HMCS Outarde

History
Canada
Name	Outarde
Namesake	Outarde Bay, Quebec
Builder	North Van Ship Repair, North Vancouver
Laid down	15 October 1940
Launched	27 January 1941
Commissioned	4 December 1941
Decommissioned	24 November 1945
Identification	Pennant number: J161
Fate	Sold 1946 for mercantile conversion
General characteristics
Class & type	Bangor-class minesweeper
Displacement	672 long tons (683 t)
Length	180 ft (54.9 m) oa
Beam	28 ft 6 in (8.7 m)
Draught	9 ft 9 in (3.0 m)
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum water tube boilers, 2 shafts, vertical triple-expansion reciprocating engines, 2,400 ihp (1,790 kW)
Speed	16.5 knots (31 km/h)
Complement	83
Armament	1 x QF 3 in (76 mm) 20 cwt gun 1 × QF 2-pounder Mark VIII 2 × QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns 40 depth charges as escort

HMCS Outarde (pennant J161) was a Bangor-class minesweeper constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Entering service in 1941, the ship spent the entire war on the West Coast of Canada. Following the end of the war, the vessel was sold in 1946 for mercantile conversion and renamed Psing Hsin. In 1950 the vessel was sold again and renamed Content and remained in service until broken up for scrap in 1951.

A British design, the Bangor-class minesweepers were smaller than the preceding Halcyon-class minesweepers in British service, but larger than the Fundy class in Canadian service.^[1][2] They came in two versions powered by different engines; those with a diesel engines and those with vertical triple-expansion steam engines.^[1] Outarde was of the latter design and was larger than her diesel-engined cousins. Outarde was 180 feet (54.9 m) long overall, had a beam of 28 feet 6 inches (8.7 m) and a draught of 9 feet 9 inches (3.0 m).^[1][3] The minesweeper had a displacement of 672 long tons (683 t). She had a complement of 6 officers and 77 enlisted.^[3]

Outarde had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of 2,400 indicated horsepower (1,800 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph). The minesweeper could carry a maximum of 150 long tons (152 t) of fuel oil.^[1]

The minesweeper was armed initially with a single quick-firing (QF) 4-inch (102 mm)/40 caliber Mk IV gun mounted forward that was later replaced with a single QF 3-inch (76 mm) 20 cwt gun mounted forward.^[1][4][a] The ship was also fitted with a QF 2-pounder Mark VIII aft and was eventually fitted with single-mounted QF 20 mm Oerlikon guns on the bridge wings.^[5] Those ships assigned to convoy duty were armed with two depth charge launchers and four chutes to deploy their 40 depth charges.^[1][4]

The minesweeper was ordered as part of the 1939–40 building programme.^[4] The ship's keel was laid down by North Vancouver Ship Repairs Ltd. at their yard in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Named for a bay in Quebec, Outarde was launched on 27 January 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy at Vancouver on 4 December 1941.^[6]

Outarde spent the entirety of the Second World War on the West Coast of Canada. Assigned to the patrol units Esquimalt Force (operating out of Esquimalt, British Columbia) or Prince Rupert Force (operating out of Prince Rupert, British Columbia), the main duty of Bangor-class minesweepers after commissioning on the West Coast was to perform the Western Patrol. This consisted of patrolling the west coast of Vancouver Island, inspecting inlets and sounds and past the Scott Islands to Gordon Channel at the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Strait and back.^[6][7] On 13 July 1942, Outarde, Chignecto, the corvette Dawson and the American destroyer USS Hatfield escorted four American troop transports carrying 5,000 Canadian troops from Esquimalt for the invasion of Kiska.^[8]

Following the war Outarde was paid off on 24 November 1945 at Esquimalt. The vessel was sold for mercantile conversion in 1946 and renamed Psing Hsin.^[6][9] Registered in Shanghai the 663 GRT vessel was owned by Chung Yuan SN Co. The vessel was sold in 1950 to Transcontinental Corporation, registered in Monrovia and renamed Content. The merchant ship was broken up in Hong Kong beginning on 13 January 1951.^[10]

• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (3rd Rev ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Douglas, W.A.B.; Sarty, Roger; Whitby, Michael (2002). No Higher Purpose: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939–1943 Volume II, Part I. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-061-6.
• Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
• Macpherson, Ken (1997). Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy 1938–1945. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 0-920277-55-1.

• "Bangor Class". Canadian Navy of Yesterday and Today. Hazegray.org.
• "HMCS Outarde (J 161)". Uboat.net.