HMCS Goderich

There has been only 1 vessel named Goderich in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Goderich (J260)

The Goderich was a Bangor Class minesweeper. The Bangor Class ships were built in order to replace the old Basset Class minesweepers, as they were larger, faster, had much greater endurance, and burned oil as opposed to coal. Most of the Bangors were named after Canadian towns and cities, the rest after bays.

As enemy mines were laid only once in 1943 in Canadian waters, the Bangors were used primarily as escorts to coastal shipping or as local escorts to ocean convoys. Sixteen of them, however, assisted in sweeping the approaches to Normandy before D-Day, and stayed to help clear German and Allied minefields in the Channel for some months afterward.

Commissioned at Toronto, Ontario on November 23, 1941, Goderich arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on December 6. She spent her whole career based at Halifax as a member, alternately, of Halifax Local Defence Force and Halifax Force.

She was damaged on November 18, 1942, in a collision with the tanker Iocoma in Halifax harbour, which necessitated 3 weeks’ repairs there. Goderich saw almost continuous service, undergoing only 1 major refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia from March 5, to May 15, 1943.

On January 29, 1943, she rescued survivors from the after section of the United States tanker Brilliant, which had broken in half during a storm. She was paid off at Halifax on November 6, 1945 and, in 1946, placed in strategic reserve at Sorel, Quebec. In 1951, she was reacquired by the Royal Canadian Navy and underwent modernization at Lauzon, Quebec. Never re-commissioned, however, Goderich lay in reserve at Sydney, Nova Scotia, until sold in February 1959 for scrap.

  • Displacement: 672 tons
  • Dimensions: 54.9 m x 8.7 m x 2.5 m
  • Speed: 16 knots
  • Crew: 83
  • Armament: one 4-inch (102-mm) gun, four 20-mm guns (4 single mounts), and depth charges.

Battle honours

  • Atlantic 1942-45

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