Thursday, November 12, 2015

We used to build things in this country. #219 HMCS Wallaceburg

J A Foster, Heart of Oak, Methuen 1985
The HMCS Wallaceburg was built by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company located in what is now Thunder Bay. During World War 2 the company built nine corvettes, six Bangor-class minesweepers and twenty Algerine-class minesweepers of which the Wallaceburg was one. 
She was launched in December 1942 and commissioned eleven months later. She served around Halifax and on convoy escort duty. After the war she operated as a training vessel until 1959, when she was sold to the Belgian navy where she served until 1969 as F901 Georges Lecointe.
 The Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company was started 1n 1909 as Western Drydock and Shipbuilding Company. The yard was acquired by Canada Steamship Lines after the war and closed in 1993.

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