HMCS Bras d'Or (FHE 400)

HMCS "Bras d'Or" (FHE 400) was a hydrofoil that served in the Canadian Forces from 1968 to 1971.

The vessel was originally built from 1960-1967 for the Royal Canadian Navy as a project for testing anti-submarine warfare technology on an ocean-going hydrofoil. The RCN was replaced on February 1, 1968 by the unified Canadian Armed Forces and HMCS "Bras d'Or" was commissioned into that service several months later.

"Bras d'Or" is named in honour of the Bras d'Or Lake on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island, where inventor Alexander Graham Bell performed hydrofoil experiments in the early 20th century near his residence at Beinn Bhreagh, setting the world water speed record in the process.

It is the second ship to bear this name. The original Bras d'Or was an auxiliary minesweeper built in Sorel, Quebec in 1919. It served the east coast from Halifax and was lost at sea near Anticosti Island in 1940.

Construction

"Bras d'Or" was built at Marine Industries Limited (MIL) in Sorel, Quebec, the primary contractor being De Havilland Canada. The Principal Naval Overseer was Cdr. Donald Clark CD RCN who initiated the project on completion and launch of HMCS "Nipigon" in 1964. The hull was built upside down out of aluminum, rotated on January 22, 1966, when the hull was completed. The foil system was constructed from maraging steel.

Foils

"Bras d'Or" flew on a set of surface-piercing foils in a canard configuration (a small foil forward and a larger load-bearing foil aft). The foils were made of maraging steel coated in neoprene to prevent corrosion. Unfortunately, the neoprene coating didn't work very well and the foils cracked anyway.

The main foils featured several parts: two anhedral foils, two anhedral tips, two dihedral foils, and a centre high-speed foil. The steerable front foil featured two anhedral sections and two dihedral sections with a strut down the middle, resulting in a diamond shape.

Machinery

"Bras d'or" had two propulsion systems: one for foilborne operation and one for hullborne operation, which included four engines. Foilborne power was provided by a FT4A-2 gas turbine developing 25,500 hp at 21,500 rpm through General Electric gearboxes to a pair of three-bladed supercavitating propellers. Hullborne propulsion was driven by a Davey Paxman Ventura 16YJCM sixteen cylinder diesel engine to a pair of variable-pitch propellers. Auxiliary power and electrical power while foilborne was provided by an ST6A-53 gas turbine powering an auxiliary gearbox. Both of the P&W turbines were built by United Aircraft of Canada. There was also a GTCP85-291 gas turbine for essential ship requirements in emergencies.

The fire

On November 5, 1966, a De Havilland employee was in the main engine room with the ST6 running when a hydraulic fluid leak ignited on a hot joint in the ST6's exhaust stack. A flash fire resulted. The technician responsible for the fire-suppression system rescued the employee, but as a result did not have time to activate it.

The fire was put out one and a half hours later by the Sorel fire department. This delayed the ship's launch to July 12, 1968 and cost $5.7 million.

Trials

"Bras d'Or" first flew on April 9, 1969 near Chebucto Head off the entrance to Halifax Harbour.

"Bras d'Or" exhibited extraordinary stability in rough weather. "Bras D'Or" was frequently more stable at convert|40|kn|km/h|-1 than a conventional ship at 18.

"Bras D'Or" exceeded 63 knots on trials, quite possibly making her the fastest warship ever built.

Cancellation

"Bras d'or"'s trial program was abruptly cancelled on November 2, 1971 by Minister of National Defence Donald S. Macdonald, attributing it to a change in defence priority (from anti-submarine warfare to sovereignty protection). The ship was laid up for five years, then the program was completely killed, with most of the valuable components either sold by Crown Assets or scrapped.

The ship was saved and donated to the Musée Maritime du Québec at L'Islet sur Mer, Quebec where it remains on display to this day.

Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps BRAS D'OR (#268)

Located in Rothesay New Brunswick, RCSCC BRAS D'OR (#268) remains as a memory to the Bras d'Or. Currently parading 30 cadets each night. Bras d'Or is the Top Sea Cadet Corps in New Brunswick, and also home to the 2007 National Top Sea Cadet of the Year, New Brunswick's Top CIC officer of the Year and New Brunswick's Top Sea Cadet of the Year.

External links

*International Hydrofoil Society: http://www.foils.org
*Musée Maritime du Québec: http://www.mmq.qc.ca
*Bras d'Or article: http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/brasdor/
*Another Bras d'Or article: http://www.foils.org/brasdorp.htm

References

*cite book
last= Lynch
first= Thomas G.
title=The Flying 400 - Canada's Hydrofoil Project
year= 1983
publisher= Nimbus Publishing Ltd
location= Halifax, NS, Canada,
id= ISBN 0-920852-22-X| pages= p.128