RCN Corvettes (Flower Class): HMCS Hawkesbury K415/HMCS Hepatica K159/HMCS Kamloops K176/HMCS Kamsack K171/HMCS Kenogami K125/HMCS Kitchener K225/HMCS La Malbaie K273

HMCS Hawkesbury (K415)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Hawkesbury (K415) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Quebec City on 14 Jun 1944, HMCS Hawkesbury arrived at Halifax in mid-Jul 1944 and proceeded to Bermuda on 6 Aug 1944 for three weeks' working-up.  On 18 Sep 1944 she left for St. John's to join convoy HXF.308 for passage to Londonderry, where she was to join EG C-7, then forming.  She served the remainder of her career on North Atlantic convoy duty, leaving Londonderry early in 5 Jun 1945, for Canada, and was paid off on 10 Jul 1945 at Sydney.  Taken to Sorel, she was later sold for mercantile purposes, entering service after conversion in 1950 to the Cambodian-owned Campuchea.  She was broken up at Hong Kong in 1956.

HMCS Hepatica (K159)

(Kelly Macklem Photo)

HMCS Hepatica (K159) (Flower-class).  Commissioned in the RN on 12 Nov 1940, at Quebec City, HMS Hepatica arrived at Halifax on 17 Nov 1940 and left on 18 Dec 1940 with convoy HX.97, armed with a dummy 4-inch gun.  The real thing was installed, and other deficiencies remedied, at Greenock, completing on 6 Mar 1941.  After working up in Apr 1941, she joined EG 4, Greenock.  On 15 May 1941 she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned as HMCS Hepatica K159.  In Jun 1941, after brief service as a UK-Iceland escort, she was assigned to NEF for the rest of the year, escorting convoys between Iceland at St. John's.  Late in Jan 1942, she escorted SC.64, the inaugural "Newfie-Derry" convoy, and for the next three months served on that run.  In Jun 1942 she joined the Tanker Escort Force, operating from Halifax, for one round trip to Trinidad and the, late in Jul 1942, joined Gulf Escort Force as a Quebec-Sydney convoy escort.  In Oct 1942 she was reassigned to Halifax Force, escorting Quebec-Labrador convoys and, in Dec 1942, to WLEF.  She was to serve with WLEF for the remainder of the war, from Jun 1943 as a member of EG W-5 and from Apr 1944, with W-4.  During this period HMCS Hepatica had to extensive refits from 11 Feb to 01 Apr 1943 and 20 Mar to 08 Jun 1944 both at New York.  The latter refit included the lengthening of her fo'c's'le, and was followed by three weeks' workups in Bermuda.  She left St. John's 27 May 1945, as escort to HX.358, and on 23 Jun 1945 was handed over to the RN at Milford Haven . She was broken up at Llanelly, Wales, in 1948.

(Gordon Lees Photo)

HMCS Hepatica (K159) (Flower-class).

(Gordon Lees Photo)

HMCS Hepatica (K159) (Flower-class).

HMCS Kamloops (K176)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4902568)

HMCS Kamloops (K176) (Flower Class).  Built by Victoria Machinery Depot Co. Ltd., Victoria, BC, she was commissioned at Victoria on 17 Mar 1941.  HMCS Kamloops arrived at Halifax on 19 Jun 1941 and was assigned to Halifax Force, serving as a local escort until the end of the year.  In Jan 1942, she commenced a year's duty as A/S/ training ship at Halifax and Pictou.  In mid-Feb 1943, she completed a three-month refit at Liverpool, NS, and after working up at Halifax, joined WLEF in Mar 1943.  She transferred in Jun 1943 to EG C-2, Newfoundland Command, and served with this group as an ocean escort for the remainder of the war.  In Sep 1943, she was with combined convoy ON.202/ONS.18, which lost six merchant ships and three of its escort.  On 28 Sep 1943, she sailed as escort to SC.143. The convoy was attacked by Wolfpack Rossbach.  One merchant ship, S.S. Yorkmar was sunk, and one escort, the Polish destroyer Orkan was sunk.  Three U-boats were sunk in the attacks on SC.143.  In mid-Dec 1943 she began a refit at Charlottetown, PEI, completed on 25 Apr 1944, in the course of which her fo'c's'le was extended.  Following workups in Bermuda in Jun 1945 she rejoined EG C-2.  She was paid off at Sorel on 27 Jun 1945, and sold her for scrap that October.

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Kamloops (K176) (Flower Class)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Kamloops (K176) (Flower Class), Halifax, 1941.

HMCS Kamsack (K171)

(William Gard Photo)

HMCS Kamsack (K171) (Flower-class).  Built at Port Arthur, Ontario, she was commissioned at Montreal on 04 Oct 1941.  She arrived at Halifax on 13 Oct 1941.  She joined Sydney Force the following month but shortly transferred to Newfoundland Command, and on 19 Jan 1942, left St. John's to pick up convoy SC.65 for Londonderry.  In Jun 1942, after three round trips, she was reassigned to WLEF, then forming, and served in it for the rest of the war.  From Jun 1943, she was a member of EG W-4, and from Apr 1944, a member of EG W-3 . During this period she had two extensive refits, the first, begun at Liverpool, NS, on 12 Nov 1942, was completed at Halifax on 18 Jan 1943; the second, in the course of which her fo'c's'le was extended, was carried out at Baltimore, MD, between late Dec 1943 and mid-Mar1944. HMCS Kamsack was paid off on 22 Jul 1945, at Sorel and sold to the Venezuelan Navy.  On 24 Dec 1945, the Venezuelan ship Kamsack, former HMCS Kamsack K171 arrived at New York City from Sorel, Quebec with a skeleton crew of RCN sailors: Gerald Fitzgerald OIC, Howard Ingram, Leo McTaggart, Maurice Harasym and Clifford Ashton.  Renamed Carabobo, she was wrecked on passage to Venezuela in December, 1945.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Kamsack (K171) (Flower-class).

HMCS Kenogami (K125)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Kenogami (K125) (Flower-class).  Built at Port Arthur, Ontario, she was commissioned at Montreal on 29 Jun 1941.  HMCS Kenogami arrived at Halifax on 04 Jul 1941.  She served briefly with Halifax Force before arriving at St. John's on 24 Aug 1941 to join as convoy escort all the way to the UK, as it lost 18 ships in what proved to be one of the worst convoy battles of the war.  In Feb, 1942, after five months' ocean escort duty between St. John's and Iceland, she made her first tip to Londonderry, joining WLEF on her return.  She received an extensive refit at Halifax through Jun and Jul 1942, and in Oct 1942 resumed her ocean escort duties with EG C-1.  The following month she took part in another fierce convoy battle, that of ONS.154, which lost 14 ships.  In Mar 1943, she made one round trip to Gibraltar, escorting follow-up convoys to the invasion of North Africa.  On 11 May 1943 she left 'Derry for the last time, attached to EG B-4 (RN) with convoy ON.183.  After a two-month refit at Liverpool, N.S., and workups at Pictou, she joined WLEF's EG W-8.  In Apr 1944, she transferred to W-4, but in Dec 1944 rejoined W-8 for the balance of the war.  During this period she underwent a major refit at Liverpool, NS, between Jun and Oct 1944, including fo'c's'le extension, followed by three weeks' workups in Bermuda.  She was paid off on 09 Jul 1945 at Sydney and broken up at Hamilton in 1950.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Kenogami (K125) (Flower-class).

HMCS Kitchener (K225)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Kitchener (K225) (Flower-class).  Laid down as HMCS Vancouver, she was renamed HMCS Kitchener prior to commissioning.  She was commissioned at Quebec City on 18 June 1942.  HMCS Kitchener arrived at Halifax on 16 Jul 1942 and carried out six weeks' workups at Pictou before briefly joining WLEF in Sep 1942.  It may have been during this unusually long workup that she starred in the film Corvette K-225 with Randolph Scott.  In Oct 1942 she was assigned to duties in connection with Operation "Torch," and arrived at Londonderry on 03 Nov 1942.  For the next four and one-half months she escorted UK-Mediterranean convoys, returning to Halifax on 19 Apr 1943, with convoy ONS.2.  In May 1943 she joined Western Support Force but in Jun 1943 transferred to EG C-5, MOEF, and during the following four months made three round trips to Londonderry.  A major refit, commenced in Oct 1943 at Liverpool, NS, was completed on 28 Jan 1944, followed by two weeks' working-up in Bermuda.  In mid-Apr 1944 she arrived at Londonderry, where she was assigned to invasion duties with Western Approaches Command, based at Milford Haven.  She arrived off the beaches on D-Day escorting a group of landing craft.  From Aug 1944 until the end of the war she served with EG 41, Plymouth, returning home late in May 1945, to be paid off at Sorel 11 Jul 1945.  She was broken up at Hamilton in 1949.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Kitchener (K225) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Kitchener (K225) (Flower-class).

HMCS La Malbaie (K273)

(DND Photo)

HMCS La Malbaie (K273) (Flower-class).  Built at Sorel, Quebec, she was laid down as HMCS Fort William.  Renamed in Nov 1941, she was commissioned at Sorel on 28 April 1942 as HMCS La Malbaie.  She arrived at Halifax on 13 May 1942 and, after working up there and at Pictou, joined WLEF late in Jun 1942.  After undergoing mechanical repairs at Halifax from 11 Aug to 20 Dec 1942, she was assigned to EG C-3, arriving at Londonderry for the first time on 12 Jan 1943, from HX.221.  She served with C-3 until her final departure from 'Derry on 26 Oct 1944.  During this period she underwent a major refit at Liverpool, NS, mid-Sep to mid-Dec 1943.  Late in Dec 1944, she joined Halifax Force for the duration of hostilities, was paid off on 28 Jun 1945, at Sorel, and broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1951.  A pre-launching photo of HMCS La Malbaie served as the model for the 20 cent Canadian stamp of 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo,  MIKAN No. 2242400)

HMCS La Malbaie (K273) (Flower-class) Corvette under construction, stamp study.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 2204003)

Corvette shipbuilding, Canada 20 cent stamp, issued in 1942.

‍

‍

‍