View source for HMCS Cartier

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:HMCS Cartier HS-0050-182-C.jpg|300px|HMCS Cartier, possibly circa 1939-1941]]
|Ship caption=Undated photograph of HMCS ''Cartier''/HMCS ''Charny'', possibly circa 1939-1941.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}} {{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1921}}
|Ship name=''Cartier''
|Ship builder=[[Swan Hunter]], [[Tyne and Wear]]
|Ship yard number=
|Ship namesake=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship laid down=1908
|Ship launched=13 January 1910
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=*18 September 1939 as HMCS ''Cartier''
*9 December 1941 as HMCS ''Charny''
|Ship decommissioned=12 December 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Scuttled, 1957
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship displacement=556 tons
|Ship length={{convert|164|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|29|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|8|kn|km/h mph|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=60
|Ship armament=3 × [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounders]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMCS ''Cartier''''' was a commissioned surveying ship of the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] and saw service during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]].

==Pre-naval service==

She was built as CGS ''Cartier'' for service as a [[hydrographic survey]] ship by [[Swan Hunter|Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson]], at [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], between 1908 and 1910.

She saw many duties as a ship belonging to the Dominion government. She was utilized by Canada, [[France]], the [[United States]] and [[England]] while under the Dominion Flag on the East Coast of Canada, and throughout the [[Atlantic]], charting and taking [[Depth sounding|soundings]].  ''Cartier'' was used to chart some of the most dangerous coastal waters into [[Iceland]] and the [[Dominion of Newfoundland]].  She was also contracted to assist in [[Marine insurance]] Investigations.

==World War I ==

During [[World War I]], CGS ''Cartier'' supported the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] (RCN) and was converted to an armed patrol and training vessel for junior officers.  However, she was not commissioned into the RCN, and maintained her civilian name as she remained a Dominion asset.  The Dominion Government was responsible for her upkeep, as well as arming and manning her.  The RCN provided the personnel, however the Dominion government paid them separately from the naval service's budget.

==Inter-war service==

CGS ''Cartier'' returned to her former service as a hydrographic survey vessel which included work on the Atlantic coast.  Her ability to chart exact locations was used extensively to curb [[smuggling]] operations and Dominion law enforcement used her as a platform for anti-smuggling operations, resulting in timely searches of suspected smugglers.  Notwithstanding this role, she was forever a survey vessel first and foremost.

==World War II==

During [[World War II]], CGS ''Cartier'' was formally commissioned into the RCN on 18 September 1939, becoming '''HMCS ''Cartier'''''.  HMCS ''Cartier'' became a training ship and then an armed coastal patrol ship before returning to training duties.  As a training ship, her hydrographic survey instrumentation saw use in educating officers and crew for Advanced Navigation and Naval Mine Avoidance Navigation.

On 9 December 1941, HMCS ''Cartier'' was renamed '''HMCS ''Charny''''', likely to avoid confusion with the French-language [[Canadian Forces Primary Reserve#Naval Reserve|naval reserve]] unit in [[Montreal]], [[HMCS Donnacona|NCSM Cartier]].  By special dispensation of the Dominion Government, she was given the rare honour of being allowed to continue to fly her [[Pennant (commissioning)|commissioning pennant]] that she received as HMCS ''Cartier''.  From this time on, ''Charny'' was used as a training vessel and research vessel.  She received two [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (MID), and was entitled to paint two Oak Leaves on her funnels.  The MIDs were received for her assistance in [[radar]] research as a target and tracking vessel.  At various times, she was fitted with temporary Radar Sets and advanced communication gear, but only for testing purposes.

Upon being [[ship decommissioning|paid off]], ''Charny'' was no longer considered viable, and she was deemed surplus. In 1957, she was [[Scuttling|scuttled]] as a derelict, offshore of [[Sydney, Nova Scotia]].

==See also==

* [[Royal Canadian Sea Cadets]]

==References==
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/convert/ Converted civilian vessels]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120224233811/http://www.navy.gc.ca/project_pride/ships/ship_e.asp?shipNumber=42 Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Ship Technical Information]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120224233819/http://www.navy.gc.ca/project_pride/photo_archive/photo_archive_e.asp?section=1&category=C&title=42 Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Photo Archive]
* Macpherson, Keneth R. and Burgess, John. (1982) (Second Printing) The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–1981. Collins Publishers. {{ISBN|0-00-216856-1}}

{{coord missing|Nova Scotia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartier, Hmcs}}
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Nova Scotia coast]]
[[Category:1910 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]