RCN Corvettes (Flower Class): HMCS Owen Sound K340/HMCS Parry Sound K341/HMCS Peterborough K342/HMCS Pictou K146/HMCS Port Arthur K233/HMCS Prescott K161/HMCS Quesnel K133/HMCS Regina K234/HMCS Rimouski K121/HMCS Rivière du Loup K357/HMCS Rosthern K169

HMCS Owen Sound (K340)

 (Dan Dunbar Photo)

HMCS Owen Sound (K340) (Flower-class).  Built at Collingwood, Ontario, she was commissioned there on 17 Nov 1943.  HMCS Owen Sound arrived at Halifax on 13 Dec 1944, and in Feb 1944 was assigned to EG 9, Londonderry.  On 10 Mar 1944, while acting as escort to convoy SC.157, she assisted HMCS St. Laurent and HMS Forester in the destruction of U-845.  In May 1944 she transferred to EG C-2 at Londonderry and, in Oct 1944, to newly formed C-7.  She left 'Derry 6 Feb 1945 for her last westward trip, as escort on On.283 and, on arrival at Halifax, commenced refit.  On completion of the refit in mid-May 1945 she sailed for Bermuda for three weeks' working up and on her return was paid off on 19 Jul 1945 and placed in reserve at Sorel.  Later that year she was sold to the United Ship Corp. of New York, to become the Greek-flag merchant ship Cadio, last appearing in Lloyd's list for 1967-68.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Owen Sound (K340) (Flower-class).

HMCS Parry Sound (K341)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Parry Sound (K341) (Flower-class).  Built at Midland, Ontario, she was commissioned there on 30 Aug 1944.  HMCS Parry Sound arrived at Halifax late in Sep 1944 and left in Oct 1944 for three weeks' working-up in Bermuda.  From Bermuda she sailed direct to St. John's, arriving on 11 Nov 1944, and was assigned to EG C-7.  As the group was in Londonderry at the time, she sailed on 17 Nov 1944, in company with several US-built Russian sub-chasers, to join.  Her first convoy was ONS.39, which she picked up at the end of the year.  She left St. John's on 17 Jan 1945, for convoy HX.332 but developed defects and had to turn back.  It was mid-Mar 1945 before repairs were completed, and HMCS Parry Sound returned to convoy duty on 07 Apr 1945.  She departed Londonderry for the last time early in Jun 1945 and was paid off at Sydney on 10 Jul 1945.  Sold for conversion to a whale-killer, she entered service in 1950 as the Honduran Olympic Champion 1950, Japanese Otori Maru No. 15 in 1956, Kyo Maru No. 22 in 1961 until 1978.

HMCS Peterborough (K342)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Peterborough (K342) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Kingston on 01 Jun 1944, she arrived at Halifax on 26 Jun 1944 and in Bermuda on 17 Jul 1944 to work up.  HMCS Peterborough left Bermuda on 07 Aug 1944 for St. John's, where, in Sep 1944, she joined EG C-6 and sailed for her first convoy, HXF.308, on 18 Sep 1944.  Continuously employed as a mid-ocean escort for the rest of her career, she left St. John's on 27 May 1945, to join convoy HX.358, the last HX convoy of the war.  In mid-Jun 1945 she left Londonderry for home, where she was paid off on 19 Jul 1945 and laid up at Sorel.  She was sold to the Dominican republic in 1947 and renamed Gerardo Jansen, serving until disposed of for scrap in 1972.

HMCS Pictou (K146)

(Ken Macpherson, Naval Museum of Alberta, Photo MC-2774)

HMCS Pictou (K146) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Quebec City on 29 Apr 1941, HMCS Pictou arrived at Halifax on 12 May 1941.  She joined Newfoundland Command and left St. John's on 06 Jun 1941 with HX.131 for Iceland, one of the first two corvettes to escort an HX convoy.  She remained on the St. John's-Iceland run for the rest of the year.  After brief repairs at Halifax she returned to St. John's, where breakdowns forced her to turn back from three successive convoys.  She finally crossed with H.180 in Mar 1942, to Londonderry, carried out further repairs at Liverpool and, on completion early in Jun 1942, join EG C-4.  On 5 Aug 1942, while escorting convoy ON.116, she was rammed in a fog near St. John's by the Norwegian SS Hindanger, suffering severe damage to her stern.  After completing repairs at Halifax on 20 Sep 1942, she joined EG C-2.  On her return from the UK with ON.149 in Dec 1942, she required further repairs at Halifax, followed immediately by refit at Liverpool, NS.  In May 1943, she joined EG C-3, and on 17 Dec 1943 left Londonderry for the last time.  From early Jan to 31 Mar 1944, she was refitting at New York, incidentally receiving her extended fo'c's'le.  She then proceeded to Bermuda for three weeks' working-up, returning in mid-Jun 1944 to join EG W-5, Western Escort Force.  Paid off on 12 Jul 1945, at Sorel, she was sold for conversion to a whale-catcher, entering service in 1950 as the Honduran-flag Olympic Chaser.  Again sold in 1956, she served as the Otori Maru No. 7 until converted to a barge in 1962.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3393539)

HMCS Pictou (K146) (Flower-class), firing a depth charge, March 1942.

(IWM Photo, A8327)

Battle Crest Carried by HMS Pictou, Liverpool, 15 April 1942.  Petty Officer painting a crest on the ship's gun shield to commemorate the destruction of a German U-boat.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Pictou (K146) (Flower-class).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3571793)

HMCS Pictou (K146) (Flower-class), January 1942.

HMCS Port Arthur (K233)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Port Arthur (K233) (Flower-class).  Built by the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Port Arthur, Ontario, she was commissioned on 26 May 1942 at Montreal.  She arrived at Halifax on 10 Jun 1942 and was allocated to WLEF at the end of Jul 1942.  In Sep 1942 she was appointed to Operation "Torch" duties, arriving at Londonderry on 01 Nov 1942 from convoy SC.105, and during the next four months escorted UK-Mediterranean convoys.  On 19 Jan 1943, while so employed, HMCS Port Arthur sank the Italian submarine Tritone off Bougie, Algeria.  She arrived at Halifax on 23 Mar 1943, and, after brief repairs there, joined Western Support Force at St. John's.  On 1 May 1943, her CO, Lt E.T. Simmons, was awarded the DSO.  Early in Aug 1943 she began a major refit at Liverpool, NS, completing on 31 Dec 1943.  After working up at Halifax, she joined EG W-9, WEF.  In Apr 1944, she was assigned to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties and left St. John's on 24 Apr 1944 for Londonderry.  During the following four months she was occupied as a convoy escort in support of the invasion, and in September joined Portsmouth Command.  In Feb 1945, she returned to Canada, where VE-Day found her still under refit at Liverpool, NS.  She was paid off 11 Jul 1945 at Sorel and broken up at Hamilton in 1948.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Port Arthur (K233) (Flower-class), clearing Port Arthur Harbour for overseas service, 16 May 1942.

HMCS Prescott (K161)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3604328)

HMCS Prescott (K161) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 26 Jun 1941, HMCS Prescott arrived at Halifax on 04 Jul 1941 and was attached briefly to Halifax Force before arriving at St. John's on 31 Aug 1941 to join Newfoundland Command.  She spent the rest of the year escorting convoys between St. John's and Iceland, but early in 1942 experienced mechanical difficulties requiring two months' repairs at Liverpool, NS.  Resuming her mid-ocean duties on 21 Apr 1942, she made two round trips to Londonderry before being transferred to WLEF in July.  In Sep 1942 she was assigned to duties in connection with Operation "Torch", returning to Canada on 04 Apr 1943.  Late that month she began a six-month refit at Liverpool, NS, including extension of her fo'c's'le.  After work-ups at Pictou she sailed from St. John's on 19 Dec 1943 for the UK to join EG 6, Londonderry.  She served with the group, principally as escort to UK- Gibraltar/Freetown convoys, until Apr 1944, when its corvettes were replaced with frigates, then joined Western Approaches Command, Greenock, for invasion duties.  In Sep 1944 she returned to Liverpool, NS, for another refit and, after working up, went back to the UK to serve with Nore Command until the end of the war.  Returning to Halifax late in May 1945, she was paid off at Sorel 20 Jul 1945 and broken up in 1951 at Hamilton.

HMCS Quesnel (K133)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Quesnel (K133) (Flower-class).  Named for the town of Quesnel, BC, she was built by Victoria Machinery Deport Co., Ltd, Victoria, BC and commissioned on 23 May 1941 at Esquimalt.  She displaced 950 tons with a draught of  8'3" forward and 13' 5" aft when fully loaded.  Her overall length was 205 feet with a beam of 33 feet.  Her single steam reciprocating engine gave her a maximum speed of 16 knots.  After her "shake down" cruise to Prince Rupert in June 1941, the remainder of the year was spent performing various duties such as ASW training, towing gunnery targets and providing sea training to junior officers from Royal Roads.  Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, HMCS Quesnel was part of the rounding up of Japanese fishing vessels on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  She also acted as a tender to the Battleship HMS Warspite when she was working up in the strait of Juan De Fuca and Nanoose Bay.  In the spring of 1942, HMCS Quesnel carried out A/S patrols in the Strait of George and in Queen Charlotte and Millbank Sounds.  She also provided protection to individual ships from US ports to Alaska.  During this time HMCS Quesnel provided a screen to RMS Queen Elizabeth while she waited off Esquimalt for ideal tidal conditions to be dry docked in Feb 1942.  In June 1942 HMCS Quesnel provided escort to the US tanker Lombardi, arriving in Kodiak, Alaska on 16 Jun 1942.  En route back to Esquimalt, on 20 Jun 1942, she intercepted a message intended for HMCS Edmundston, requiring immediate assistance for the Fort Camosun, torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, position 47 22 N 125 30 W, approx 70 miles south west of cape Flattery.  Several Canadian and US ships responded but HMCS Quesnel was first on the scene.  On approaching the Fort Camosun HMCS Quesnel picked up a contact and delivered a depth charge attack.  Visible results were negative and contact was not regained.  The entire crew of Fort Camosun, 51 men, were rescued by HMCS Quesnel.  With the assistance of HMCS Edmundston, HMCS Vancouver and tugs, the Fort Camosun was brought to anchor in Neah Bay for pumping out before eventually making to to Esquimalt for repairs.  The balance of the summer of 1942 was spent on A/S patrol and intercepting unidentified ships in BC waters.  On 13 Sep 1942, HMCS Quesnel, in company with HMCS Timmins, HMCS Dundas, HMCS Edmundston and HMCS New Westminster departed Esquimalt for Halifax via the Panama Canal.  She arrived in Halifax on 13 Oct 1942 and was assigned to Western Local Escort Force until Jun 1944.  On 11 and 12 May 1943, while escorting convoy ON-180, HMCS Quesnel gained a contact.  A depth charge attack was made but no further contact was made.  With the division of the force into escort groups in Jun 1943, she became a member of EG W-1.  During this period she underwent a refit, including fo'c's'le extension, from early Sep to 23 Dec 1943, at Pictou.  This refit was followed by workups in St. Margaret's Bay and Bermuda.  In Jun 1944 Quesnel joined Quebec Force and spent five months escorting Labrador-Quebec convoys.  In Nov 1944 she was transferred to Halifax Force, going to Sydney for refit and, on completion late in Jan 1945, to Bermuda for workups.  She resumed escort duty late in Mar 1945, temporarily attached to EG W-5 and W-8 of WLEF until the end of the war.  While escorting her final convoy, HX-335, HMCS Quesnel rescued 17 of the crew from the damaged Esso Pitsburg on 12 May 1945, arriving at Halifax on 25 May 1945.  On 7 Jun 1945, she landed her ammunition at Shelburne, NS, and two days later arrived at Sydney, NS, to de-store.  HMCS Quesnel then proceeded to Sorel, Quebec where she was paid off on 3 Jul 1945.  She was sold on 5 Oct 1945 to the United Steel and Metal Company, Hamilton, Ontario, and was broken up there in 1946.  During her time escorting convoys in the Atlantic, HMCS Quesnel participated in 48 convoys and made ports of call at Goose Bay, Labrador; St. John's, Nfld; Sydney, NS; Halifax, NS; Saint John, NB; Boston, MA; New York, NY; and several ports in Quebec.

 (Bev Lundahl Photo)

HMCS Quesnel (K133), Thunderbird totem.

(USN Naval History and Heritage Photo)

HMCS Quesnel (K133).

HMCS Regina (K234)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950906)

HMCS Regina (K234) (Flower-class).  Built at Sorel Quebec, HMCS Regina arrived at Halifax on 6 Jan 1942, and was commissioned on 22 Jan 1942.  She served with WLEF from mid-Mar 1942 until Sep 1942, when she was reassigned to Operation "Torch."  Crossing as escort to convoy SC.108, she arrived at Belfast on 22 Nov 1942 for refit, following which she was employed as escort to UK-Mediterranean convoys.  While thus engaged on 8 Feb 1943, she sank the Italian submarine Avorio in the western Mediterranean, north of Phillipville, Algeria.  Returning to Canada late in Mar 1943, she briefly rejoined WLEF before commencing a refit at Sydney on 9 Jun 1943.  The work was completed at Pictou in mid-Dec 1943 and workups carried out there, followed by further repairs at Halifax and Shelburne.  HMCS Regina joined EG C-1 in Feb 1944, and at the beginning of Mar 1944 left Argentia to escort SC.154 to the UK, but was detached in mid-ocean with HMCS Valleyfield to escort an RN tug towing the convoy rescue ship Dundee toward Horta.  She left Horta on 14 Mar 1944, this time escorting the damaged HMCS Mulgrave, under tow for the Clyde.  Arriving at Londonderry toward the end of Mar 1944, HMCS Regina was assigned to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties.  She was employed as an escort to Channel and coastal convoys until 8 Aug 1944, when she was torpedoed and sunk off Trevose Head, Cornwall, by U-667.  Thirty of her ship's company were lost.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950907)

HMCS Regina (K234) (Flower-class), June 1942.

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Regina (K234), Pictou, NS.

(John Hawley Photo)

HMCS Rimouski (K121)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Rimouski (K121) (Flower-class).  Commissioned on 26 Apr 1941 at Quebec City, HMCS Rimouski arrived at Halifax on 12 May 1941 and was assigned to Newfoundland Command.  She shared with HMCS Pictou the honour of being one of the first two corvettes to escort an HX convoy (HX.131, in Jun 1941).  On 20 Jan 1942, after three months' refit at Halifax, she left St. John's to join convoy SC.65 for Londonderry.  After three round trips, she joined WLEF in Jun 1942.  In the course of a five-month refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, begun 24 Mar 1943, she received her extended fo'c's'le.  Upon completion she was assigned to EG C-1, MOEF, transferring to C-3 in Dec 1943.  In Apr 1944 while at Londonderry, she was allocated to Western Approaches Command, Greenock, for invasion duties, and left Oban on 31 May 1944 to escort blockships for Normandy.  She was employed until Aug 1944 as escort to Channel and coastal convoys, and then returned to Canada, where she served briefly as a Halifax-based training ship.  A refit begun at Louisbourg early in Nov 1944 was completed at Liverpool and Halifax in Feb 1945.  After working up, she returned to the UK to be based at Milford Haven as a member of EG 41, Plymouth, for the duration of the war.  Returning to Canada in Jun 1945 she was paid off at Sorel on 24 Jul and broken up at the Steel Company of Canada, Hamilton, Ontario in 1950.

(John Pickford Photo)

HMCS Rimouski (K121) (Flower-class).

 (John Pickford Photo)

HMCS Rimouski (K121) (Flower-class).

(John Pickford Photo)

HMCS Rimouski (K121) (Flower-class).

HMCS Rivière du Loup (K357)

(USN Naval History and Heritage Photo)

HMCS Rivière du Loup (K357) (Flower-class), off the eastern Seaboard on 1 Nov 1944.

Built at Quebec City, she was commissioned there on 21 Nov 1943.  She arrived at Halifax on 18 Dec1943 requiring a month's repairs.  She carried out working-up exercises in Bermuda early in Feb 1943, returning on 18 Feb 1943 to complete the exercises in St. Margaret's Bay.  Continuing mechanical problems necessitated further repairs, which continued at Halifax until early in Aug 1943.  Having lost most of her original crew during this period, she had to return to Bermuda to work up again.  Early in Sep 1944, Riviere du Loup returned to Halifax and joined EG W-3, WEF.  In Oct 1944 she was assigned to EG C-3 and left St. John's on 13 Nov 1944 to pick up her first transatlantic convoy, HX.319.  On arrival in the UK, still dogged by troubles, she underwent a month's repairs at Belfast.

On 10 Jan 1945, forty-seven sailors on HMCS Riviere-du-Loup refused to turn to for duty.  The following  is from the book "Mutiny and the Royal Canadian Navy" by Christopher M. Bell - "The most serious wartime mutiny, if judged by the punishments handed out, took place during the final year of the war in the corvette HMCS Rivière-du-Loup, also attached to the Western Approaches command.  The ship had been an unhappy one for some time, and the executive officer was especially unpopular with the crew, who had little respect for his professional abilities.  When the ship’s captain, Lieutenant R.N. Smillie, RCNVR, went into hospital to have an infected hand treated, men became alarmed by rumours that the first lieutenant would be taking the ship to sea the following day.  On the morning of 10 January 1945, forty seven sailors refused to turn in for duty and instead locked themselves in the forward mess.  Smillie rushed back to the ship but was unable to gain access to the mutineers. Rear-Admiral R.H.L. Bevan, the Flag-Officer-in-Charge, Northern Ireland, decided to wait matters out rather than attempt to force entry into the mess deck.  The mutineers surrendered several hours later and were escorted ashore.  They left behind a long list of complaints to justify their action.  The most serious charge, that senior officers (and especially the first lieutenant) were incapable of properly handling the ship, was clearly what had triggered the mutiny.  Other complaints, which undoubtedly contributed to the men’s general discontent, were presumably added to the list to bolster their case for mutiny.  These included excessive drinking by officers, the use of foul language to address ratings, and other disrespectful behaviour.  The subsequent board of enquiry blamed the incident primarily on ‘injudicious and tactless handling of the ratings by the Executive Officer’, and the crew’s concerns about his competence.  Both the captain and the first lieutenant were relieved of their duties.  Petty officers and leading seamen were reprimanded for failing ‘to notice trouble brewing’ and were drafted to other ships.  Forty-four of the 47 mutineers were sentenced to terms of between 42 and 90 days in Belfast Gaol."

Riviere-de-Loup's career as a mid-ocean escort ended with her arrival at Halifax late in May 1945, from convoy ON.304, and she was paid off on 02 Jul 1945 and placed in reserve at Sorel.  In 1947 she was sold to the Dominican Navy and renamed Juan Bautista Maggiolo.  She was broken up in 1972.

(Steve Rose Photo)

HMCS Rivière du Loup (K357)

HMCS Rosthern (K169)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Rosthern (K169) (Flower-class).  Built by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, she was commissioned on 17 Jun 1941, at Montreal.  HMCS Rosthern arrived at Halifax on 26 Jun 1941.  She joined Newfoundland Command and left St. John's for Iceland on 7 Oct 1941 as ocean escort to convoy SC.48.  She proceeded on to the Clyde, where mechanical defects kept her for two months, and arrived at Halifax on 28 Dec 1941 for further repairs, not resuming service until mid-Feb 1942.  She left Argentia, Newfoundland, on 27 Feb 1942 with HX.177 for Londonderry, and was thereafter employed continuously on North Atlantic convoys until Jun 1944.  In Apr 1942 she became a member of EG A-3, re-numbered C-5 in May.  HMCS Rosthern took part in three major convoy battles: SC.100 (Sep 1942); ON.166 (Feb 1943); and SC.121 (Mar 1943).  She left Londonderry for the last time on 27 May 1944, and on her return to Canada became a training ship at Halifax for navigation and ship-handling, attached at first to WLEF and then, from Dec 1944 onward, to Halifax Force.  She carried out workups at Bermuda in Dec 1944 escorting HMCS Provider on the homeward trip.  Rosthern had no long refits during the war, and never did have her fo'c's'le lengthened.  Paid off on 19 Jul 1945, at Sorel, she was sold to Steel Co. of Canada, Hamilton, Ontario, in Jun 1946 and broken up there the same year.

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Rosthern (K169).

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