HMCS Mimico (K485)

HMCS Mimico
History
Canada
Name: HMCS Mimico
Namesake: Mimico, Ontario
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
Ordered: 15 May 1942
Builder: John Crown & Sons Ltd. Sunderland
Laid down: 22 February 1943
Launched: 11 October 1943
Commissioned: 8 February 1944
Decommissioned: 18 July 1945
Identification: Pennant number: K485
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic 1945, English Channel 1945[1]
Fate: sold for commercial use
General characteristics
Class and type: Flower-class corvette (modified)
Displacement: 1,015 long tons (1,031 t; 1,137 short tons)
Length: 208 ft (63.40 m)o/a
Beam: 33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught: 11 ft (3.35 m)
Propulsion: single shaft, 2 × oil fired water tube boilers, 1 triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine, 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed: 16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range: 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement: 90
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • 1 × Type 271 SW2C radar
  • 1 × Type 144 sonar
Armament:
  • 1 × 4-inch (100 mm) BL Mk.IX single gun
  • 1 × 2-pounder Mk.VIII single "pom-pom"
  • 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon single
  • 1 × Hedgehog A/S mortar
  • 4 × Mk.II depth charge throwers
  • 2 depth charge rails with 70 depth charges

HMCS Mimico was a modified Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was originally laid down by the Royal Navy as the HMS Bullrush but was never commissioned into the RN, being transferred to the RCN before completion. She is named for Mimico, Ontario, a town that was eventually amalgamated into the larger city Toronto, Ontario.[2]

Background

Main article: Flower class corvette

Flower-class corvettes like Mimico serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.[3][4][5] The "corvette" designation was created by the French as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877.[6] During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design.[7] The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.[8]

Corvettes commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were named after communities for the most part, to better represent the people who took part in building them. This idea was put forth by Admiral Percy W. Nelles. Sponsors were commonly associated with the community for which the ship was named. Royal Navy corvettes were designed as open sea escorts, while Canadian corvettes were developed for coastal auxiliary roles which was exemplified by their minesweeping gear. Eventually the Canadian corvettes would be modified to allow them to perform better on the open seas.[9]

Construction

Bullrush was ordered 15 May 1942 as part of the Royal Navy 1942–43 Increased Endurance Flower-class building program. She was laid down 22 February 1943 by John Crown & Sons Ltd. at Sunderland and launched 11 October 1943 .[10] As part of an exchange for Algerine-class minesweepers that the RCN intended to use as convoy escorts, the Royal Navy transferred four Flower-class corvettes and twelve Castle-class corvettes to Canada in order to acquire them. Bullrush was transferred on 8 February 1944 and commissioned as HMCS Mimico into the RCN at Aberdeen.[11] The only significant differences between the RCN and RN 1942–43 Flower classes was a shortened mainmast and varying anti-aircraft armament.[9]

War service

HMCS Mimico in harbour

After working up at Stornoway, Mimico was assigned to Western Approaches Command out of Oban. She participated in Operation Neptune, the naval aspect of the invasion of Normandy. She arrived off the beaches one day after the invasion with the convoy she was escorting. She remained as a convoy escort in the English Channel after the invasion, transferring to Portsmouth Command in September 1944 and Nore Command in October.[11]

Mimico departed for a two-month refit in February 1945 at Chatham. After working up she returned to service with Nore Command and continued as such until May 1945, when she departed for Canada.[11]

Post-war service

Mimico was paid off at Sorel, Quebec 18 July 1945. She was transferred to the War Assets Corporation and sold for conversion to a whale-catcher. She reappeared in 1950 as Olympic Victor. In 1956 she was sold and renamed Otori Maru No.12.[11] She was renamed one more time, Kyo Maru No.25 in 1962 and last appeared on Lloyd's Register in 1977.[10][12]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "HMCS MIMICO K485". For Posterity's Sake Canadian Genealogy. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Ossian, Robert. "Complete List of Sailing Vessels". The Pirate King. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare 11. London: Phoebus. pp. 1137–1142.
  5. ↑ Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. New Jersey: Random House. 1996. p. 68. ISBN 0-517-67963-9.
  6. ↑ Blake, Nicholas; Lawrence, Richard (2005). The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy. Stackpole Books. pp. 39–63. ISBN 0-8117-3275-4.
  7. ↑ Chesneau, Roger; Gardiner, Robert (June 1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1922–1946). Naval Institute Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.
  8. ↑ Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. pp. 117–119, 142–145, 158, 175–176, 226, 235, 285–291. ISBN 0-87021-450-0.
  9. 1 2 Macpherson, Ken; Milner, Marc (1993). Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939–1945. St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-052-7.
  10. 1 2 "HMCS Mimico (K 485)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Macpherson, Ken; Burgess, John (1981). The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910–1981 : a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships. Toronto: Collins. p. 104. ISBN 0-00216-856-1.
  12. ↑ 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. OCLC 67375475.

References

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