Allied Warships

HMCS Ontario (53)

Light cruiser of the Minotaur class


HMCS Ontario in dock at Belfast.
Photograph taken by Charles James Sadler, RCNVR. First Class Stoker, Official number V-4963.

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeLight cruiser
ClassMinotaur 
Pennant53 
Built byHarland & Wolff Ltd. (Belfast, Northern Ireland) 
Ordered 
Laid down20 Nov 1941 
Launched29 Jul 1943 
Commissioned25 May 1945 
End service15 Oct 1958 
History

Originally named HMS Minotaur but transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and named HMCS Ontario upon completion.

Paid off on 15 October 1958. She arrived at Osaka, Japan for breaking up on 19 November 1960.  

Former nameHMS Minotaur

Commands listed for HMCS Ontario (53)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Capt. Harold Taylor Wood Grant, DSO, RCN17 Mar 194531 Dec 1945

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Notable events involving Ontario include:


The page dealing with the wartime history of HMCS Ontario was created in June 2023.

26 Apr 1945
At 1200B/26, at her builders yard in Belfast, Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) is commissioned for trials. (1)

16 May 1945
Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted D/G trials off Belfast. (1)

17 May 1945
Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted trials off Belfast. (1)

19 May 1945
Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted gunnery trials off Belfast. (1)

20 May 1945
Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted cruising trials off Belfast. (1)

26 May 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) was accepted from the shipyard and then proceeded from Belfast to Greenock. (1)

29 May 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted trials / exercises in the Clyde area. (1)

2 Jun 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted trials / exercises in the Clyde area. (1)

11 Jun 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted torpedo firing exercises in the Clyde area. (1)

13 Jun 1945
Around 2015B/13, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) departed Greenock for Liverpool (Birkenhead) where she arrived the following afternoon. (1)

15 Jun 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) is docked in No.3 Graving Dock at Birkenhead. (1)

17 Jun 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) is undocked. She departed for Scapa Flow late in the evening. (1)

19 Jun 1945
Around 0615B/19, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) arrived at Scapa Flow from Liverpool. (1)

24 Jun 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted RIX (range and inclination) and close range AA gunnery exercises off Scapa Flow. (1)

27 Jun 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted RIX (range and inclination) at Scapa Flow during which ORP Garland (Kmdr.ppor. (Cdr.) acted as target.

These were followed by A/S exercises with HMS Truncheon (A/Lt.Cdr. R.J. Clutterbuck, DSO, RN). HMCS Ontario then returned to Scapa Flow for speed trials on the measured mile and gunnery exercises.

(1)

29 Jun 1945
Around 0700B/29, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) departed Scapa Flow for Liverpool. (1)

30 Jun 1945
Around 0730B/30, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) arrived at Liverpool from Scapa Flow. There a pom-pom director was embarked.

Around 1130B/30, she left for Greenock where she arrived around 2115B/30. (1)

2 Jul 1945
Around 2100B/2, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) departed Greenock for the Mediterranean where she was to continue her work-up programme. (1)

8 Jul 1945
Around 0830B/8, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) arrived at Malta from Greenock. (1)

11 Jul 1945
During the night of 11/12 July 1945, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises off Malta. (1)

12 Jul 1945
During 12/13 July 1945, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises off Malta. (1)

14 Jul 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted underway refuelling exercises off Malta. (1)

17 Jul 1945
During 17/18 July 1945, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises off Malta. (1)

19 Jul 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises, including gunnery, off Malta. (1)

20 Jul 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises off Malta. These included radar calibration exercises, underway towing exercises with HMS Bicester (Cdr. R.W.F. Northcott, DSO, RN), underway refuelling exercises with HMS Chiddingfold (A/Lt.Cdr. F.G. Woods, DSC, RN) and torpedo firing exercises. (1)

23 Jul 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises, including gunnery, off Malta. (1)

24 Jul 1945
During 24/25 July 1945, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted exercises off Malta. (1)

26 Jul 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted gunnery and torpedo firing exercises off Malta. (1)

2 Aug 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted gunnery and torpedo firing exercises off Malta. (1)

3 Aug 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted gunnery exercises off Malta on completion of which course was set for Alexandria via Ras El-Kanayis. (1)

5 Aug 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted bombardment exercises off Ras El-Kanayis. (1)

6 Aug 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted bombardment exercises off Ras El-Kanayis on completion of which she proceeded to Alexandria. (1)

9 Aug 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted gunnery exercises off Alexandria on completion of which course was set for Port Said where she was to enter the Suez Canal. (1)

10 Aug 1945
HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) transited the Suez Canal southbound and then set course for Aden. HMS Bicester (Cdr. R.W.F. Northcott, DSO, RN) and HMS Chiddingfold (A/Lt.Cdr. F.G. Woods, DSC, RN) joined during the passage to Aden. (1)

14 Aug 1945
Around 0630C/14, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN), HMS Bicester (Cdr. R.W.F. Northcott, DSO, RN), underway refuelling exercises with HMS Chiddingfold (A/Lt.Cdr. F.G. Woods, DSC, RN) arrived at Aden from Suez. En-route to Aden exercises had been carried out.

Around 1600C/14, HMCS Ontario departed Aden for Colombo. (1)

19 Aug 1945
Around 0700FG/19, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) arrived at Colombo from Aden. (1)

21 Aug 1945
Around 1630FG/21, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) departed Colombo for Trincomalee. On leaving Colombo gunnery exercises were carried out. (1)

22 Aug 1945
Around 1200FG/22, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) arrived at Trincomalee from Colombo. (1)

31 Aug 1945
In the morning, HMCS Ontario (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, DSO, RCN) conducted D/G trials off Trincomalee.

Around 1525FG/31, she departed Trincomalee as part of a convoy bound for Hong Kong with troops, stores and relief goods. (1)

Sources

  1. Reference: RG24-D-2, Volume number: 8872, Item ID number:1085374 (Library and Archives Canada (LAC))

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