- Yes
- Maybe
- Unsure
- No
- As built
- 1945 configurations
- 1951 configuration
- 1954 configuration
- Any of the above
- Unsure
- I said no to the first question
Background
HMCS Ontario is the lead ship of the 3 Minotaur or Swiftsure class cruisers built during the Second World War, as it may sound confusing as of why she is the lead ship of the class is due to the fact that she is HMS Minotaur, she was given the name before she completed construction she was transferred to Canada before she was commissioned and so she was renamed to HMCS Ontario which explains why she is the lead ship of the class.
Her armament would consist of 9 6-inch/50 guns in 3 triple mounts, her secondary armament consisted of 10 4-inch/45 guns in 5 twin mounts, and her AA armament consisted of 16 40mm pom poms in 4 quad mounts along with another 4 40mm pom poms, her ament was rounded out with the standard 2 triple 21-inch torpedo tubes. Later on in her service she would see her AA armament changed however as eventually all the 40mm pom poms would be replaced by 40mm Bofors.
History
Spoiler
HMCS Ontario was laid down on November 20th, 1941, and was launched on July 29th, 1943 and in July 1944 she was acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy with her name of Minotaur being changed to Ontario, she was commissioned on May 25th, 1945, though she made it into service in 1945 and would make her way over to the Pacific heading eastwards she was too late to take part and so she found herself at Esquimalt, British Columbia on November 27th.
Due to her too late to take action during the second world war her career would be relatively uneventful, in 1948 she was joined by the destroyers Cayuga, Athabaskan, Crescent and the frigate Antigonish in sailing to Pearl Harbor which was the largest Canadian naval deployment following the war and the following year saw her take part in the largest Canadian naval exercise to ever take place in the Caribbean, this exercise also included American and British naval forces. In 1951 she would be sent overseas again as she took part in another exercise now with the Australian Navy with her journey seeing her make 7 port visits during this, in October she sailed to the east coast where after arrival, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh sailed on the cruiser from Sydney, Nova Scotia, through the Cabot Strait to Newfoundland during the Royal Visit and following this she returned home in December, the following year would see her sent out on a training cruise which saw her sail around South America and during this she made 7 port visits, during this on one occasion when she was entering the harbor at Buenos Aires, the cruiser was overtaken by the merchant vessel SS Arauco and struck amidships, the crew would discover the starboard propellers were damaged after making it to Brazil and the crew removed the outer starboard propeller while the inner propeller, 2 weeks later she would be forced to return home at reduced speed due to the incident.
In June of 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II before in January the following year undertaking another training cruise without incident this time and returned home in April, she would take part in one last training cruise in 1956 before she was decommissioned on October 18th, 1958 and was sold for scraping by a firm on the west coast however due to the fact they did completely scrap the vessel she and the HMCS Quebec were sold for scrap to Mitsui and Co. of Japan in 1960, since then her bells has been preserved as one is currently being held at HMCS Ontario Cadet Training Centre in Kingston, Ontario while the second bell is held by the Maritime Museum of British Columbia.
Specifications
Displacement:
8,800 tons standard
11,130 tons full load
Length: 555.5 ft (169.3 m)
Beam: 63 ft (19 m)
Draft: 17.25 ft (5.26 m)
Propulsion:
Four Admiralty-type three drum boilers
Four shaft Parsons steam turbines
72,500 shp (54,100 kW)
Speed: 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h)
Range:
2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) at 30 knots (60 km/h)
8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h); 1,850 tons fuel oil
Complement: 863
Sensors and systems: (Not including Radars for FCS)
As built
type 277P radar
type 281B radar
type 293 radar
1951 Refit
type 277Q radar
type 281B radar
type 293 radar
1954 Refit
type 277Q radar
type 281B radar
type 293 radar
Sperry Mk.2 radar
Armament:
As built
Primary Armament:
9 x 6-inch/50 (152mm) BL Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary Armament:
10 x 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (5 x 2)
AA Armament:
20 x 2-pdr (40mm) QF Mk VIII pom pom AA guns (4 x 4 + 4 x 1)
10 x 20mm/70 Mark II/IV Oerlikon AA guns (4 x 2 & 2 x 1)
Torpedo tubes:
6 x 21-inch (533mm) Torpedo tubes (2 x 3)
1945 Refit
Primary Armament:
9 x 6-inch/50 (152mm) BL Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary Armament:
10 x 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (5 x 2)
AA Armament:
18 x 2-pdr (40mm) QF Mk VIII pom pom AA guns (4 x 4 + 2 x 1)
2 x 40mm/56 Bofors AA guns (2 x 1)
10 x 20mm/70 Mark II/IV Oerlikon AA guns (4 x 2 & 2 x 1)
Torpedo tubes:
6 x 21-inch (533mm) Torpedo tubes (2 x 3)
1951 refit
Primary Armament:
9 x 6-inch/50 (152mm) BL Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary Armament:
10 x 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (5 x 2)
AA Armament: (By this point on single 40mm mounts are Boffin mounts)
19 x 40mm/56 Bofors AA guns (3 x 4 & 7 x 1)
(One source list 4 quad mounts but cannon confirm if this is true)
(It seems that the 7th single mount was added sometime between this refit and the 1954 refit but I cannot confirm when this was installed)
Torpedo tubes:
6 x 21-inch (533mm) Torpedo tubes (2 x 3)
1954 refit
Primary Armament:
9 x 6-inch/50 (152mm) BL Mark XXIII guns (3 x 3)
Secondary Armament:
2 x 4-inch/45 (102mm) QF Mark XVI guns (1 x 2)
AA Armament:
3 x 40mm/56 Bofors AA guns (1 x 4 & 1 x 1)
Armor:
3.25–3.5-inch (83–89 mm) belt
2-inch (51 mm) deck
1–2-inch (25–51 mm) turrets
1.5–2-inch (38–51 mm) bulkheads
More Images:
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Sources
Spoiler
HMCS Ontario (C53) - Wikipedia
Minotaur-class cruiser (1943) - Wikipedia
Image Sources