HMCS Swift Current: Difference between revisions

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{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}

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{{Infobox Shipship Careercareer

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|Ship country=Canada

|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}

|Ship name= ''Swift Current''

|Ship namesake=[[Swift Current]], [[Saskatchewan]]

|Ship ordered=

|Ship awarded=

|Ship builder= [[Canadian Vickers|Canadian Vickers Ltd.]], [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]]

|Ship original cost=

|Ship yard number=

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|Ship reinstated=

|Ship homeport=

|Ship identification= [[Pennant number]]: J254

|Ship motto=

|Ship nickname=

|Ship honours=[[Battle of the St. Lawrence|Gulf of St. Lawrence]] 1942<ref name=Gulf>{{cite web|title=Royal Canadian Warships that Participated in the Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence|url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|publisher=Veterans Affairs Canada|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=27 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927080617/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|url-status=dead}}</ref>

|Ship honours=

|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Turkish Navy]] 1958

|Ship notes=

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|Header caption=

|Ship class={{sclass-|Bangor|minesweeper|1|ship}}

|Ship displacement={{convert|672|LT|t|abbr=on}}

|Ship length={{convert|180|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|oa]]

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'''HMCS ''Swift Current''''' ([[Pennant number|pennant]] J254) was a {{sclass-|Bangor|minesweeper||ship}} that served with the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. Entering service in 1941, the warship used as a [[training ship]] and [[convoy]] escort and took part in the battles of the [[Battle of the Saint Lawrence|St. Lawrence]] and the [[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic]]. Following the war the ship was laid up until reacquired during the [[Korean War]]. Never re-entering service with Canada, ''Swift Current'' was sold to the [[Turkish Navy]] in 1958. Renamed '''''Bozcaada''''', the minesweeper was discarded in 1971.

==Design and description==

A British design, the ''Bangor''-class minesweepers were smaller than the preceding {{sclass-|Halcyon|minesweeper|1}}s in British service, but larger than the {{sclass-|Fundy|minesweeper|4}} in Canadian service.<ref name=chesneau>Chesneau, p. 64</ref><ref name=mac167>Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 167</ref> They came in two versions powered by different engines; those with a [[diesel engine]]s and those with [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|vertical triple-expansion steam]] engines.<ref name=chesneau/> ''Swift Current'' was the of the latter design and was larger than her diesel-engined cousins. The minesweeper was {{convert|180|ft|m|1}} [[Length overall|long overall]], had a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|28|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|9|ft|9|in|m|1}}.<ref name=chesneau/><ref name=mac180>Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 180</ref> ''Swift Current'' had a [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] of {{convert|672|LT|t}}. She had a complement of 6 officers and 77 enlisted.<ref name=mac180/>

''Swift Current'' had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two [[Admiralty three-drum boiler]]s. The engines produced a total of {{convert|2400|ihp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}}. The minesweeper could carry a maximum of {{convert|150|LT|t|0}} of [[fuel oil]].<ref name=chesneau/>

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==Operational history==

The minesweeper was ordered as part of the 1940-19411940–1941 construction programme.<ref name=mac46/> The ship's [[keel]] was laid down on 10 January 1941 by [[Canadian Vickers|Canadian Vickers Ltd]] at their yard in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]]. Named for a [[Swift Current|community]] in [[Saskatchewan]], ''Swift Current'' was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 29 May 1941. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 11 November 1941 at Montreal.<ref name=mac184>Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 184</ref>

Arriving at [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] on 24 November, the vessel was used as an [[anti-submarine warfare]] (ASW) [[training ship]] there until May 1942. That month, ''Swift Current'' sailed to [[Pictou, Nova Scotia]] to resume ASW training duties there. In February 1943, the minesweeper was sent back to Halifax to join Halifax Force, the patrol and escort unit based there. She remained as part of that unit until June when ''Swift Current'' joined Gaspé Force as a [[convoy]] escort in the [[Battle of the St. Lawrence]].<ref name=mac184/> In September 1943, ''Swift Current'' was among the warships deployed as part of the Canadian force to break up [[Operation Kiebitz]], the German plan to breakout [[prisoner of war]] [[U-boat]] captains from a camp in Canada.<ref>Sarty, p. 251</ref> ''Swift Current'' was among those sent to intercept the U-boat {{GS|U-536||2}} as it entered [[Chaleur Bay]] to rescue the prisoners. The submarine sighted the warships before entering the harbour and broke off the attempt before it could be intercepted.<ref>Douglas et al., ''A Blue Water Navy'', p. 96</ref>

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In November 1943, the minesweeper returned to Halifax Force and remained with the unit until undergoing a refit at [[Lunenburg, Nova Scotia]] in February 1944. Following the completion of the refit, ''Swift Current'' was transferred to Newfoundland Force, the patrol and escort force based in [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's, Newfoundland]] and remained with that group until June 1945. From June until October, the warship performed miscellaneous duties along the [[Atlantic Canada|Atlantic coast of Canada]].<ref name=mac184/>

''Swift Current'' was [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] on 23 October 1945 at [[Sydney, Nova Scotia]] and laid up at [[Shelburne, Nova Scotia]]. In 1946, the minesweeper was taken to [[Sorel, Quebec]] and placed in strategic reserve. Reacquired by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1951 during the [[Korean War]], the vessel was given the new [[Hull classification symbol (Canada)|hull number]] FSE 185 and re-designated a coastal escort.<ref name=mac184/><ref>Blackman, p. 99</ref> The warship never re-entered service and was sold to the [[Turkish Navy]] on 29 March 1958. Renamed ''Bozcaada'', the ship remained in service until 1971 when the ship was [[Ship breaking|broken up]] for scrap in Turkey.<ref>Colledge, p. 610</ref><ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6112431|shipname=Swift Current|accessdateaccess-date=5 November 2016}}</ref>

==References==

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===Sources===

* {{cite book |editor-last=Blackman |editor-first=Raymond V.B. |date=1953 |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1953—541953–54 |publisher= Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd |___location=London |isbnoclc=913556389 }}

* {{cite book |editor-last=Chesneau |editor-first=Roger |date=1980 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922—19461922–1946 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |___location=Greenwich, UK |isbn=0-85177-146-7}}

* {{colledgeCite Colledge2006}}

* {{cite book |lastlast1=Douglas |firstfirst1=W.A.B. |last2=Sarty |first2=Roger |last3=Whitby |first3=Michael |title=A Blue Water Navy: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1943-19451943–1945 Volume II, Part II |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |___location=St. Catharines, Ontario |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-55125-069-14}}

* {{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |date=1997 |title=Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy 1938—19451938–1945 |publisher=Vanwell Publishing Limited |___location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=0-920277-55-1}}

* {{cite book |lastlast1=Macpherson |firstfirst1=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910—2002 1910–2002 |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |___location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}

* {{cite book |last=Sarty |first=Roger |date=2012 |title=War in the St. Lawrence: The Forgotten U-Boat Battles on Canada's Shores |publisher=Penguin Group |___location=Toronto |isbn=978-0-670-06787-9}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift Current (J254)}}

[[Category:Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy]]

[[Category:Ships built in QuebecMontreal]]

[[Category:Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy]]

[[Category:1941 ships]]

[[Category:World War II minesweepers of Canada]]