HMCS Lachine

There has been only one vessel named Lachine in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Lachine (J266)

The Lachine 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 Québec City, Quebec, on June 20, 1942, Lachine arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on July 4 and was assigned to Sydney Force in September. The next month, she transferred to Western Local Escort Force and in June 1943 became a member of Escort Group W-6, one of the force’s newly created escort groups. She served with Halifax Force from June 1944 until Victory in Europe-Day. 

During the war, Lachine underwent 2 refits: the first at Dalhousie, New Brunswick, from October to November 1943; the second at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, from December 1944 to March 1945, which was followed by work-ups in Bermuda.

On July 31, 1945, she was paid off at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. An intended transfer to the marine section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as Starnes did not materialize, and Lachine was sold in 1945 for conversion to a salvage tug.

  • Builder: Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec
  • Laid down: December 27, 1940
  • Launched: June 14, 1941
  • Date commissioned: June 20, 1942
  • Date paid off: July 31, 1945
  • Displacement: 592 tons
  • Dimensions: 49.4 m x 8.5 m x 2.5 m
  • Speed: 16 knots
  • Crew: 83
  • Armament: one 12-pound (5.45 kg) gun, four 20-mm guns (1 double mount, 2 single mounts) and depth charges.

Battle honours

  • Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942
  • Atlantic 1942-1945

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