Fundy-class minesweeper
HMCS Fundy underway
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Fundy class |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: |
 Royal Canadian Navy
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| Succeeded by: | Bangor class |
| Built: | 1938 |
| In commission: | 1 September 1938 - 29 July 1945 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Retired: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 460 long tons (470 t; 520 short tons) |
| Length: | 163 ft (49.7 m) |
| Beam: | 27.5 ft (8.4 m) |
| Draught: | 14.5 ft (4.4 m) |
| Installed power: | 1-cylinder boiler 850–950 ihp (630–710 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 1 shaft, vertical triple expansion engine |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Endurance: | 180-196 tons coal |
| Complement: | 38 |
| Armament: |
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The Fundy-class minesweepers were a class of four minesweepers operated by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. All four ships entered service in 1938 and the class were discarded in 1945, sold for mercantile service. Three ended up sold to Chinese interests, while one remained active in Canada until 1987.
The class derives its name from the lead ship HMCS Fundy and are all named after bays in Canada. The Fundy-class minesweepers were modified versions of the British Basset-class trawler minesweepers. The Canadian ships were given extra strengthening for ice conditions. Two were initially assigned to the west coast and two, including Fundy, to the east coast.
By 1930 the Battle-class trawlers which had been re-designated as minesweepers in November 1922 were coming to the end of their effective service lives. In 1935, all three remaining minesweepers active in the Royal Canadian Navy were laid up. In the naval estimates of the 1936 budget, provision was made to replace two of the Battle class with two new, modern minesweepers.
In 1938 four hulls were laid down in four shipyards across the country to be completed by the end of the year. The two minesweepers built on the east coast would cost $318,000 per vessel and the two constructed on the west coast, $403,000 per vessel. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy considered constructing more, but chose to build Bangor-class minesweepers instead upon learning of that design. The Bangors burned oil instead of coal and had much greater endurance.
The vessels, based on the British Basset-class trawlers,displaced 460 long tons (470 t; 520 short tons). They were 163 ft (49.7 m) long, with a beam of 27.5 ft (8.4 m) and a draught of 14.5 ft (4.4 m). They had a complement of 3 officers and 35 ratings.
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