View source for HMCS Ypres

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
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|Ship image=File:HMCS Ypres E-35756.jpg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption= ''Ypres'' in 1924
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name= ''Ypres''
|Ship namesake= [[Second Battle of Ypres|Second]] and [[Third Battle of Ypres|Third]] battles of Ypres
|Ship ordered=2 February 1917
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder= [[Polson Iron Works Limited]], [[Toronto]]
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|Ship launched= 16 July 1917
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|Ship commissioned= 10 November 1917
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned= 1920
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|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=1 May 1923
|Ship decommissioned= November 1932
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|Ship recommissioned= 1938
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|Ship fate= Rammed and sunk by {{HMS|Revenge|06|6}} at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 12 May 1940
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass2|Battle|trawler|0}} [[naval trawler]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|320|LT|t}}
|Ship length={{convert|130|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=1 x [[triple expansion]], {{convert|480|ihp|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|10|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
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|Ship armament=1 × [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]]
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'''HMCS ''Ypres''''' was one of twelve {{sclass2|Battle|trawler|0}} [[naval trawler]]s constructed for and used by the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] (RCN) during the [[World War I|First World War]]. Named after the [[Second Battle of Ypres|Second]] and [[Third Battle of Ypres|Third]] battles of Ypres, the ship entered service in 1918, patrolling the east coast of Canada for submarine activity. Following the war, the ship remained in service with as a patrol and [[training ship]]. In 1938, the vessel recommissioned as a [[gate vessel]], re-designated '''''Gate Vessel 1''''', in service at [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]]. On 12 May 1940, the gate vessel was rammed and sunk in a collision with the British [[battleship]] {{HMS|Revenge|06|6}}.

==Design and description==
The RCN's Battle-class trawlers formed part of the Canadian naval response to [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] warnings to Canada about the growing German [[U-boat]] [[Atlantic U-boat Campaign (World War I)|threat to merchant shipping]] in the western Atlantic.<ref name=tucker253>Tucker, p. 253</ref> Intended to augment anti-submarine patrols off Canada's east coast, these ships were modelled on contemporary British [[North Sea]] trawlers, since the standard types of Canadian fishing vessels were considered unsuitable for patrol work.<ref>Tucker, pp. 254, 257</ref>

Twelve vessels were ordered on 2 February 1917 from two shipyards, [[Polson Iron Works Limited|Polson Iron Works]] of [[Toronto]] and [[Canadian Vickers]] of [[Montreal]].<ref name=johnston417>Johnston et al., p. 417</ref> Those vessels built at Polson Iron Works [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|320|LT|t|lk=in}} and were {{convert|130|ft|m}} [[Length overall|long overall]] with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|23|ft|5|in|m}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|13|ft|5|in|m}}.<ref name=mac27>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 27</ref> They were propelled by a steam-powered [[triple expansion]] engine driving one shaft creating {{convert|480|ihp|lk=in}} giving the vessels a maximum speed of {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name=johnston417/><ref name=maginley67>Maginley and Collin, p. 67</ref>

All twelve trawlers were equipped with a [[Quick-firing gun|QF]] [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]] mounted forward.<ref name=mac27/>{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} This was considered to be the smallest gun that stood a chance of putting a surfaced U-boat out of action, and they also carried a small number of [[depth charge]]s.<ref name=tucker253/><ref name=tucker257>Tucker, p. 257</ref> The trawlers were named after battles of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] during the First World War that Canadians had been involved in. They cost between $155,000 and $160,000 per vessel.<ref name=johnston417/>{{efn|name=inflation}}{{efn|name=cost}}

==Service history==
''Ypres'' was constructed by Polson Iron Works at Toronto and was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 16 June 1917.<ref name=mac31>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 31</ref> Intended for use during the 1917 shipping season, the construction of the vessels was delayed by the entry of the United States into the war. With higher wages found south of the border, a shortage of skilled labour developed in the shipyards, coupled with a shortage of construction material.<ref>Johnston et al., pp. 481–484</ref> The trawler was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 13 November 1917.<ref name=mac31/> ''Ypres'' sailed to Halifax following her commissioning for defence of the Atlantic coast of Canada.<ref>Johnston et al., p. 484</ref> For the defence of shipping in Canadian waters in 1918, the entire Battle class was assigned to work out of [[Sydney, Nova Scotia]].<ref>Johnston et al., p. 543</ref>

The ship remained in Canadian service following the end of the war until being [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] in 1920. After being recommissioned on 1 May 1923 as a training ship on the east coast, having been re-designated a [[minesweeper]] in 1922.<ref name=mac31/><ref>Johnston et al., pp. 800–801, 891</ref> With [[sister ship]] {{HMCS|Festubert||2}}, ''Ypres'' trained with the destroyers on the east coast until  November 1932 she was again paid off and was placed in reserve.<ref name=mac31/><ref>Johnston et al., pp. 848, 940</ref> Refitted as a gate vessel in 1938 and recommissioned, ''Ypres'', designated ''Gate Vessel 1'', formed part of the Halifax boom defences until 12 May 1940, when she was rammed and sunk by the British battleship ''Revenge''.<ref name=mac31/>

===Sinking===
[[File:HMS Revenge WWII IWM CH 823.jpg|thumb|left|HMS ''Revenge'' underway at sea]]
The battleship was departing to escort two troop transports sailing for the United Kingdom when a request was made for the boom to be opened for her at 1830. ''Revenge'' began making her way towards the gate, which opened at 1826. However, before arriving at the gate, the battleship stopped inside the harbour, closer to the gate. The two troop transports had not joined up with the battleship on time and the officer in charge of gate operations did not inform the gate vessels of the change in departure time. When the ships finally did sail, the gate vessels had little time to get the gate open fully. ''Gate Vessel 1'' reported the gate being open at 2055 and at 2056, ''Revenge'' rammed the gate vessel, rolling the trawler almost onto her side and flooding ''Gate Vessel 1'' through her upper deck openings. The trawler, attached to the boom, bounced off the side of the battleship, which dragged the trawler and boom for roughly {{convert|500|yd|m}} before the battleship came to a halt. ''Gate Vessel 1'' was abandoned as the ship settled onto the boom and sank at roughly 2125.<ref name=darl15>Darlington and Mckee, pp. 15–17</ref> There was no loss of life in the collision, with ''Revenge'' collecting thirteen members of the crew and ''Gate Vessel 2'' (sister ''Festubert'') collecting five more sailors, one of them a member of ''Revenge''{{'}}s crew who had jumped overboard to save a Canadian.<ref name=mac31/><ref name=darl15/> ''Revenge'' and her convoy sailed once ascertaining that there had been no deaths. Another Battle-class trawler, {{HMCS|Arleux||2}}, assumed ''Ypres''{{'}} position as ''Gate Vessel 1''.<ref name=darl15/> After this incident, the crews of other gate vessels would pretend to make elaborate preparations for a collision every time ''Revenge'' visited Halifax.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://novascotia.ca/museum/wrecks/wrecks/shipwrecks.asp?ID=4919 |title=On the Rocks: Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia – HMCS Ypres, 1940 |publisher=Maritime Museum of the Atlantic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217140055/https://novascotia.ca/museum/wrecks/wrecks/shipwrecks.asp?ID=4919 |archive-date=17 February 2018 |access-date=17 February 2018}}</ref>

==References==

===Notes===
{{notes
| notes =

{{efn
| name = cost
| Tucker places the cost at $191,000 (adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|191000|1918}}}})<ref name=tucker257/>
}}
{{efn
| name = inflation
| Adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|155,000|1918}}}} to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|160,000|1918}}}}
}}
{{efn
| name = gun nomenclature
| "Cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
}}
}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |last=Darlington |first=Robert A. |last2=McKee |first2=Fraser |name-list-style=amp |date=1996 |title=The Canadian Naval Chronicle 1939–1945: The Successes and Losses of the Canadian Navy in World War II |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-032-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=William |last2=Rawling |first2=William G.P. |last3=Gimblett |first3=Richard H. |last4=MacFarlane |first4=John |name-list-style=amp |date=2010 |title=The Seabound Coast: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1867–1939 |volume=1 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55488-908-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |name-list-style=amp |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Maginley |first=Charles D. |last2=Collin |first2=Bernard |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |title=The Ships of Canada's Marine Service |publisher=Vanwell Publishing Limited |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-070-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Gilbert Norman |date=1962 |title=The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History – Volume 1: Origins and Early Years |publisher=King's Printer |location=Ottawa |oclc=840569671}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/battle/ Battle-class trawlers]

{{Battle-class trawler}}
{{May 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ypres}}
[[Category:Battle-class trawlers]]
[[Category:World War I naval ships of Canada]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1940]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Canada]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Toronto]]