HMCS GANANOQUE J259 / 184

 

Bangor Class Minesweeper

 

 

HMCS GANANOQUE J259

 

Laid down: 15 Jan 1941

Launched: 23 Apr 1941

Commissioned: 08 Nov 1941

Paid off: 13 Oct 1945

Re-acquired by RCN: 1952

Fate: Sold for scrap in Feb 1959

 

Built at Toronto, she was commissioned there on 08 Nov 1941. GANANOQUE arrived at Halifax on 23 Nov 1941. She was assigned to Halifax Local Defence Force and subsequently for brief periods to Halifax Force, St. John's Local Defence Force, Gulf Escort Force, and Sydney Force. In Jan 1943, she was assigned to WLEF, returning to Halifax Force in Jul 1943, and to Sydney Force once again in May 1944. During this period she had the distinction of twice refitting at other than Atlantic coast ports: in May 1943, she underwent a six-week refit at Quebec City, and in Jul 1944, an eight-week refit at Charlottetown. In Feb 1945, she was allocated to Newfoundland Force, based at St. John's, until the force was disbanded in Jun 1945, whereupon she went to Atlantic Coast Command. GANANOQUE was paid off at Sydney on 13 Oct 1945, and laid up at Shelburne. Placed in strategic reserve at Sorel in 1946, she was re-acquired by the RCN in 1952 but not re-commissioned, and in Feb 1959, she was sold for scrap.

 

 

Photos and Documents

 

 

Commanding Officers

 

Lt Edward Middlemas More, RCNR - 10 Apr 1941 / 08 Nov 1941 - 15 Mar 1943

LCdr William Woods, RCNR - 16 Mar 1943 - 28 Mar 1943

Skpr/Lt Ernest S.N. Pleasance, RCNR - 29 Mar 1943 - 02 Nov 1943

Skpr/Lt J.B. Cooper, RCNR - 03 Nov 1943 - 27 Nov 1943

Skpr/Lt Ernest S. N. Pleasance, RCNR - 28 Nov 1943 - 24 May 1944

LCdr Andrew Paule Duke, RCNVR - 25 May 1944 - 23 Jun 1945

Lt George Enderby Cross, RCNVR - 24 Jun 1945 - 10 Aug 1945

 

 

     In memory of those who have crossed the bar    

They shall not be forgotten

 

 

 

Former Crew Members

 

Belyea, Richard Montague, SLt, RCNVR - 21 Jun 1942

 

Blacklock, George, SLt (E), RCNVR - 08 Feb 1943

 

Conway, Michael, AB, RCNVR - 1944 (of Edmonton, AB)

 

Dunsford, David, AB, RCNVR - 1944 (of Peterborough, ON)

 

Farley, Norman, Stoker

 

Howard, Herald Clifford, SLt, RCNVR - 21 Feb 1944

 

Lowe, Stanley Cathcard, Lt (E), RCNVR - 10 Feb 1945

 

MacPherson, Glen Atwood, Lt, RCNVR - 26 Jul 1943

Mowatt, W., S/PO, RCNVR - 1944 (of Hamilton, ON)

 

Parker, Edmund Norval, SLt (E), RCNVR - 01 Mar 1944

 

Salmon, Kenneth Waterbury, SLt (E), RCNVR - 17 Jul 1942

 

Scarffe, John Howard, SLt, RCNVR - 25 Apr 1945

 

Scott, Harry James Alexander, Lt (E), RCNVR - 10 May 1945

 

Thompson, G.B., EA, RCNVR - 1944 (of Halifax, NS)

 

Whiteley, E.S., S/PO, RCNVR - 1944 (of Flin Flon, MB)

 

 

Photos and Documents

 

HMCS GANANOQUE J259 "Under the White Ensign"

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Two sailors and the ship's mascot on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

R & R on the sweepdeck of HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Quartermaster or Bos'n's Mate making a pipe on the Bos'n's call on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Crew target shooting on the sweepdeck of HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

 

   

 

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Sailors on the sweepdeck of HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Scrubbing the deck on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Jacking around while scrubbing the deck on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

unknown sailor on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

unknown sailor on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

HMCS GANANOQUE J259, Starboard side looking aft

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

The fo'c's'le of HMCS GANANOQUE J259. Photo taken from the crows nest

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Unknown sailors on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Unknown sailor by the gun mount on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Unknown sailor in the crows nest on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

    Unknown sailor up the stick (mast) on HMCS GANANOQUE J259

circa Jan - Mar 1943

From the collection of Joseph Henri Lionel Forget

Courtesy of Johnny Forget

Article on HMCS GANANOQUE crew donating blood

 

S/PO W. Mowatt, S/PO E.S. Whiteley, AB Michael Conway, AB David Dunsford, EA G.B. Thompson and Wren SBA Audrey Hill

 

Crow's Nest newspaper - Apr 1944

HMCS GANANOQUE's crew holds blood donor record

Crow's Nest newspaper - Apr 1944

HMCS GANANOQUE J259

 

DND / RCN Photo - Crown Copyright

 

HMCS GANANOQUE J259

 

"I would like them to come and take a ride on my boat in winter, they would really see what comfort is, you should have seen the boat today ... it was a real monument of ice - I have never seen anything like this - we had to use picks and axes when we came to dock in order to make holes to pass our moorings", Pierre Boutin, RCNVR, December 20, 1942.

 

Credit: P19 Fonds Emeril Blais, Collection Musée naval de Québec / Naval Museum of Québec

 

 

 

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