Dun-class tanker

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The Dun class was a pair of small fuel tankers built during World War II for the Royal Canadian Navy. They were HMCS Dundalk and HMCS Dundurn, designed to move fuel oil for convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Built by the Canadian Bridge Company in Walkerville, Ontario, Dundock and Dundurn were launched in 1943 and commissioned later that year. They served until 1946, after which civilian crews continued to operate them as naval auxiliaries into the 1980s.

Technical notes: the ships displaced about 950 long tons (970 t) normally and up to 1,500 long tons (1,500 t) at full load. They were 178 ft 9 in (54.5 m) long, 33 ft 2 in (10.1 m) wide, and drew about 13 ft (4.0 m). Propulsion came from two Fairbanks-Morse diesel shafts with 700 bhp (522 kW), giving a top speed of 11 knots. Armament during the war included one QF 12-pounder gun and two 20 mm Oerlikon cannons. The crew was initially 3 officers and 27 enlisted, later reduced to 24. They could carry about 790 long tons (800 t) of fuel oil and 25 long tons (25 t) of dry cargo.

Both ships hauled fuel oil from refineries around Halifax to Atlantic bases used by convoy escorts. Dundalk sometimes served as a lighter as well. After the war, Dundalk remained in naval service with a civilian crew as a naval auxiliary; Dundurn was based on the West Coast at Esquimalt and paid off in 1947.

In 1948, Dundalk helped transport fuel to Churchill, Manitoba for an Arctic show of strength, and it was fitted with a gyro compass to navigate Hudson Bay. It also refueled destroyers at Port Burwell. Dundalk stayed in CNAV and later CFAV service until 1982, and was wrecked in 1984. Dundurn served on the West Coast until 1993 and was later sold to the Burrard Yacht Club in 1996 to be used as a floating breakwater.