HMCS Burlington

There has been only one vessel named Burlington in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Burlington (J250)

The Bangor class minesweeper HMCS Burlington was commissioned at Toronto, Ontario on September 6, 1941, and arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 30.

As enemy mines were laid only once in 1943 in Canadian waters, the Bangors were used primarily as escorts to coastal shipping or as local escorts to ocean convoys. Sixteen of them, however, assisted in sweeping the approaches to Normandy before D-Day, and stayed to help clear German and Allied minefields in the Channel for some months afterward.

After working-up, she made Halifax her base, and in March 1942 was assigned to Western Local Escort Force, transferring in May to Gulf Escort Force. Late in December 1942, she commenced refitting progressively at Halifax, Lunenburg, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Following completion of the work in May 1943, she worked-up at Pictou, Nova Scotia, and was assigned in June to Escort Group W-9 of Western Local Escort Force.

In February 1944, she was transferred to Halifax Local Defence Force, and in September was sent to Bermuda for a month’s work-up. On her return, she joined Newfoundland Force, based at St. John’s, and served there until June 8, 1945 when that command was disbanded. She then engaged in miscellaneous duties until paid off on October 30, 1945. HMCS Burlington was sold to a New Jersey buyer in 1946.

• Builder: Dufferin Shipbuilding Co., Toronto, Ontario
• Laid down: July 4, 1940
• Launched: November 23, 1940
• Date commissioned: September 6, 1941
• Paying off date: October 30, 1945
• Displacement: 672 tons
• Dimensions: 54.9 m x 8.7 m x 2.5 m
• Speed: 16 knots
• Crew: 83
• Armament: one 4-inch (102-mm) gun and two 20-mm guns and depth charges.

Battle honours

• Atlantic 1942-44
• Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942