Porte-class gate vessel

The Porte-class gate vessels were a class of five boom defence vessels built in the early 1950s and operated by the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Canadian Forces (CF) during the Cold War. The class derived its name from the gates of the French fortifications of Québec and Louisbourg and was designed by the RCN as a replacement for World War I-era Battle-class trawlers used to operate anti-submarine booms during World War II. The Porte class were used primarily as training vessels during the Cold War.

Design and description
The Porte class were designed with the possibility of commercial adoption of the design by the Canadian fishing industry. The gate vessels were planned for use as auxiliary vessels during peacetime. The Porte class was of a trawler design, and were designed to operate the anti-submarine booms for harbour defence. They were also capable of being fitted for minelaying.

The Porte class were 125 ft long with a beam of 26 ft and a draught of 13 ft. They displaced 429 LT fully loaded and had an initial complement of 3 officers and 20 ratings. The Porte class were powered one Fairbanks-Morse 6-cylinder diesel engine driving one shaft creating 600 bhp. This gave the vessels a maximum speed of 11 kn. The vessels had a range of 4000 nmi at 10 kn. They were equipped with one Racal Decca navigation radar operating on the I band. The ships were armed with one 40 mm gun placed forward.

Service history
The first Porte-class vessel was ordered September 1949. Porte Saint Jean and Porte Saint Louis were based at Halifax, Nova Scotia and Porte Dauphine, Porte Québec and Porte de la Reine at Esquimalt, British Columbia. From 1958 to 1974, Porte Dauphine was loaned to the Department of Transport (DOT) as an environmental research ship on the Great Lakes, before transferring to the West Coast via the Panama Canal. Porte Dauphine was modified for DOT use, which involved the installation of a widened wheelhouse and a cafeteria. The vessels were used to train naval reserve crews in key trades such as navigation, diesel mechanics, communications and logistics. Porte Saint Jean and Porte Saint Louis began training on the Great Lakes in 1953, working with HMCS Star in Hamilton, Ontario. They sometimes travelled to Bermuda for training. In 1973, Porte Saint Jean and Porte Saint Louis sailed into the eastern Arctic. With the arrival of the Kingston-class coastal defence vessels in the mid-1990s, the Porte class was retired. Porte Dauphine was the first, discarded in December 1995, followed by Porte Saint Jean and Porte Saint Louis in March 1996 and Porte Québec and Porte de la Reine in December 1996.