HMCS ''Reo II'' was a former rum-running vessel turned military vessel from Meteghan,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Built in 1931, the ship was used for rum running for five years until

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

ended, and was turned into a coastal freighter. She was commissioned during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

as an auxiliary minesweeper. Declared surplus by the navy in 1945, she was sold to private interests in 1946. ''Reo II'' ended up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia under the care of the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society. In 1984 ''Reo II'' was deemed unfit for repair, and was scuttled off

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

in 1985.

Design and construction

''Reo II'' was designed specifically with rum running in mind. The ship was built with a low silhouette and was painted grey in order to avoid detection from the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

and Canadian coastal patrols. The ship was built in Meteghan,

, the vessel was completed in 1931. In Canadian naval service, the ship was measured at long, with a beam of and a draught of , had a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of and a maximum speed of . In Canadian naval service, the ship had a complement of four officers and 32 ratings.

Service history

Rum running

During

, ''Reo II'' was used for five years as a supply vessel for illegal liquor and spirits, also known as rum-running. Under direction of its captain, Aubrey Backman, the ship made countless trips along the North Atlantic Coast. The usual trip saw ''Reo II'' leave Nova Scotia for St. Pierre, where she would load up on goods. She then travelled down the United States to various drop off points, and returned to Nova Scotia. ''Reo II'' often visited other ports in Nova Scotia, such as Halifax and Lunenburg. After Prohibition ended, ''Reo II'' was used as a coastal freighter.

War

''Reo II'' was chartered by the

on 30 July 1940, but was not commissioned until 23 January 1941. ''Reo II'' served the navy mainly as an auxiliary minesweeper at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, but also as an examination vessel and coil skid towing vessel. She ended her naval duties on 19 October 1945, when she was declared surplus and paid off. The ship was then sold in 1946.

Post war

In 1970, ''Reo II'' was purchased by the Lunenburg Marine Museum Society, who placed her on display at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg. She remained there until 1984, when marine architects determined that the boat was not fit for repair. ''Reo II'' was taken from her mooring at the museum on 24 February 1985, and was towed out to sea roughly northeast of Halifax where the ship was scuttled at an explosive dumping ground. The wheelhouse was kept as a static monument on the dock outside the Lunenburg Marine Museum.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reo II 1931 ships Merchant ships of Canada Minesweepers of the Royal Canadian Navy Shipwrecks of the Nova Scotia coast Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Ships built in Nova Scotia