HMCS Mulgrave

There has been only one vessel named HMCS Mulgrave in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Mulgrave (J313)

The HMCS Mulgrave was a Bangor Class minesweeper. The Bangor Class ships were built in order to replace the old Basset Class minesweepers, as they were larger, faster, had much greater endurance, and burned oil as opposed to coal. As enemy mines were laid only once in 1943 in Canadian waters, the Bangors were used primarily as escorts to coastal shipping or as local escorts to ocean convoys.

Commissioned at Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay, Ontario, on November 4, 1942, HMCS Mulgrave arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on November 30 and was assigned to Halifax Force for the first quarter of 1943. She then transferred to Western Local Escort Force, becoming a member of newly created Escort Group W-2 in June 1943. On February 18, 1944, accompanied by HMCSBayfield, HMCS Georgian and HMCS Thunder, she left Halifax for Plymouth, England via the Azores. On 29 February, while entering Horta, Azores, HMCS Mulgrave suffered grounding damage and had to be towed to Greenock, Scotland.

After repairs at Ardrossan, Scotland, she made Plymouth on April 24 to commence training and exercises. She was temporarily assigned to the 32nd Minesweeping Flotilla, and then in June to the 31st, with which she was present on D-Day. On October 8, 1944, HMCS Mulgrave was damaged by a ground mine near Le Havre, France, and had to be beached. On November 3, she left Le Havre in tow for Portsmouth, England, where she was declared a constructive total loss. Placed in reserve at Falmouth, England, in January 1945 with a reduced complement, she was formally paid off on June 7, 1945, and scrapped at Llanelly, Wales, 2 years later.

  • Builder: Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Port Arthur, Ontario
  • Displacement: 682.8 tonnes
  • Dimensions: 54.9 m x 8.7 m x 2.5 m
  • Speed: 16 knots
  • Crew: 83
  • Armament: one 3-inch (76-mm) gun, two 20mm (2 single mounts) guns, and depth charges.

Battle honours

  • Atlantic 1943-1944
  • Normandy 1944

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