HMCS Digby

The Bangor class was initially to be a scaled down minesweeper design of the {{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper|4}} in Royal Navy service.Brown, p. 124Chesneau (1980), p. 61 However, due to the difficulty procuring diesel engines led to the small number of the diesel version being completed. The ships displaced {{convert|592|LT|t}} standard and {{convert|690|LT|t}} fully loaded. They were {{convert|162|ft|m|1}} long with a beam of {{convert|28|ft|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|8|ft|3|in|m|2}}.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 185 However, the size of the ship led to criticisms of their being too cramped for magnetic or acoustic minesweeping gear. This may have been due to all the additions made during the war with the installation of ASDIC, radar and depth charges.

The Bangor class came in two versions. Digby 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. The vessels had a complement of 6 officers and 77 ratings.

The Canadian diesel-powered Bangors were armed with a single quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt gun mounted forward.{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} Initially the design called for a {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} gun, however these were replaced with 12-pounder guns. The ships were also fitted with a QF 2-pounder Mark VIII gun aft and were eventually fitted with single-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns on the bridge wings.Macpherson (1997), p. 58 For those ships assigned to convoy duty, they were armed with two depth charge launchers and two chutes to deploy the 40 depth charges they carried.

Digby was ordered as part of the 1940–41 building programme. The minesweeper's keel was laid down on 20 March 1941 by Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd. at Lauzon, Quebec and the ship was launched on 5 June 1942.{{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2680.html |title=HMCS Digby (J267) |work=uboat.net |access-date=31 May 2014}} She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 26 July 1942 at Quebec City.

After working up at Pictou, Digby joined the Western Local Escort Force (WLEF). In January 1943 WLEF organized escort groups. Digby was assigned to 24.18.1 alongside the corvettes {{HMCS|Arrowhead|K145|2}} and {{HMCS|Chicoutimi|K156|2}}.Rohwer, p. 222 In June 1943, when WLEF reorganized their escort groups, she was assigned to escort group W-5. She remained with the group until April 1944 when a refit was required, to be performed at Lunenburg. The refit was completed at Halifax and upon returning from workups in Bermuda, she was assigned to Sydney Force.

In February 1945, Digby was assigned to Newfoundland Force until returning to Canada and being paid off on 31 July 1945. She was placed in reserve at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. After the war Digby was offered for transfer to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Marine Section, to be renamed Perry. However, the takeover did not take place.Colledge, p. 186 The vessel was taken to Sorel to lay in strategic reserve until 1951, when she was reacquired by the Royal Canadian Navy. She was refitted for training duties.

Digby was recommissioned on 29 April 1953 with the new pennant number 179. The ship was refit before reentering service, receiving a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar and the 12-pounder gun was removed and replaced with a 40 mm Bofors gun. She was used, along with {{HMCS|Granby|J264|6}}, in 1953 on Lake Ontario to test the Royal Canadian Navy's DATAR system.{{cite book|title=Ferranti-Packard: Pioneers in Canadian Electrical Manufacturing |url=https://archive.org/details/ferrantipackardp0000ball |url-access=registration |first1=Norman R. |last1=Ball |first2=John N. |last2=Vardalas |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |year=1993|isbn=9780773509832 }} In October 1954 Digby transferred to the west coast with {{HMCS|Brockville|J270|2}} and {{HMCS|Jonquiere|K318|2}}.{{cite magazine |title=Three Ships Go to West Coast |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa|date=October 1954 |volume=6 |number=12 |pages=2}} On 4 December 1955, Brockville, Digby and {{HMCS|Cordova||2}} formed the Second Canadian Reserve Squadron for training purposes at Esquimalt.{{cite magazine |title=Reserve Squadron Being Formed |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa |date=December 1954 |volume=7 |number=2 |pages=3}}{{cite magazine |title=Two New Squadrons for Pacific Command |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa |date=February 1955 |volume=7 |number=4 |pages=2–3}}

She was paid off on 14 November 1956 and sold for scrap. Digby was broken up in 1956–57.{{csr|register=MSI|id=6112956|shipname=Digby|access-date=5 August 2016}}

• List of ships of the Canadian Navy

{{notes

| notes =

{{efn

| name = gun nomenclature

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

}}

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Arbuckle |first=J. Graeme |date=1987 |title=Badges of the Canadian Navy |publisher=Nimbus Publishing |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |isbn=0-920852-49-1}}
• {{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 |last1=Macpherson |first1=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}}
• {{cite book |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |date=2005 |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |edition=Revised & Expanded |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-119-2}}

• [http://www.readyayeready.com/cgi-bin/query/display.pl?index=1107 ReadyAyeReady.com]
• [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww2/bangor/ Haze Gray and Underway]

{{Bangor class minesweeper}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digby (J267)}}

Category:Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy

Category:Ships built in Lévis

Category:1942 ships

Category:World War II minesweepers of Canada