HMCS Fortune

HMCS Fortune was a Bay-class minesweeper built for the Royal Canadian Navy. Named for Fortune Bay, located in Newfoundland, the vessel served in the Royal Canadian Navy for ten years before being sold for commercial purposes. Renamed MV Edgewater Fortune she saw service as a commercial yacht.

History
Canada
Name: Fortune
Namesake: Fortune Bay
Builder: Victoria Machinery Depot, Victoria
Yard number: 56
Laid down: 24 April 1952
Launched: 14 April 1953
Commissioned: 3 November 1954
Decommissioned: 28 February 1964
Identification:
Fate: Sold into mercantile service. Refitted as charter yacht MV Edgewater Fortune.
Badge: Barry wavy of ten argent and azure, a rounded sable, edged or, upon which an equilateral triangle or from each side of which a wind argent the wings counter-clockwise[1]
General characteristics
Class and type: Bay-class minesweeper
Displacement:
  • 390 long tons (400 t)
  • 412 long tons (419 t) (deep load)
Length: 152 ft (46 m)
Beam: 28 ft (8.5 m)
Draught: 8 ft (2.4 m)
Propulsion: 2 shafts, 2 GM 12-cylinder diesels, 2,400 bhp (1,800 kW)
Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement: 38
Armament: 1 × Bofors 40 mm gun

Design

The Bay class were designed and ordered as replacements for the Second World War-era minesweepers that the Royal Canadian Navy operated at the time. Similar to the Ton-class minesweeper, they were constructed of wood planking and aluminum framing.[2][3]

Displacing 390 long tons (400 t) and 412 long tons (419 t) at deep load, the minesweepers were 152 ft (46 m) long with a beam of 28 ft (8.5 m) and a draught of 8 ft (2.4 m).[2][3] They had a complement of 38 officers and ratings.[2][note 1] The Bay-class minesweepers were powered by two GM 12-cylinder diesel engines driving two shafts creating 2,400 brake horsepower (1,800 kW). This gave the ships a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).[3] The ships were armed with one Bofors 40 mm gun and were equipped with minesweeping gear.[4][2][3]

Service

Initially named Belle Isle,[5] Fortune was laid down on 24 April 1952 by Victoria Machinery Depot at Victoria with the yard number 51 and launched on 14 April 1953.[6][7] The minesweeper was commissioned on 3 November 1954[4] with the hull identification number 151.[6]

Fortune joined the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron after commissioning. In November 1955, the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron was among the Canadian units that took part in one of the largest naval exercises since the Second World War off the coast of California.[8]

After nine years of naval service, including acting as the flagship of the Second Canadian Minesweeping Squadron during the Cuban Missile Crisis,[9] Fortune was decommissioned on 28 February 1964.[4] Put up for auction by the Crown Assets Corporation,[10] the ship was then sold into mercantile service. She was initially known as Greenpeace Two and used in an unsuccessful attempt to stop nuclear testing in the Aleutians in November 1971.[6] The vessel was then refitted as the charter yacht MV Edgewater Fortune[4][11] and was used for short cruises along the coast of British Columbia. She was also occasionally used for fishing, and for school trips to learn about the wildlife on the coast and in the water. Subsequently, the ship was turned into a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) floating home in Vancouver.[12]

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References

Notes
  1. Gardiner and Chumbley claim the complement was 40.

Citations
  1. Arbuckle, p. 39
  2. Macpherson and Barrie, p. 271.
  3. Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 49.
  4. "Bay class (MM/PB) Minesweeper/Patrol Boat". Hazegrey.org. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  5. Colledge, p. 245
  6. Macpherson and Barrie, p. 273.
  7. "Fortune (6123317)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  8. "Biggest West Coast Exercises Held". The Crowsnest. Vol. 8 no. 2. Ottawa: Queen's Printer. December 1955. pp. 2–3.
  9. Haydon (1993), p. 272
  10. "Canadian Shipping and Marine Engineering News". 37. Toronto: Maclean Publishers. 1965: 31. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Canadian News Facts". 5–6. Toronto: Marpep Publishing. 1971: 719. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. "In Pictures: Waterfront property: Former Navy vessel for sale as a floating home". CTV News. Retrieved 6 July 2016.

Bibliography
  • Arbuckle, J. Graeme (1987). Badges of the Canadian Navy. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 0-920852-49-1.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław, eds. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  • Haydon, Peter Trevor (1993). The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: Canadian Involvement Reconsidered. Toronto: Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. ISBN 978-0-919769-64-9.
  • Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
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