HMCS FORTUNE

In the six years 1951 to 1957, twenty minesweepers of the “Bay” Class were launched from various Canadian shipyards for service in the Royal Canadian Navy. [1] One of these was Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship FORTUNE who took to the water for the first time in the harbour of Victoria, British Columbia.  The launch took place from the yard of Victoria Machinery Depot Co. Ltd. on 14 April, 1953.  (Her keel had been laid the year before on 24 April, 1952, immediately after the launch on that day of HMCS COMOX, a ship of the same class.)

The launching ceremony was graciously sponsored by Mrs. Spencer, wife of Commodore (E) B. R. Spencer, CD, RCN, and in the course of events that day the Commodore briefly outlined the vital role in battle of these “little, unglamorous sweepers”.  Commodore K. L. Dyer, DSC, CD, RCN, of HMCS NADEN was there, as were Mayor Claude Harrison of Victoria and representatives of the shipping interests of Victoria and Esquimalt.

Built largely of wood and aluminum to reduce magnetic signature, these ships were designed to cope with the complexities of modern mine warfare.  Their small tonnage, high speed and power, their light draught and the nature of the materials used in their construction and equipment, all contributed to their ability to sweep or neutralize not only the standard moored, contact mine, but also the acoustic and magnetic mines as well.

The hull design is largely based on that of the “Coniston” Class minesweepers of the Royal Navy which design in turn was the result of experience with motor minesweepers used during the Second World War.  The lead-ship of the “Coniston” Class was accepted for service in 1953, the same year as the lead-ship of the Canadian “Bay” Class, HMCS GASPÉ.

The ships of the “Bay” Class displace 390 tons and, when fully manned and stored, 412 tons.  Length overall is 152 feet with a 28-foot beam and at the stern these vessels draw 7½ feet of water.  Two General Motors V-12 cylinder motors drive twin shafts, develop 2400 horse-power and give a maximum speed of 16 knots.  At 11 knots they can steam 4500 nautical miles; fuel capacity is 52 tons of oil.  Gun armament is a single 40 m.m. Bofors gun and each ship’s complement is three officers and thirty-five men.

HMCS FORTUNE is named for Fortune Bay, a large indentation on the south coast of Newfoundland separated from Placentia Bay by Burin Peninsula.  The French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon are just off the entrance to Fortune Bay.  Some say the bay was named by early Portuguese fisherman either in reference to the rich fishery catch or perhaps to an early vessel that sought haven there.  It is also quite possible that it received its name just as other geographical features have been named “Desolation” and “Despair”.

The battle honours displayed by this ship give some indication of the proud record of the many FORTUNES that have served the sovereign down through the centuries.  No less than twenty-two ships of war have borne this name, the first being a ship of Henry VIII’s fleet built in 1522, and the last a destroyer of 1934 that was recommissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1943 as HMCS SASKATCHEWAN.  The battle honours officially awarded to the name FORTUNE are:

• ARMADA –  1588
• PORTLAND – 1653
• GABBARD – 1653
• ORFORDNESS – 1666
• JUTLAND – 1916
• ATLANTIC  – 1939
• NORTH SEA – 1940
• MALTA CONVOYS – 1941-42.

The badge of HMCS FORTUNE contains a device from ancient Persia, that of the “Sallack” or lucky genius.  On a background representing the sea is a gold-edged black disc containing a golden triangle on each side of which is fixed a silver wing.  The blazon reads: “Barry wavy of ten Argent and Azure, a roundel Sable, edged Or, upon which an equilateral triangle Or from each side of which a wing Argent, the wings counter-clockwise.”  Based on the badge, the ship’s colours are gold and black, and the motto approved for the FORTUNE is “Faveat” which may be rendered as “MAY SHE PROTECT”.

HMCS FORTUNE joined the Fleet in the autumn of 1954, a time at Esquimalt when there was considerable unusual activity in the Pacific Command.  Vice-Admiral Mainguy, the Chief of the Naval Staff had opened HMCS VENTURE in October, and both the LABRADOR and MAGNIFICENT were under the orders of the Flag Officer Pacific Coast, Rear-Admiral J. C. Hibbard, DSC, CD, RCN.  In November, the SIOUX left for service in Korean waters and in December there was a flurry of excitement when ships and aircraft were despatched to assist HMCS CEDARWOOD who came very close to foundering in a gale in Queen Charlotte Sound.

As stated, the FORTUNE had been launched in April, 1953, and by the fall of that year, owing to a man-power shortage in the Navy, there was some doubt as to just when the ship would commission.  A year later, the months of September and October were taken up with builder’s trials conducted at a leisurely pace.  In due course, the ship was accepted by the Navy’s technical experts and on 3 November, 1954, in HMC Dockyard, Esquimalt, MCB-151 [2] named HMCS FORTUNE was commissioned with the hoisting of the White Ensign and immediately came under the orders of the Commander, Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron.  It was a simple ceremony, attended by Rear-Admiral Hibbard and by the Squadron’s Senior Officer, Commander J. V. Steele, GM, CD, RCN.

Six days later, on 9 November, the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron consisting of the COMOX, JAMES BAY and the newcomer, FORTUNE, proceeded to sea and swept ahead of the departing aircraft carrier, HMCS MAGNIFICENT, as far as Cape Beale.  Once detached from that duty, the three little ships headed for the Alberni Canal and during the ensuing visit to the twin communities at the canal head, participated in Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Back at Esquimalt, the ship was released to work up independently and this was done largely in the Bedwell Harbour area.  Every piece of gear in the FORTUNE was thoroughly tested and the results were excellent.  However, as often happens on that coast in November, the weather left much to be desired and as a result there was little recreation ashore, but the television set that had been presented to the ship’s company by the builders made the off-watch hours quite agreeable.  This was followed in December by Squadron “work-ups” and again Bedwell Harbour was the training area.  There and in more distant waters began a long, long series of training exercises designed to bring the minesweepers to the peak of efficiency.

Because the “Bay” Class minesweepers have a single, specialized function, minesweeping, it is only natural that the activities of the Second Minesweeping Squadron throughout the ten years of its life should develop into a fairly uniform annual pattern.  Like all ships, periods of long refit came round regularly as did the shorter spells in harbour for self-maintenance.  But because these ships are small they were often employed “showing the flag” in tiny out-of-the-way outports that had never or seldom seen a naval ship.

Like all ships there were constant changes of officers and men and this required a steady programme of exercises and practices to keep the Squadron in top form.  The operational areas chosen for training reflect the differences in depths of water, tidal conditions, nature of sea-bottoms and coastal contours found along Canada’s west coast.

Most of the Squadron’s sea-training was done in four operational areas:  the Southern Area working out of Esquimalt; the Middle Area, usually operating in the Gulf of Georgia from Patricia Bay; the Ocean Area, off the west coast of Vancouver Island; and the Northern Area base on Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlottes.

However, almost every year the Second Minesweeping Squadron steamed to more distant waters, away up to Juneau in Alaska and quite often down to San Diego in California.  The forays into southern waters were usually to participate in large-scale operations of the Mine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.  Similar though smaller exercises were conducted in the Oyster Bay area of Vancouver Island.

All was not work, though; every year there were guard-ship duties in connection with the sailing classic known as the “Swiftsure Race”.  And every year “Navy Week” was celebrated at Esquimalt and Victoria.  Every opportunity was grasped, too, to provide minesweeping training to the officers and men of the Naval Reserve and to convey Sea Cadets to sea from HMCS QUADRA at Comox.

For the FORTUNE there was almost always a special highlight of the year.  In 1955 with much exercising in the Prince Rupert-Kitimat-Kemano area, there was also good salmon fishing in Lowe Inlet.  Late in the same year came the challenging pace set in the big mine warfare Operation “Pactraex” off southern California.

In 1956 it was the circumnavigation of Vancouver Island and, perhaps, the unorthodox seamanship occasionally employed in such small ships, like berthing for the night in some deep-water fiord such as Knight Inlet, the stern secured to handy trees on the rock-bound shore.

It was in 1957 that HMCS FORTUNE became senior ship of the Squadron, a duty she fulfilled admirably until the group was disbanded seven years later.  There were many sights and experiences to remember that year: Operation “Ski Jump” off San Diego in January; bucking the ice in the Columbia River, bound for Portland; minesweeping exercises in Oyster Bay, Vancouver Island; and the arrival of the two new ships MIRAMICHI and COWICHAN to join the Squadron late in the year.

There were long cruises to Juneau and Ketchikan in Alaska in 1958 and British Columbia centennial celebrations at Bella Coola and Kitimat, and in Howe Sound, as well as the long to be remembered negotiation of the 50 miles of the Fraser River to Mission City.

In 1959 an over-zealous gunnery rating managed to put a neat hole in the FORTUNE’s own ensign, an aperture that fitted precisely a 40 m.m. shell.  In May while engaged in a mammoth amphibious assault exercise in the San Diego area, it was something new and a bit alarming for the “Fortunes” to see squadrons of helicopters, underslung with jeeps and road-graders, streaking for the beaches at almost masthead altitude.  Without doubt, the most colorful event of the year was the visit of HM the Queen in July for the presentation of her Colour to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, for which the fleet provided a spectacular back-drop.

Twice during 1960, HMCS FORTUNE and the rest of the Second Minesweeping Squadron had the good fortune to navigate the ship canal that extends eighty miles inland to Stockton, California, where on each occasion the ship’s companies were entertained with almost overwhelming hospitality.  In April there was Operation “Vanity Fair” out of Long Beach, California, a very comprehensive series of exercises with the Mine Force, US Pacific Fleet.  In May there was the honour of being inspected at sea by the Flag Officer Pacific Coast, Rear-Admiral H. S. Rayner, DSC and Bar, CD, RCN, and then in the fall, in November, there was a “nip and tuck” situation when the FORTUNE managed to get into Coos Bay, Oregon, and out again, in very foul weather, in order to land a seriously ill seaman.

Operation “Green Light” overshadowed everything else in 1961.  This amphibious operation in which the squadron had a small but important part, sweeping the approaches to the landing, involved 40,000 men, 58 ships and 68 helicopters.

The years 1962 and 1963 followed similar patterns with emphasis on minesweeping “work-ups” and training exercises in the four areas off Canada’s west coast designated for the purpose, cruises in Queen Charlotte and Alaskan waters and the rapid-pace, long-scale operations in the Long Beach – San Diego area.

Early in 1964, sweeping changes in defence policy were made and, included in these, was the decision to discontinue active minesweeping as one of the defence of Canada measures for which the Royal Canadian Navy had up to this time been responsible.  With a view to cutting down on operational expenses the government announced on 8 January, 1964, through the press, that as “minesweeping is not considered to be a high-priority task in relation to anti-submarine warfare”, all minesweepers on both coasts were to be quickly paid off.

HMCS FORTUNE, together with the rest of the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron, was paid off into Reserve Category “C”, that is “cold”, completely destored and all machinery placed in a state of preservation.  This event took place at Esquimalt on 28 February, 1964.

COMMANDING OFFICERS – HMCS FORTUNE

Commissioned at Esquimalt, 3 November, 1954.
Paid off to Reserve Fleet at Esquimalt, 28 February, 1964.

• 3 November, 1954 to 23 August, 1955
  Lieutenant-Commander J. B. Young, CD, RCN
• 24 August, 1955 to 21 March, 1957
  Lieutenant-Commander P. R. Hinton, RCN
• 22 March, 1957 to 13 August, 1957
  Lieutenant-Commander C. G. Smith, CD, RCN
• 14 August, 1957 to 15 February, 1959
  Lieutenant-Commander (TAS) S. G. Moore, CD, RCN
• 16 February, 1959 to 9 January, 1962
  Lieutenant-Commander D. M. Waters, CD, RCN
• 10 January, 1962 to 28 February, 1964
  Lieutenant-Commander A. B. Torrie, CD, RCN.