TheFort ships were a class of 198cargo ships built in Canada duringWorld War II for use by theUnited Kingdom. They all had names prefixed with "Fort" when built. The ships were in service between 1942 and 1985, with two still listed on shipping registers until 1992. A total of 53 were lost during the war due to accidents or enemy action. One of these,Fort Stikine, was destroyed in 1944 by the detonation of 1,400 tons of explosive on board her. This event, known as theBombay Explosion, killed over 800 people and sank thirteen ships. Fort ships were ships transferred to the British Government andPark ships were those employed by the Canadian Government - Both had a similar design.
The Fort ships were 424 feet 6 inches (129.39 m) long with a beam of 57 feet 0 inches (17.37 m). They were assessed at 7,130 GRT. The ships were of three types, the "North Sands" type, which were of riveted construction, and the "Canadian" and "Victory" types, which were of welded construction. They were built by eighteen different Canadian shipyards. Theirtriple expansion steam engines were built by seven different manufacturers.[2]
The ships were built between 1941 and 1945 by ten different builders. The first to be built wasFort St. James, which was laid down on 23 April 1941 and launched on 15 October. The eight ships built byBurrard Dry Dock cost$1,856,500 each.[3] During World War II, 28 were lost to enemy action, and four were lost due to accidents. Many of the surviving 166 ships passed to theUnited States Maritime Commission. The last recorded scrapping was in 1985,[4][5][6] and two ships, the formerFort St. James andFort St. Paul, were listed onLloyd's Register until 1992.[5]
Park ships were armed. There weremerchant seamen gunners. Also many British and Canadian merchantmen carried volunteer naval gunners calledDefensively equipped merchant ship or DEMS gunners. The American ships carriedNaval Armed Guard gunners. Merchant seamen crewed the merchant ships of the BritishMerchant Navy which kept the United Kingdom supplied with raw materials, arms, ammunition, fuel, food and all of the necessities of a nation at war throughout World War II literally enabling the country to defend itself. In doing this they sustained a considerably greater casualty rate than almost every branch of the armed services and suffered great hardship. Seamen were aged from fourteen through to their late seventies.[7]The lost are remembered in the Royal Canadian Naval Ships Memorial Monument in Spencer Smith Park inBurlington, Ontario.[8]
On 3 March 1944,Fort McLeod was torpedoed, shelled and sunk in the Indian Ocean byI-162.[5]
On 19 May 1944,Fort Missanabie was torpedoed and damaged in the Mediterranean Sea byU-453. The fore section sank. The stern section was taken in tow but sank the next day.[5]
On 14 April 1944,Fort Stikine exploded at Bombay and was obliterated. Twelve other vessels were lost.[5]
On 21 June 1945,Fort La Prairie orFort La Pairie, 7138 tons, cargo ship, British, ran aground about 0.5 miles SSW of Muckle Skerry light, Muckle Skerry, Out Skerries. Location cited as N60 29 W0 52, she was towed off by Ocean Salvage ShipRFA Salfeda, assisted by local fishermen. She was renamedElm Hill (1950) and scrapped in 1967.
On 10 February 1954,Catherine M. S. (formerlyFort Kilmar) ran aground offMojima Saki, Japan. She was consequently scrapped.[5]
On 16 October 1954,Travelstar (formerlyFort La Baye) ran aground and caught fire inBuckner Bay. She was declared a total loss.[5]
On 24 March 1955,Yaffo (formerlyFort Kullyspell) ran aground inBaffy Bay. She was refloated in 1957 and taken in toMonrovia, Liberia. No further service recorded.[5]
On 12 April 1967,Silver Peak (formerlyFort Lennox) ran aground in theSouth China Sea 100 nautical miles (190 km) off the coast of Taiwan. She was declared a total loss and subsequently scrapped.[5]
On 25 February 1968,African Marquis (formerlyFort Glenora) ran aground onKasos, Greece, and broke in two.[4]
In 1968,Zhan Dou 76 (formerlyFort Wallace) became stranded. She was subsequently scrapped.[6]
On 18 December 1969,Ibrahim K (formerlyFort McPherson) ran aground atTocra, Libya and broke up.[5]
