HMCS Esquimalt

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|0}} standard and {{convert|690|LT|t|0}} 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. Esquimalt 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|0}} 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.

Esquimalt was ordered as part of the 1940–41 building programme. The minesweeper's keel was laid down on 20 December 1940 by Marine Industries Ltd. at Sorel, Quebec. The ship was launched on 8 August 1941 and was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 26 October 1942 at Sorel with the pennant number J272.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 186

After arriving at Halifax in November 1942, Esquimalt required constant attention by the dockyard as the vessel had a series of mechanical problems, undergoing two periods of repair in March and May 1943. She was then assigned to Newfoundland Force for local patrol duties. In September 1944 she transferred to the Halifax Local Defence Force.

Late that month, Esquimalt underwent a three-month refit at Halifax. She returned to duty with the Halifax Local Defence Force and remained with them until 16 April 1945. On that day, she was torpedoed and sunk a few miles off Chebucto Head, Nova Scotia by {{GS|U-190||2}}, becoming the last Canadian warship lost to enemy action in the war.{{cite web |url=http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/resource_pages/ships/esquimalt.html |title=Within Sight of Shore – The Sinking of HMCS Esquimalt |work=CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum |last=Fisher |first=Robert C. |year=2011 |access-date=30 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131123215117/http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/resource_pages/ships/esquimalt.html |archive-date=23 November 2013 }}Schull, p. 397

File:HMCS Esquimalt memorial plaque CFB Halifax.jpg]]

On the evening of 15 April 1945, Esquimalt sailed from Halifax to go on an anti-submarine patrol in the harbour approaches and then to rendezvous with {{HMCS|Sarnia|J309|6}}.{{cite news |last1=Bowers |first1=Alex |title=The U-Boat Menace Returns: HMCS Esquimalt Sunk in Canadian Waters |url=https://legionmagazine.com/the-u-boat-menace-returns-hmcs-esquimalt-sunk-in-canadian-waters/ |access-date=16 May 2024 |work=Legion Magazine |publisher=Canvet Publications Ltd. |date=17 April 2024}} She was employing none of the mandatory anti-submarine precautions: she was not zig-zagging; she had not streamed her towed Foxer-type decoy, designed as a countermeasure against GNAT torpedoes; she had turned off her radar. In the early morning of 16 April she was attacked by U-190, a German U-boat that had been operating around Halifax since early April.Darlington and McKee, pp. 220–223 U-190{{'}}s torpedo struck Esquimalt{{'}}s starboard side engine room with the explosion knocking out the onboard power instantly, preventing any distress signal being sent. She started to list heavily to starboard pushing the lifeboat under water, but the crew managed to get four Carley floats clear of the ship. Esquimalt sank in less than five minutes. Because of the lack of distress calls or signals from Esquimalt, and the unfortunate timing of the attack itself, any rescue effort was substantially delayed which resulted in many men losing their lives to exposure. The crew was adrift on the Carley floats in frigid waters with only light clothing for about six hours. Forty-four men died from exposure, eight died in the sinking, leaving 26 survivors.Schull, p. 398{{efn|name=casualties}} The remaining crew members were rescued with the arrival of Sarnia, who unsuccessfully attacked U-190 after making contact with the submarine.Schull, p. 404 Two Fairmile B motor launches later sent to patrol the area of the sinking depth charged the wreck of Esquimalt, mistakenly believing it to be a submarine.

• List of ships of the Canadian Navy
• History of the Royal Canadian Navy

{{notelist

| notes =

{{efn

| name = gun nomenclature

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

}}

{{efn

| name=casualties

| Fisher claims forty-four men died from the sinking.

}}

}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{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 book |last1=Darlington |first1=Robert A. |last2=McKee |first2=Fraser |date=1996 |title=The Canadian Naval Chronicle 1939–1945: The Successes and Losses of the Canadian Navy in World War II |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-032-2}}
• {{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=Schull |first=Joseph |date=1961 |title=The Far Distant Ships: An Official Account of Canadian Naval Operations in the Second World War |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa|oclc=19974782}}
• {{cite book | last1 = Busch | first1 = Rainer | last2 = Röll | first2 = Hans-Joachim | translator-last = Brooks | translator-first = Geoffrey | title = German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary | publisher = Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press | location = London, Annapolis, Md | year = 1999 | isbn = 1-55750-186-6 }}
• {{cite book|last1=Gröner|first1=Erich|last2=Jung|first2=Dieter|last3=Maass|first3=Martin|translator-last1=Thomas|translator-first1=Keith|translator-last2=Magowan|translator-first2=Rachel|year=1991|title=U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels|volume=2|series=German Warships 1815–1945|location=London|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=0-85177-593-4

}}

{{Refbegin|2}}

• [http://www.familyheritage.ca/Articles/esquimalt1.html Naval History.ca]
• [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww2/bangor/ Haze Gray and Underway]
• [http://www.readyayeready.com/ships/shipview.php?id=1127&ship=ESQUIMALT ReadyAyeReady.com]
• [http://members.shaw.ca/jollytar/WW2%20Ship%20Losses/Esquimalt.htm List of casualties]
• {{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2681.html |title=HMCS Esquimalt (J272) |work=uboat.net}}

{{Refend}}

{{coord|44|28|N|63|10|W|display=title}}

{{Bangor class minesweeper}}

{{April 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquimalt (J272)}}

Category:Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy

Category:Ships built in Sorel-Tracy

Category:1941 ships

Category:World War II minesweepers of Canada

Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

Category:Maritime incidents in April 1945