Lower image © Imperial War Museum (FL 13178)
Previous name: Fort Grand Rapids, Cornish Park
Subsequent name:
Official Number: 175606
Class: CANADIAN FORT CLASS Stores Ship
Pennant No: A285
Laid down:
Builder: West Coast Ship Builders, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Launched: 31 August 1944
Into Service: 22 September 1948
Out of service: 23 April 1962 laid up at Malta
Fate: Broken up at Italy
Items of historic interest involving this ship: -
Background Data: After the outbreak of WW2, the first cargo vessels built in Canada for the War Effort were the “North Sands” type, the hulls of which conformed to original British working drawings supplied by the North Sands Shipyard of J.L. Thompson & Sons at Sunderland. Following experience gained from these ships, improved versions with a more economic operation were introduced. These were the ”Victory” and “Canadian” types. The “Victory” type was an oil burner and two water tube boilers were substituted for the original 3 Scotch boilers. Because of the then concerns about oil fuel supplies, the “Canadian” type had coal bunkers and alternate oil fuel capacity installed, but with a reversion to the original 3 Scotch boilers of the “North Sands” type. In 1943, when the shipping situation in the Pacific was becoming acute, the British Government ordered that a number of the ships of the Canadian building programme be completed as Stores Issuing Ships whose intended task would be to follow and victual naval units as part of the British Pacific Fleet Train. In all, 16 ships were completed as Stores Issuing Ships as follows: 3 as Ammunition Carriers, 2 as Air Stores Issuing Ships, 2 as Naval Stores Issuing Ships and 9 as refrigerated Victualling Stores Issuing Ships. All were managed by commercial companies with vast experience of Far Eastern Waters as Mercantile Fleet Auxiliaries with Merchant Navy Crews and a detachment of Stores Staff from the Victualling Division of the Admiralty under a Commander. On the refrigerated ships, the refrigerated space was in the tween decks and amounted to 111,480 cubic feet in 25 chambers. The lower holds were used for non-perishable items of stores, clothing, etc. After WW2, 8 of these ships became RFA’s. They were only armed during WW2.
31 August 1944 Launched as a “Victory” type by West Coast Shipbuilders Ltd, Vancouver as Yard Nr 146 named FORT GRAND RAPIDS for the Canadian Government (Park Steamship Co, Montreal, Managers)
29 October 1944 Completed as a refrigerated VSIS named CORNISH PARK
8 November 1944 as Cornish Park sailed from Vancouver to Victoria, British Columbia
12 November 1944 sailed Victoria, British Columbia arriving Los Angeles on 17 November 1944
17 November 1944 sailed Los Angeles independently to Balboa arriving on 29 November 1944
29 November 1944 sailed Cristobal independently to New York
9 December 1944 sailed in convoy HX325 from New York to Liverpool loaded with lead and lumber
31 January 1945 as Cornish Park sailed in convoy ON282 Liverpool to New York and then independently to Cristobal arriving 23 February 1945
24 February 1945 sailed Balboa independently to Antofagasta, Chile arriving 5 March 1945
9 March 1945 sailed Antofagasta, Chile independently to San Antonio arriving on 12 March 1945
23 March 1945 sailed Valpariso independently to Chanaral arriving 27 March 1945
2 April 1945 sailed Chanral to Antofagasta, Chile arriving on 3 April 1945
4 April 1945 sailed Antofagasta, Chile to Los Angeles arriving 24 April 1945
25 April 1945 sailed Los Angeles independently arriving Port Townsend, Washington State, USA on 1 May 1945
1945 renamed Fort Beauharnois
1945 sold to the Ministry of War Transport and managed by A Holt & Co, Liverpool and renamed FORT BEAUHARNOIS
3 December 1945 arrived at Sydney, Australia.
18 December 1945 sailed from Sydney, Australia to Manus arrived 26 December 1945
2 May 1946 arrived Sydney, NSW, Australia from Hong Kong
3 June 1946 sailed Sydney, NSW, Australia for Hong Kong
12 July 1946 arrived at Yokohama
1947 placed under the management of Lyle Shipping Company, London
5 February 1948 sailed Sydney, Australia to Melbourne
4 March 1948 berthed at Freemantle from Melbourne to load 2,131 gallon jars of rum
5 March 1948 sailed Freemantle for Singapore
1948 taken over by the Admiralty as an RFA and converted into a Store ship
12 April 1948 arrived at Port Said
1 September 1948 Captain Thomas H Card RFA appointed as Master
22 September 1948 became an RFA
30 March 1949 Mr Arthur L Barr RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
Chief Engineer Officer Arthur L Barr RFA
22 June 1949 Captain William B Browne OBE RFA appointed as Master
30 November 1949 Mr G A Calvert RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
14 November 1950 berthed at Malta from Gibraltar with Prince Phillip's polo pony 'Ballarin', his car and 40 cases of personal effects as cargo. The Prince had been appointed to a shore position in the Royal Navy at Malta with his wife the then Princess Elizabeth
2 February 1951 Mr Wilfred C Shortland RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
11 May 1951 Mr George McBain RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer until 13 May 1951 when the ship was at Newport, Monmouthshire
27 July 1951 sailed Malta to Rosyth
26 February 1952 Mr Lionel W Pool RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
2 May 1952 sailed Chatham
14 May 1952 berthed at Malta
3 October 1952 In support of Operation Hurricane 1 - the first British test atomic bomb explosion at Monte Bello Islands off NW Australia - along with RFA’s FORT CONSTANTINE, FORT ROSALIE (1), GOLD RANGER, WAVE PRINCE, WAVE RULER (1) and WAVE SOVEREIGN.
22 December 1952 berthed at Malta having arrived from Gibraltar
15 January 1953 Mr A D Harris RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
11 March 1953 sailed Malta for Gibraltar
27 July 1953 Mr Oscar Goodwin RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
10 January 1954 A De Haviland Comet aircraft named YOKE PETER crashed into the Tyrhennian Sea to the south of Elba with the loss of 35 lives. Between February and May that year, RFA SEA SALVOR recovered parts of the wreckage which RFA FORT BEAUHARNOIS then brought back to the U.K.
6 May 1954 Mr George McBain RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
1 June 1954 Commodore William B Browne OBE RFA appointed Master
12 August 1954 arrived Malta with Rear Admiral Brittain as a passenger
8 March 1955 Mr Charles M Morgan RFA (Commander (E) R.N.R. (ret)) appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
16 October 1955 Captain Howard D Gausden DSO RFA appointed as Master
14 April 1956 Mr J Wilson RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
23 June 1956 arrived at Port London, Christmas Island to support Operation Grapple - the British H-bomb test in the Pacific Ocean - after a voyage via Panama and Honolulu. Served with 16 other RFA’s during the test period.
18 November 1957 Commodore Thomas Elder CBE DSC RFA appointed as Master
29 November 1957 Mr A D Harris RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
22 July 1958 Captain W R Parker RFA appointed as Master
22 August 1958 present at Christmas Island during atomic bomb tests
22 January 1959 Arrived Leith for refit and while there suffered a fire aboard,
16 February 1959 Captain Rowland K Hill OBE RFA appointed as Master
15 July 1959 together with USS Current (ARS 22) involved in the salvaging of MV Beaverbank stranded at the English Harbour entrance to Fanning Island at 3.51N 159.22W. Salvaged by 24 July 1959.
20 December 1959 Mr Hugh C F Sweenie RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
1960 was employed carrying stores and official passengers to the Mediterranean and Far East
8 July 1960 berthed at Malta from Chatham
6 August 1960 Captain Douglas G Cox OBE RFA appointed as Master
2 November 1960 sailed Malta to Gibraltar
3 November 1960 challenged by HMS Bermuda 'What ship where bound'
23 December 1960 berthed at Malta from Chatham
12 December 1961 Captain Douglas S Norrington OBE RD RFA (Commander RNR) appointed as Master
13 December 1961 at sea at 37.35N 09.17E Seaman 1 Sk Fakir Abdulrehman discharged dead - natural causes - heart failure - buried at sea
19 December 1961 Mr N Bothwell RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
17 February 1962 berthed Devonport from Gibraltar and Malta with an eight month old donkey as cargo. The animal had been presented by HMS Phoenicia, Malta to HMS Excellent, Whale Island as a mascot
23 April 1962 laid up at Malta transferred to the MoT for disposal
July 1962 Placed on the Disposal List
23 July 1962 advertised for sale 'as lying' at Malta in The Times of this day
8 November 1962 Arrived La Spezia for demolition by Cantieri Navali Santa Maria
|
