View source for HMCS Digby

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMCS Digby (J267).png
|Ship caption=HMCS ''Digby''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name= ''Digby''
|Ship namesake=[[Digby, Nova Scotia]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Davie Shipbuilding]], [[Lauzon, Quebec|Lauzon]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=20 March 1941
|Ship launched=5 June 1942
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=26 July 1942
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=31 July 1945
|Ship maiden voyage= 
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|Ship renamed=
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|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]:J267
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=29 April 1953
|Ship decommissioned=14 November 1956
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
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|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]:179
|Ship motto=
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|Ship honours= Atlantic 1942–44,<ref name=a1>Arbuckle, p. 35</ref> Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942, 1944.<ref name=Gulf>{{cite web|title=Royal Canadian Warships that Participated in the Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence|url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|work=Veterans Affairs Canada|access-date=18 September 2013|archive-date=27 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927080617/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Broken up 1956
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=Azure, an ostrich argent, holding in its beak a horseshoe or, and supporting with its dexter foot a bezant.<ref name=a1/>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper|1|ship}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|592|LT|t|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|162|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|28|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|8.25|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 9-cylinder diesel, {{convert|2000|bhp|kW|-2|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship complement=83
|Ship armament=*1 × [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]]
*1 × [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder Mark VIII]]
*2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|QF 20 mm Oerlikon]] guns
*40 [[depth charge]]s as escort
}}
|}

'''HMCS ''Digby''''' was a {{sclass|Bangor|minesweeper||ship}} that served in the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] during the [[Second World War]]. She saw action in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] and the [[Battle of the St. Lawrence]]. After the war she was supposed to be transferred to the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] but that was cancelled and instead was recommissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, serving until 1956.

==Design and description==
The ''Bangor'' class was initially to be a scaled down minesweeper design of the {{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper|4}} in [[Royal Navy]] service.<ref name=Brown>Brown, p. 124</ref><ref name=Chesneau>Chesneau (1980), p. 61</ref> However, due to the difficulty procuring diesel engines led to the small number of the diesel version being completed.<ref name=Chesneau/> The ships [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|592|LT|t}} standard and {{convert|690|LT|t}} fully loaded. They were {{convert|162|ft|m|1}} [[Length overall|long]] with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|28|ft|m|1}} and a [[Draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|8|ft|3|in|m|2}}.<ref name=Chesneau/><ref name=m1>Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 185</ref> However, the size of the ship led to criticisms of their being too cramped for magnetic or acoustic minesweeping gear.<ref name=Chesneau/> This may have been due to all the additions made during the war with the installation of [[ASDIC]], radar and [[depth charge]]s.<ref name=Brown/>

The ''Bangor'' class came in two versions. ''Digby'' was of the diesel-powered version, being equipped with a 9-cylinder diesel engine driving two shafts that produced {{convert|2000|bhp|kW|-2|lk=in}}. This gave the ship a maximum speed of {{convert|16.5|kn|km/h|lk=in}}. The vessels carried {{convert|65|LT|t}} of oil.<ref name=Chesneau/>  The vessels had a complement of 6 officers and 77 ratings.<ref name=m1/>

The Canadian diesel-powered ''Bangor''s were armed with a single [[Quick-firing gun|quick-firing]] (QF) [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder 12 cwt gun]] mounted forward.<ref name=Chesneau/><ref name=m1/>{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} Initially the design called for a {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} gun, however these were replaced with 12-pounder guns. The ships were also fitted with a [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder Mark VIII]] gun aft and were eventually fitted with single-mounted [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|QF 20 mm Oerlikon]] guns on the [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]] wings.<ref name=mac>Macpherson (1997), p. 58</ref> For those ships assigned to convoy duty, they were armed with two depth charge launchers and two chutes to deploy the 40 depth charges they carried.<ref name=Chesneau/><ref name=mac/>

==Service history==
''Digby'' was ordered as part of the 1940–41 building programme. The minesweeper's [[keel]] was laid down on 20 March 1941 by [[Davie Shipbuilding|Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd.]] at [[Lauzon, Quebec]] and the ship was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 5 June 1942.<ref name=m1/><ref name=u1>{{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2680.html |title=HMCS Digby (J267) |work=uboat.net |access-date=31 May 2014}}</ref> She was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] into the Royal Canadian Navy on 26 July 1942 at [[Quebec City]].<ref name=m1/>

After working up at [[Pictou, Nova Scotia|Pictou]], ''Digby'' joined the [[Western Local Escort Force]] (WLEF). In January 1943 WLEF organized escort groups. ''Digby'' was assigned to 24.18.1 alongside the [[corvette]]s {{HMCS|Arrowhead|K145|2}} and {{HMCS|Chicoutimi|K156|2}}.<ref>Rohwer, p. 222</ref> In June 1943, when WLEF reorganized their escort groups, she was assigned to escort group W-5. She remained with the group until April 1944 when a refit was required, to be performed at [[Lunenburg, Nova Scotia|Lunenburg]]. The refit was completed at [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]] and upon returning from workups in Bermuda, she was assigned to Sydney Force.<ref name=m1/>

In February 1945, ''Digby'' was assigned to Newfoundland Force until returning to Canada and being [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] on 31 July 1945. She was placed in reserve at [[Shelburne, Nova Scotia]].<ref name=m1/> After the war ''Digby'' was offered for transfer to the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|Royal Canadian Mounted Police Marine Section]], to be renamed ''Perry''. However, the takeover did not take place.<ref name=m1/><ref name=c1>Colledge, p. 186</ref> The vessel was taken to [[Sorel, Quebec|Sorel]] to lay in strategic reserve until 1951, when she was reacquired by the Royal Canadian Navy. She was refitted for training duties.<ref name=m1/>

===Postwar service===
''Digby'' was recommissioned on 29 April 1953 with the new pennant number 179.<ref name=u1/> The ship was refit before reentering service, receiving a [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] anti-submarine mortar and the 12-pounder gun was removed and replaced with a [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm Bofors gun]].<ref name=mac/> She was used, along with {{HMCS|Granby|J264|6}}, in 1953 on [[Lake Ontario]] to test the Royal Canadian Navy's [[DATAR]] system.<ref name=f1>{{cite book|title=Ferranti-Packard: Pioneers in Canadian Electrical Manufacturing |url=https://archive.org/details/ferrantipackardp0000ball |url-access=registration |first1=Norman R. |last1=Ball |first2=John N. |last2=Vardalas |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |year=1993|isbn=9780773509832 }}</ref> In October 1954 ''Digby'' transferred to the west coast with {{HMCS|Brockville|J270|2}} and {{HMCS|Jonquiere|K318|2}}.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Three Ships Go to West Coast |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa|date=October 1954 |volume=6 |number=12 |pages=2}}</ref> On 4 December 1955, ''Brockville'', ''Digby'' and {{HMCS|Cordova||2}} formed the Second Canadian Reserve Squadron for training purposes at Esquimalt.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Reserve Squadron Being Formed |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa |date=December 1954 |volume=7 |number=2 |pages=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Two New Squadrons for Pacific Command |magazine=The Crowsnest |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Ottawa |date=February 1955 |volume=7 |number=4 |pages=2–3}}</ref>

She was paid off on 14 November 1956 and sold for scrap.<ref name=m1/><ref name=c1/> ''Digby'' was [[Ship breaking|broken up]] in 1956–57.<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6112956|shipname=Digby|access-date=5 August 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of ships of the Canadian Navy]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{notes
| notes =

{{efn
| name = gun nomenclature
|  "Cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
}}
}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last=Arbuckle |first=J. Graeme |date=1987 |title=Badges of the Canadian Navy |publisher=Nimbus Publishing |location=Halifax, Nova Scotia |isbn=0-920852-49-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown |first=D.K. |title=Nelson to Vanguard: Warship Design and Development 1923–1945 |publisher=Chatham Publishing |date=2000 |isbn=1861761368}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Chesneau |editor-first=Roger |date=1980 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich, UK |isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |last1=Macpherson |first1=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}
* {{cite book|title=Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy 1938–1945 |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |date=1997 |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=0-920277-55-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |date=2005 |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |edition=Revised & Expanded |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-119-2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.readyayeready.com/cgi-bin/query/display.pl?index=1107 ReadyAyeReady.com]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww2/bangor/ Haze Gray and Underway]

{{Bangor class minesweeper}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digby (J267)}}
[[Category:Bangor-class minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Lévis]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of Canada]]