James Scot MacLachlan

Signalman, V11388, RCNVR

Died: 1979 age 60

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The Great West Coast Sweeper Race

I’ll tell you all a story,
A saga of the sea - 
Of a sweeper of the Bangor class,

Called the Mirimachi.

’Twas on a Tuesday morning,
An airforce plane was down - 
No time to waste, we must make haste,

For fear the “pigeons” down.

About a mile ahead of us,
Was the sweeper the “Bellechasse.”
We did our best to catch her - 
But, she would not let us pass.

We passed the Triple Island light - 
A cable’s length astern - 
The race was not then over,

As we were soon to learn.

Their light it flashed, derisive like - 
“Can you not stand the pace”?
We answered “We can hold our own

We yet can win this race.”

The stokers then used every trick,
To make the steam rise high,
Until the safeties in protest - 
Spewed up toward the sky.

The oilers spouted oil around,

With energy galore,
The E.R.A. on watch did check,
The revs at two two four.

A mist came down to greet us,
As we stormed up Hecate Strait,
While we still held our own with her,
The pace was really great.

A cheer went up from our good Ship,
The “Bellechasse” had blown,
And at last, we came up fast,
To come into our own.

And now the pace was telling,
On the “Bellechasse’s” fight,
And we began to edge ahead,
Although the race was tight.

We won the race right handy -
A mile or so away
The “Bellechasse” followed in our wake,
Too slow to win the day.

The fastest sweeper on the coast,
A credit to the sea,
Is the sturdy little sweeper
The we call the “Mirimachi”

Pacific Coast, 1942

Sequel to the Great West Coast Sweeper Race

There’s a sequel to the story,
Of the good ship “Mirimichi”
And how she licked the “Bellechasse”
That day in open sea

We’re offering no alibis
The race was fairly won.
The conditions were no quite the same,
The ships were not as one.

Right out of dry dock came the “M”,
Bottom as clean as could be,
While the “Bellechasse” suffered handicap,
Through six long months at sea.

The same firm built the vessels,

both “Bellechasse” and “Mirimichi”,
The “M” was out a month ahead,
Of the ship that start with “B”.

When on trials from Burrards,
The “M” made seventeen-four,
While the Bellechasse strive as hard she might,
Made sixteen-eight, no more.

There’s devious tricks that engineers,
Can use to raise the speed - 
One it to screw down the safety valve,

But that’s a final deed.

One of these days, “Mirimichi”,
In race we’ll meet again,
In condition such as you are now,
And may the best ship win.

Pacific Coast, 1942 Chief E.R.A. Brown.