Beachy Head-class repair ship

The Beachy Head-class repair ships were a class of 21 depot, maintenance and repair ships constructed for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. All of the ships in the class were constructed in Canada of which only five served in British waters during the war. Based on a modified mercantile design, five of the class were completed as merchant vessels after the war's end. Following the war, the majority were converted for mercantile use, with a further two ships ending up in service with the Royal Canadian Navy and another with the Royal Air Force.

Design and description Following setbacks in the Pacific theatre of operations which led to the loss of naval bases, the Royal Navy required more depot and repair ships for the fleet to replace shore facilities.Mitchell and Sawyer, p. 39 As part of the war construction programme, the Royal Navy ordered a series of vessels based on standard mercantile designs and modified them to fit their expected roles.Lenton and Colledge, p. 341 Repair and maintenance vessels were ordered from Canadian shipyards with the escort maintenance ships intended to service smaller types of warships, such as frigates and corvettes. The Beachy Head class, ordered from a series of Canadian shipbuilders, was based on the Fort ship, but of the "Victory" type layout.

The ships of the class had a standard displacement of and fully loaded. They were long overall and between perpendiculars with a beam of and a draught of .Blackman (1958), p. 79Lenton and Colledge, p. 350 The vessels were propelled by one shaft driven by a reciprocating triple expansion steam engine powered by steam from two Foster Wheeler water-tube boilers, creating . This gave the vessels a maximum speed of . Machinery was provided from three manufacturers; General Machinery Corporation of Hamilton, Ohio, Canadian Allis-Chalmers Ltd and Dominion Engineering Works of Montreal, Quebec.Mitchell and Sawyer, pp. 40–44 The vessels had a complement of 270.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 279 During the war, the vessels were armed with sixteen single-mounted 20 mm Oerlikon cannons.

Ships in class +Beachy Head classLenton and Colledge, pp. 350–351 Pennant no. Name Builder Launched Purpose Fate F02 Burrard Dry Dock 27 September 1944 Maintenance and repair ship HNLMS Vulkaan (1946); HMCS Cape Scott (1954); scrapped Texas 1978 F18 Burrard Dry Dock 21 October 1944 Maintenance and repair ship F36 West Coast Shipbuilders 10 February 1945 Depot ship F49 West Coast Shipbuilders 24 August 1945 Maintenance and repair ship F19 Burrard Dry Dock 14 April 1945 Depot ship F58 Burrard Dry Dock 17 November 1944 Maintenance and repair ship F46 West Coast Shipbuilding 15 March 1945 Depot ship F29 Burrard Dry Dock 30 April 1945 Depot ship F88 Burrard Dry Dock 7 October 1944 Maintenance and repair ship HMCS Cape Breton (1954); sunk as artificial reef 20 October 2001 F04 Burrard Dry Dock 29 March 1945 Depot ship Built as Penlee Point, converted to a missile trials ship from 1953 F25 Burrard Dry Dock 4 November 1944 Maintenance and repair ship F26 (ex-Kinnaird Head) North Vancouver Shipbuilding 26 October 1944 Maintenance and repair ship F86 North Vancouver Shipbuilding 5 April 1945 Maintenance and repair ship F96 (ex-Trevose Head) North Vancouver Shipbuilding 11 August 1945 Completed as merchant vessel Turan (1946) F67 West Coast Shipbuilders 12 April 1945 Completed as merchant vessel Rabaul (1951) F34 North Vancouver Shipbuilding 22 November 1944 Maintenance and repair ship Scrapped 2010 F73 North Vancouver Shipbuilding 8 June 1945 Completed as merchant vessel Iran (1951) F54 Burrard Dry Dock 11 July 1945 Completed as merchant vessel Waitemata (1946) F42 Burrard Dry Dock 8 June 1945 Depot ship F84 West Coast Shipbuilders 29 May 1945 Completed as merchant vessel Lautoka (1946)

Service history Of the sixteen vessels that completed before the end of the war, Fife Ness, Girdle Ness, Dodman Point, Dungeness and Spurn Point served in British waters around the United Kingdom. The remaining eleven vessels served either in the East Indies or in the Pacific. Following the war, Beachy Head was loaned to the Royal Netherlands Navy and renamed Vulkaan. The vessel returned to Royal Navy service in 1949 and was then sold to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed Cape Scott in 1954. Flamborough Head was also sold to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed Cape Breton in 1954. Fife Ness was transferred to the Royal Air Force and renamed Adastral in 1947.

The stern of Cape Breton was scrapped at the North Vancouver, British Columbia waterfront in 2014 despite protests, the rest of the ship having been sunk as an artificial reef.

Beachy Head-class repair ship

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