HMCS PORTAGE - Algerine Class Minesweeper
The Story of HMCS PORTAGE
Named for Portage la Prairie, Man., she was commissioned at Port Arthur on October 22, 1943, and arrived at Halifax on November 28. After working up in St. Margaret’s Bay Portage was assigned to EG W-2 of Western Escort Force as Senior Officer’s ship, late in January, 1944. In mid-April she was transferred, still as S.O., to W-3, and continued as such until late October, when she underwent an extensive refit at Liverpool, N.S. She then proceeded to Bermuda for workups, rejoining W-3 in March, 1945. The group was disbanded in June and Portage was placed in maintenance reserve at Sydney and then at Halifax, where she was paid off on July 31, 1946. She was reactivated for training purposes during the summers of 1947 and 1948, and spent most of the period between 1949 and 1959 in the same role, much of the time on the Great Lakes. She was finally paid off on September 26, 1958, and scrapped at Sorel three years later.