NAVY HISTORY - The Pacific War

1939


HMCS Courtenay was a Bangor-class minesweeper constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Entering service in 1942, Courtenay spent the entire war on the West Coast of Canada. The vessel was decommissioned in 1945 and sold for mercantile service in 1946. The fate of the vessel is uncertain.

The minesweeper was ordered as part of the 1940–41 construction programme. The ship's keel was laid down on 28 January 1941 by Prince Rupert Dry Dock & Shipyards Co. in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Courtenay was launched on 2 August 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 21 March 1942 at Prince Rupert.[3] Courtenay spent the entirety of the Second World War on the West Coast of Canada. Courtenay was among the eight minesweepers added to the force protecting the West Coast during the first five months of 1942 following the need to establish a larger force following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.[5] Assigned to the patrol units Esquimalt Force (operating out of Esquimalt, British Columbia) or Prince Rupert Force, the main duty of Bangor-class minesweepers after commissioning on the West Coast would be to perform the Western Patrol. Patrolling the west coast of Vancouver Island, inspecting inlets and sounds and past the Scott Islands to Gordon Channel at the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Strait.[3][6] Following the end of the war, Courtenay was paid off at Esquimalt on 5 November 1945.[3] The minesweeper was sold to the Union Steamship Company for mercantile conversion on 3 April 1946.[3][7] However, the conversion never took place and the fate of the vessel remains unknown with Macpherson and Barrie tracking a purchase offer by a San Francisco firm in 1951 and the Miramar Ship Index claiming that the ship was broken up in 1946.

There has been only 1 vessel named Courtenay in the Royal Canadian Navy.

1939 February 1 February, 1939: Japan captures Hainan Island, which is seen to have strategic implications by the British.
1939 May 1 May–September, 1939: Japan and the Soviet Union engage in border clashes around the Khalka River in Mongolia, culminating in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol. Crushing defeats lead the Strike South Group to avoid conflict against the powerful Soviet Army.
1939 July 1 July, 1939: The United States announces its withdrawal from its commercial treaty with Japan.
1939 September 1 The Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany starts at 4:45 a.m. with the Luftwaffe attacking several targets in Poland. The Luftwaffe launches air attacks against Kraków, Łódź, and Warsaw. Within five minutes of the Luftwaffe attacks, Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine orders the old Battleship Schleswig-Holstein to open fire on the Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig on the Baltic Sea, but the attack is repulsed. By 8:00 a.m., troops of the German Army, still without a formal declaration of war issued, launch an attack near the Polish town of Mokra.
1939 September 1 Norway and Switzerland declare their neutrality.
1939 September 1 The British government declares general mobilization of the British Armed Forces and starts evacuation plans in preparation of German air attacks.
1939 September 1 The Republic of China and the Empire of Japan are involved in the early stages of the third year of armed conflict between them during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The war is in what will be known as the "Second Period", which starts in October 1938 and ends in December 1941. This conflict will eventually be swept up into World War II when Japan joins the Axis and China joins the Allies.
1939 September 2 The United Kingdom and France issue a joint ultimatum to Germany, requiring German troops to evacuate Polish territory; President Douglas Hyde of the Republic of Ireland declares the neutrality of his nation; the Swiss government orders a general mobilization of its forces.
1939 September 2 The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 is enacted immediately and enforces full conscription on all males between 18 and 41 resident in the UK.
1939 September 2 The Free City of Danzig is annexed by Germany. Resistors entrenched in the city's Polish Post Office are overwhelmed.
1939 September 3 At 11:15 a.m. British Standard Time (BST), British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announces on BBC Radio that the deadline of the final British ultimatum for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland expired at 11:00am and that "consequently this nation is at war with Germany". The Parliaments of Australia and New Zealand and the Viceroy of India also declare war on Germany within hours of Britain's declaration.
1939 September 3 At 12:30pm BST the French Government delivers a similar final ultimatum; which expires at 3:00pm BST.[1]
1939 September 3 Within hours of the British declaration of War, SS Athenia, a British cruise ship en route from Glasgow, Scotland to Montreal, Quebec, Canada is torpedoed by the German submarine U-30 250 miles (400 km) Northwest of Ireland. 112 passengers and crew members are killed. The "Battle of the Atlantic" starts.
1939 September 3 Bromberg massacre: many ethnic German civilians are killed in the Polish city of Bromberg.
1939 September 4 At 8:00 a.m. Newfoundland Standard Time (NST), Dominion of Newfoundland declares war on Germany.
1939 September 4 In the first British offensive action of the war, the Royal Air Force launch a raid on the German fleet in the Heligoland Bight. They target the German pocket-battleship Admiral Scheer anchored off Wilhelmshaven at the western end of the Kiel Canal. Several aircraft are lost in the attack and, although the German vessel is hit three times, all of the bombs fail to explode.
1939 September 4 Japan announces its neutrality in the European situation. The British Admiralty announces the beginning of a naval blockade on Germany, one of a range of measures by which the British will wage economic warfare on the Axis powers.
1939 September 4 The United States launches the Neutrality Patrol.
1939 September 5 South African Prime Minister Barry Hertzog fails to gain support for a declaration of South African neutrality and is deposed by a party caucus for Deputy Prime Minister Jan Smuts.
1939 September 5  The United States publicly declares neutrality.[2]
1939 September 6 South Africa, now under Prime Minister Jan Smuts, declares war on Germany.
1939 September 6 Battle of Barking Creek, a friendly fire incident, results in the first RAF fighter pilot fatality of the war.[3]
1939 September 6 The German army occupies Kraków in the south of Poland; Polish army is in general retreat.
1939 September 7 France begins a token offensive, moving into German territory near Saarbrücken.
1939 September 7 The National Registration Act 1939 is passed in Britain introducing identity cards and allowing the government to control labour.
1939 September 8 The British Government announces the re-introduction of the convoy system for merchant ships and a full-scale blockade on German shipping.
1939 September 9  The French Saar Offensive stalls at the heavily mined Warndt Forest having advanced approximately 8 miles (13 km) into lightly defended German territory.
1939 September 10 After passing both Houses of the Canadian parliament by unanimous consent and receiving Royal Assent by the Governor General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir, Canada declares war on Germany on September 10th.[4]
1939 September 11 Viceroy of India Lord Linlithgow announces to the two houses of the Indian Legislature (the Council of State and the Legislative Assembly) that due to India's participation in the war, the plans for the Federation of India under the Government of India Act 1935 will be indefinitely postponed.
1939 September 12 General Gamelin orders a halt to the French advance into Germany.
1939 September 14 Destroyers escorting the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sank the U-39 with depth charges. All crew members were rescued and taken prisoner. It was the first sinking of a German U-boat in WWII.
1939 September 15 The Polish Army is ordered to hold out at the Romanian border until the Allies arrive.[5]
1939 September 16 The German Army complete the encirclement of Warsaw.
1939 September 16 The French complete their retreat from Germany, ending the Saar Offensive.
1939 September 17 The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east, occupying the territory east of the Curzon line as well as Białystok and Eastern Galicia.
1939 September 17 Aircraft carrier HMS Courageous is torpedoed and sunk by U-29 on patrol off the coast of Ireland.
1939 September 17 The Imperial Japanese Army launches attacks on the Chinese city of Changsha, when their forces in northern Jiangxi attacked westward toward Henan.
1939 September 18 Polish President Ignacy Mościcki and Commander-in-Chief Edward Rydz-Śmigły leave Poland for Romania, where they are both interned; Russian forces reach Vilnius and Brest-Litovsk. Polish submarine escapes from Tallinn; Estonia's neutrality is questioned by the Soviet Union and Germany.
1939 September 19 The German and Soviet armies link up near Brest Litovsk.
1939 September 19 Soviet Union blockades the harbour of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
1939 September 19 The Japanese Imperial Army attacks the Chinese National Revolutionary Army along the Xinqiang River using poison gas during the Battle of Changsha.
1939 September 20 German submarine U-27 is sunk with depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Fortune and HMS Forester.
1939 September 21 Romanian Prime Minister Armand Călinescu is assassinated by the Iron Guard, an ultra-nationalistic group in Romania.
1939 September 23 The Imperial Japanese Army drive the Chinese National Revolutionary Army out of the Xinqiang River area, and the 6th and 13th Divisions cross the river under artillery cover and advances further south along the Miluo River during the Battle of Changsha.
1939 September 24 Soviet air force violates Estonian airspace. The Estonians negotiate with Molotov in Moscow. Molotov warns the Estonians that if the Soviet Union doesn’t get military bases in Estonia, it will be forced to use "more radical actions".
1939 September 25 German home front measures begin with food rationing.
1939 September 25 Soviet air activity in Estonia. Soviet troops along the Estonian border include 600 tanks, 600 aircraft and 160 000 men.
1939 September 26 Following a massive artillery bombardment, the Germans launch a major infantry assault on the centre of Warsaw.
1939 September 26 Russian bombers seen in the Tallinn sky.
1939 September 27 In the first offensive operations by the German Army in Western Europe, guns on the Siegfried Line open up on villages behind French Maginot line.
1939 September 28 German–Soviet Frontier Treaty is signed by Molotov and Ribbentrop. The secret protocol specifies the details of partition of Poland originally defined in Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (August 23, 1939) and adds Lithuania to the Soviet Union sphere of interest.
1939 September 28 The remaining Polish army and militia in the centre of Warsaw capitulate to the Germans.
1939 September 28 Soviet troops mass by the Latvian border. Latvian air space violated.
1939 September 28 Estonia signs a 10-year Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, which allows the Soviets to have 30 000-men military bases in Estonia. As a gift in return Stalin promises to respect Estonian independence.
1939 September 29 The Japanese Imperial Army reaches the outskirts of Changsha. However, it is unable to conquer the city because its supply lines are cut off by the Chinese National Revolutionary Army.
1939 September 30 The German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks its first merchant ship, the British freighter Clement while off the coast of Pernambuco, Brazil.
1939 September 30 French forces on the French-German border fall back to the Maginot Line in anticipation of a German invasion.[6]
1939 October 1 Latvian representatives negotiate with Stalin and Molotov. Soviets threaten an occupation by force if they do not get military bases in Latvia.
1939 October 2 Declaration of Panama is approved by American Republics. Belligerent activities should not take place within waters adjacent to the American continent. A neutrality zone of some 300 miles (480 km) in breadth is to be patrolled by the U.S. Navy.
1939 October 3 British forces move to the Belgian border, anticipating a German invasion of the West.
1939 October 3 Lithuanians meet Stalin and Molotov in Moscow. Stalin offers Lithuania the city of Vilnius (in Poland) in return for allowing Soviet military bases in Lithuania. The Lithuanians are reluctant.
1939 October 5 Latvia signs a 10-year Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, which allows the Soviets to have 25,000 men in military bases in Latvia. Stalin promises to respect Latvian independence.
1939 October 6 Chinese army reportedly defeats the Japanese at the Battle of Changsha.
1939 October 6 Polish resistance in the Polish September Campaign comes to an end. Hitler speaks before the Reichstag, declaring a desire for a conference with Britain and France to restore peace.
1939 October 7 Lithuanians again meet the Soviets in Moscow. The Soviets demand military bases.
1939 October 9 Germany issues orders (Case Yellow) to prepare for the invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
1939 October 10 The last of Poland's military surrenders to the Germans.
1939 October 10 The leaders of the German navy suggest to Hitler they need to occupy Norway.
1939 October 10 British Prime Minister Chamberlain declines Hitler's offer of peace.
1939 October 10 Lithuania signs a 15-year Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, which allows the Soviets to have 20,000 men in military bases in Lithuania. In a secret protocol, Vilnius is made Lithuanian territory.
1939 October 11 An estimated 158,000 British troops are now in France.
1939 October 12 Adolf Eichmann starts deporting Jews from Austria and Czechoslovakia into Poland.
1939 October 12 French Premier Édouard Daladier declines Hitler's offer of peace.
1939 October 12 Finland's representatives meet Stalin and Molotov in Moscow. Soviet Union demands Finland give up a military base near Helsinki and exchange some Soviet and Finnish territories to protect Leningrad against Great Britain or the eventual future threat of Germany.
1939 October 14 The British battleship HMS Royal Oak is sunk in Scapa Flow harbour by U-47, under the command of Günther Prien.
1939 October 14 Finns meet Stalin again. Stalin tells that "an accident" might happen between Finnish and Soviet troops, if the negotiations last too long.
1939 October 16 First air attack on Great Britain, aimed at ships in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.[7]
1939 October 18 First Soviet forces enter Estonia. During the Umsiedlung, 12,600 Baltic Germans leave Estonia.
1939 October 19 Portions of Poland are formally inducted into Germany; the first Jewish ghetto is established at Lublin.
1939 October 20 The "Phoney War": French troops settle in the Maginot line's dormitories and tunnels; the British build new fortifications along the "gap" between the Maginot line and the Channel.
1939 October 20 Pope Pius XII's first encyclical condemns racism and dictatorships.
1939 October 27 Belgium announces that it is neutral in the present conflict.
1939 October 30 The British government releases a report on concentration camps being built in Europe for Jews and anti-Nazis.[8]
1939 October 31 As Germany plans for an attack on France, German Lieutenant-General Erich von Manstein proposes that Germany attack through the Ardennes rather than through Belgium – the expected attack route.
1939 November 1 Latvian representatives negotiate with Stalin and Molotov. Soviets threaten an occupation by force if they do not get military bases in Latvia.
1939 November 2 Declaration of Panama is approved by American Republics. Belligerent activities should not take place within waters adjacent to the American continent. A neutrality zone of some 300 miles (480 km) in breadth is to be patrolled by the U.S. Navy.
1939 November 3 British forces move to the Belgian border, anticipating a German invasion of the West.
1939 November 3 Lithuanians meet Stalin and Molotov in Moscow. Stalin offers Lithuania the city of Vilnius (in Poland) in return for allowing Soviet military bases in Lithuania. The Lithuanians are reluctant.
1939 November 5 Latvia signs a 10-year Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, which allows the Soviets to have 25,000 men in military bases in Latvia. Stalin promises to respect Latvian independence.
1939 November 6 Chinese army reportedly defeats the Japanese at the Battle of Changsha.
1939 November 6 Polish resistance in the Polish September Campaign comes to an end. Hitler speaks before the Reichstag, declaring a desire for a conference with Britain and France to restore peace.
1939 November 7 Lithuanians again meet the Soviets in Moscow. The Soviets demand military bases.
1939 November 9 Germany issues orders (Case Yellow) to prepare for the invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
1939 November 10 The last of Poland's military surrenders to the Germans.
1939 November 10 The leaders of the German navy suggest to Hitler they need to occupy Norway.
1939 November 10 British Prime Minister Chamberlain declines Hitler's offer of peace.
1939 November 10 Lithuania signs a 15-year Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union, which allows the Soviets to have 20,000 men in military bases in Lithuania. In a secret protocol, Vilnius is made Lithuanian territory.
1939 November 11 An estimated 158,000 British troops are now in France.
1939 November 12 Adolf Eichmann starts deporting Jews from Austria and Czechoslovakia into Poland.
1939 November 12 French Premier Édouard Daladier declines Hitler's offer of peace.
1939 November 12 Finland's representatives meet Stalin and Molotov in Moscow. Soviet Union demands Finland give up a military base near Helsinki and exchange some Soviet and Finnish territories to protect Leningrad against Great Britain or the eventual future threat of Germany.
1939 November 14 The British battleship HMS Royal Oak is sunk in Scapa Flow harbour by U-47, under the command of Günther Prien.
1939 November 14 Finns meet Stalin again. Stalin tells that "an accident" might happen between Finnish and Soviet troops, if the negotiations last too long.
1939 November 16 First air attack on Great Britain, aimed at ships in the Firth of Forth, Scotland.[7]
1939 November 18 First Soviet forces enter Estonia. During the Umsiedlung, 12,600 Baltic Germans leave Estonia.
1939 November 19 Portions of Poland are formally inducted into Germany; the first Jewish ghetto is established at Lublin.
1939 November 20 The "Phoney War": French troops settle in the Maginot line's dormitories and tunnels; the British build new fortifications along the "gap" between the Maginot line and the Channel.
1939 November 20 Pope Pius XII's first encyclical condemns racism and dictatorships.
1939 November 27 Belgium announces that it is neutral in the present conflict.
1939 November 30 The British government releases a report on concentration camps being built in Europe for Jews and anti-Nazis.[8]
1939 November 31 As Germany plans for an attack on France, German Lieutenant-General Erich von Manstein proposes that Germany attack through the Ardennes rather than through Belgium – the expected attack route.
1939 December 1 Russia continues its war against Finland; Helsinki is bombed. In the first two weeks of the month, the Finns retreat to the Mannerheim line, an outmoded defensive line just inside the southern border with Russia.
1939 December 2 The Red Army takes Petsamo.[10]
1939 December 5 The Russian invaders start heavy attacks on the Mannerheim line. The Battles of Kollaa and Suomussalmi begin.
1939 December 7 Italy again declares its neutrality. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark also proclaim their neutrality in the Russo-Finnish quarrel.
1939 December 11 The Russians meet with several tactical defeats by the Finnish army.
1939 December 12 The destroyer HMS Duchess sinks after a collision with the battleship HMS Barham off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 124 men.
1939 December 13 The Battle of the River Plate off Montevideo, Uruguay. A British naval squadron attacks the Admiral Graf Spee.
1939 December 14 The Graf Spee retreats, badly damaged, into Montevideo harbor.
1939 December 14 The USSR is expelled from the League of Nations in response to the Soviet invasion of Finland on November 30.[11]
1939 December 15 Soviet Army assaults Taipale, Finland during the Battle of Taipale.[12]
1939 December 17 The Graf Spee is forced by International Law to leave Montevideo harbor; it is scuttled just outside the harbor. Its captain, Hans Langsdorff, is interned.
1939 December 18 The first Canadian troops arrive in Europe.
1939 December 18 Germany defeats Britain in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight.
1939 December 20 Captain Hans Langsdorff commits suicide.
1939 December 27 The first Indian troops arrive in France.
1939 December 28 The British Minister of Food W.S. Morrison announced that starting January 8, rationing would be expanded to include butter, bacon, ham and sugar.[13]
1939 December 29 As the year ends, the Finns continue to have successes in fighting the invaders, along the way capturing many men and vehicles.[citation needed]
1939 December 30 Finnish troops at Suomussalmi, completely destroy the Russian 163rd Infantry Division.
1939 December 31 German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels makes a radio address reviewing the official Nazi version of the events of 1939. No predictions were made for 1940 other than saying that the next year "will be a hard year, and we must be ready for it."[14]
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1939

The Year in Pictures

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Royal Visit

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Wartime Art

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HMS George V

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The Battle Begins

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HMCS Quebec

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The Royals in Vancouver

1939

Sources

Cite Article : Reference: www.navyhistory/sections/Ships/Minesweepers/HMCS_Courtenay.html

Source: NA