HMCS BRANDON - Flower Class Corvette
The Story of HMCS BRANDON – 1941 to 1945
Commissioned at Quebec City on July 22, 1941, Brandon arrived at Halifax August 1. She joined Newfoundland Command in September after working up and left St. John’s September 26 for her first convoy, SC.46. She served as an ocean escort to and from Iceland until December, when she arrived in the U.K. for three months’ repairs at South Shields. From mid-March, 1942, after three weeks’ workups at Tobermory, she served on the “Newfie-Derry” run almost continuously until September, 1944. From December, 1942, onward, she served with EG C-4, helping defend the hard-pressed convoy HX.224 in February, 1943, and in the following month escorting convoys to and from Gibraltar. In August, 1943, she had a three-month refit at Grimsby, England, including focsle extension. She left Londonderry September 2, 1944, to join her last transatlantic convoy, ONS.251, and, after two months’ refit at Liverpool, N.S., worked up in Bermuda. On February 5, 1945, she arrived at St. John’s to join EG W-5, Western Escort Force, in which she served until the end of the war. Paid off at Sorel on June 22, 1945, she was broken up at Hamilton, Ont. in 1945.
HMCS BRANDON – 1999 to Present
HMCS BRANDON lies outboard in a nest of her sister ships in Esquimalt Harbour. Photo credit Maritime Forces Pacific.
One of the newest ships in the Canadian navy HMCS BRANDON, a Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel was commissioned in 1999 and is now based in Esquimalt, BC. HMCS BRANDON, classified as a MCDV, is manned mainly by reservists.
MCDV CHARACTERISTICS
MCDVs are designated under NATO classification “MM” as general mine warfare vessels. Design – Commercial design and construction standards. Military standards for stability, flood control zones, doors, turning/stopping distances, ammunition spaces.
Dimensions:
Length: 55.3m
Beam: 11.3m
Draught: 3.4m
Displacement – 970 tonnes
Accommodation – mixed gender crew to 36 in two and three person cabins
Range – 5000 nautical miles, primarily operating in Canadian waters however out-of-area operations possible
Normal Mission – 18 days Maximum Speed – 15 knots
Propulsion – diesel-electric
MCDV MISSION SYSTEMS
Weapons: 40-mm Bofors Gun two .50-calibre machine guns
Sensors: Radars, surveillance and navigation; Passive electromagnetic surveillance measures
Communications: VHF and UHF and HF, including secure voice automated message processing system
MCM Capability – limited capability with deployment of modular payloads: four route survey, two mechanical minesweeping and one bottom object inspection. Systems are designated to accommodate future growth and evolution.