July 1987 and stricken later that year.{{sfn|Colledge|Warlow|2006|p=130}} The last wooden minesweeper in French service, the ship was selected for use as an artificial reef and recreational diving site with Nouméa's lagoon. Initially planned to be sunk on 12 January 1988, the event was postponed due to the arrival of Cyclone Anne until 19 January. The vessel was towed out into the lagoon by the tugboat Le Pivert and successfully sunk on 19 January.
References
=Notes=
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=Citations=
{{reflist|30em}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book |last=Arbuckle |first=J. Graeme |year=1987 |title=Badges of the Canadian Navy |publisher=Nimbus Publishing |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |isbn=0-920852-49-1}}
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book |editor-last1=Gardiner |editor-first1=Robert |editor-last2=Chumbley |editor-first2=Stephen |editor-last3=Budzbon |editor-first3=Przemysław |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-55750-132-7}}
- {{cite book |last1=Macpherson |first1=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |name-list-style=amp |year=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 |editor-first=John |editor-last=Moore |year=1981 |title=Jane's Fighting Ships, 1981–1982 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=New York |isbn=0-531-03977-3}}
{{Bay class minesweeper}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaleur (MCB 144), HMCS}}
Category:Bay-class minesweepers
Category:Ships built in Thunder Bay
Category:Cold War minesweepers of Canada
Category:Bay-class minesweepers of the French Navy