Just did one this past week for HMCS Minas (named for Minasville, NS). Quiet affair-unfortunately not all the fanfare of larger communities but I felt honoured to do it. Apparently Barrie falls under CMS and I was in touch with the Capt(N) doing that one and may 'assist' - Set for 17 May in Barrie. Below is what I submitted to TRIDENT for HMCS Minas, "should" be in this next or the following issue:
On Tuesday, March 9th, just before a lunch break of a meeting of the Municipality of East Hants Executive Committee, I had the honour of making a Namesake Community presentation of a plaque featuring the Second World War Minesweeper HMCS Minas, named for the community of Minasville in the county of East Hants. Accepting the plaque on behalf of his Council was Warden John Patterson, who, himself enlightened the crowd with a short history lesson on a famous Nova Scotian.
Liberal Premier Angus L. MacDonald served his province from 1933 until 1940. In 1940, he was lured to Ottawa and assumed responsibilities as Minister of Defence for Naval Services. He oversaw the creation of a viable Royal Canadian Navy and was instrumental in the development of the convoy system to transport war material to the European front. When hostilities ceased in 1945, Canada yielded the 3rd largest Allied Navy under Minister MacDonald’s tutelage. Returning to Nova Scotia in 1945, his Liberals swept the election winning every single seat. Premier Angus L. MacDonald died while still in Office in 1954.
Work on HMCS Minas was begun in late 1940 at the Burrard Dry Dock Company Ltd in Vancouver, BC. The ship was launched January 22nd, 1941 and commissioned August 2nd, 1941.
Minas, along with sister ships Bellechasse, Burlington, Chedebucto, Chignecto, Clayoquot, Cowichan, Georgian, Mahone, Malpeque, Mirimichi, Nipigon, Outarde, Quatsino, Quinte, Thunder, Ungava and Wasaga were part of the Royal Navy’s Bangor Class of minesweepers. Only on one occasion was an attempt made to mine the entrance to Halifax Harbour by German minelaying submarines and quickly discovered, all mines were disposed of. Again in 1943, the entrance to St John’s, Newfoundland was mined with the same end result. Also, because of the desperate shortage of escort vessels for the Atlantic convoys, Minas and her ‘sisters’ were re-assigned as ‘Coastal Escorts’ with some actually never being fitted with minesweeping gear. As with all newer ships, their design incorporated many improvements on the original; improvements based on lessons learned in the early stages of the Battle of the Atlantic.
The Battle of the Atlantic, which saw Canadian units heavily engaged start to finish, was the longest lasting single campaign of the Second World War, opening with the sinking of the passenger freighter SS Athenia bound for Montreal on September 3, 1939 and closing with Allied Navy and merchant vessels still slugging it out with German submarines and surface raiders until VE Day; May 8, 1945.
HMCS Minas arrived in Halifax on October 19th, 1941 and was briefly based at Sydney before transferring to the Newfoundland Escort Force in January 1942. On April 12th, 1942, southeast of Halifax, her crew took off the crew of the sinking merchantman SS Empire Lotus. That November, she was assigned to the Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) and on November 21st, 1942, her crew again rescued survivors, this time from the torpedoed merchantman Empire Sailor. When WLEF was organized into Escort Groups in June of 1943, Minas became a member of W7, transferring to W4 that December. Earmarked for invasion duties, she and sister minesweepers Blairmore, Fort William and Milltown left Halifax on February 20th, 1944 for the U.K. via the Azores as one of four groups of four minesweepers each for a total of 16 vessels. She served with the 31st Minesweeping Flotilla as part of a bigger Armada of over 5000 Allied vessels of various types and sizes supporting over 150,000 ground troops on D-Day; June 6th, 1944. Minas and the nine other Canadian vessels of the 31st Flotilla were assigned primary minesweeping duties to support the American landings at Omaha beach. For many months following the invasion, Minas and her crew were kept busy clearing coastal ports in France and Belgium as Allied troops advanced and re-occupied them. At war’s end, Minas remained behind in U.K. waters along with the bulk of Canadian minesweepers to then clear Allied ports of mines through to the fall of 1945. Returning to Canada, she was paid off into Reserve status in October 1946.
Reacquired in 1952 and recommissioned on March 15th, 1955 for training purposes, Minas spent that summer on the Great Lakes before leaving for the west coast. Finally paid off November 7th, 1955 at Esquimalt, her crew brought sister minesweeper HMCS Sault Ste Marie back to Halifax. Minas was sold in August 1958 for scrap and broken up in Seattle, Washington.
Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy, Ken MacPherson
Asked what my connection to the community was, I initially felt a moment of panic as in reality I had no personal connection but then I began thinking - I have now lived the bulk of my adult life and half of my entire life in this province I have come to call home. When the idea for plaque presentations to namesake communities was first mentioned, I started looking at communities I knew were small and may not necessarily have current serving members representing them. When the call went out for volunteers for presentations, aside from communities I did have connections with, I also volunteered for some of the smaller ones; Minasville (HMCS Minas) among them. It was therefore, a special privilege for me to represent those no longer among us in my adoptive home province and my study of the minesweeper HMCS Minas as well as my new found knowledge of East Hants, has created a personal bond I suspect will be with me for the rest of my days.
