William McIntosh's Experience on a Minesweeper

My father, William Robertson McIntosh, was born on the 11th of September 1915. Father was a lobster fisherman, and from 1941, aged 26, was on a minesweeper, blowing up mines in the Channel. The contributor noted that there were 120 men on the ship (HMS Queen Empress R399, nicknamed "Horace"), and there were no beds or sleeping quarters on the ship. Although the boat was a paddle steamer, the men pretended that it was a proper Royal Navy ship.

The contributor mentioned that at one point, wind wrecked the ship, and it had to be repaired in Wales before being sent back into the Channel. The contributor said that there was one rifle attached to the ship, that the men would take home at night. The men, in trying to destroy mines, would attach rope to mines and try to shoot to sink (not explode) them. The men would also sometimes try to shoot planes and hit mines with grenades. The ship was powered by coal, so everyone was covered in coal and coal got stuck in all the wounds.

William left the war, after becoming injured in 1941. William had kicked a grenade off the ship when it didn't get propelled properly, because the ship had been peppered. William got injured but saved the ship. William received war pensions and joined the civil service.