Royal Canadian Navy Corvettes (Flower Class), HMCS Lachute K440 to HMCS Woodstock K238

RCN Corvettes (Flower Class), Part 2

HMCS Lachute (K440)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Lachute (K440) (Flower-class).  Built at Quebec City, she was commissioned there on 26 Oct 1944.  HMCS Lachute arrived at Halifax in mid-Nov 1944 and left for Bermuda on 02 Dec 1944 for three weeks' workups . Assigned on her return to EG C-5 at St. John's, she left there on 5 Jan 1945, to escort her first convoy, SC.164.  She served the remainder of her career as a mid-ocean escort, leaving Londonderry on 26 May 1945 to join ON.305, the last westbound convoy of the war.  On 10 Jul 1945 she was paid off and placed in reserve at Sorel.  In 1947 she was sold to the Dominican Republic and joined its navy as Colon.  Deleted from the active list in 1978, she was driven ashore in a hurricane on 31 Aug 1979 alongside her sister Juan Alejandro Acosta (former HMCS Louisburg K401).

HMCS Lethbridge (K160)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Lethbridge (K160) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 25 Jun 1941, HMCS Lethbridge arrived at Halifax on 04 Jul 1941.  She served briefly with Sydney Force before joined NEF and leaving Sydney on 11 Oct 1941 with convoy SV.49 for Iceland.  She was employed between St. John's and Iceland until Feb 1942, and thereafter on the "Newfie-Derry" run.  On 20 Jun 1942, she left Londonderry for the last time, and on her return to Halifax joined Gulf Escort Force to escort Quebec-Sydney convoys.  After refitting at Liverpool, NS, from 10 Sep to 22 Oct 1942 and working up at Pictou, she arrived at New York on 18 Nov 1942 to be placed under US control as escort to New York-Guantanamo convoys.  In Mar 1943, she returned to Halifax to join WLEF for the remainder of the war, from Jun 1943, as a member of EG W-3 and from Apr 1944, as a member of W-5.  She acquired her extended fo'c's'le during a refit at Sydney from Jan to Mar 1944, which was followed by three weeks' working-up at Bermuda in Apr 1944.  She was paid off on 23 Jul 1945, at Sorel and sold to Marine Industries Ltd., who resold her in 1952 for conversion to a whale-catcher.  The conversion was completed in 1955, she entered service under the Dutch flag as Nicolaas Vinke.  She was broken up at Santander, Spain, in 1966.

HMCS Lévis (K115)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Lévis (K115) (Flower-class).  Commissioned on 16 May 1941, at Quebec City, Levis arrived at Halifax on 29 May 1941, worked up there and in Jun 1941, joined NEF.  On 13 Sep 1941, after one round trip to Iceland, she left St. John's as ocean escort to convoy SC.44.  On 19 Sep 1941 she was torpedoed by U-74, 120 miles east of Cape Farwell, Greenland, resulting in the loss of 18 lives.  She initially survived the torpedoing but sunk later that day while under tow by HMCS Mayflower.  During the several hours she remained afloat, the remainder of her ship's company were taken off by her sisters HMCS Mayflower and HMCS Agassiz.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, PA136257)

HMCS Lévis (K115) (Flower-class), shortly after she was torpedoed by U-74.  She sank sunk off Greenland, 19 Sep 1941.

HMCS Lindsay (K338)

(Dave Chamberlain Photo)

HMCS Lindsay (K338) (Flower-class).  Launched and commissioned at Midland on 15 Nov 1943, HMCS Lindsay arrived at Halifax in Dec 1943 and late in Jan 1944, sailed to Bermuda for three weeks' workups.  Upon her return she was briefly attached to EG W-5, but left Halifax on 23 Apr 1944 to join Western Approaches Command at Londonderry.  For the next four months she served in UK waters, taking part in the D-Day invasion, as an unallocated unit.  In Sep 1944, she joined the RN's EG 41, Plymouth Command, for service in the Channel.  On Saturday May 20th 1944 at 04:50 hrs while sailing back to Londonderry from Larne at 12 knots in line with HMCS Port Arthur, HMCS Trentonian, HMCS Alberni (Senior Officer), and HMCS Lindsay, last in the column - HMCS Lindsay was involved in a collision with a civilian fishing trawler, the St. Springwell.  Damage was minimal.  HMCS Springwell was found totally responsible.  The owners of the trawler attempted to sue for damages but later dropped the suit due to impending travel and witness costs.  In Aug 1944, HMCS Lindsay went into drydock in Milford Haven, South Wales, to have the damage to her bow from her collision with St. Springwell repaired.  On 22 Jan 1945, HMCS Lindsay was damaged in collision with HMS Brilliant southwest of the Isle of Wight.  Following temporary repairs at Davenport from  22 Jan to 19 Feb 1945, she sailed for Canada via Londonderry, arriving at Halifax early in Mar 1945.  She left there on 15 Mar 1945 for Saint John, where she was under refit until 22 Jun 1945, then proceeded to Sydney and was paid off on 18 Jul 1945.  She was sold for mercantile use in 1946 and renamed North Shore, later passing into Greek registry for Mediterranean passenger service until the name of Lemnos.  She was broken up ten years later.

(Dave Chamberlain Photo)

HMCS Lindsay (K338) (Flower-class).

HMCS Long Branch (K487)

(Dale Davies Photo)

HMCS Long Branch (K487) (Flower-class).  Built for the RN as HMS Candytuft, she was launched on 28 Sep 1943.  Transferred to the RCN in Sep 1943 she was commissioned on 5 Jan 1944 as HMCS Long Branch K487; named after a village near Toronto.  In Apr 1944, following a month's workups at Tobermory, HMCS Long Branch joined EG C-5 at Londonderry, and sailed to pick up her maiden convoy, ONS.233.  She developed mechanical defects on the crossing and was under repair at St. John's for six weeks.  She left St. John's 14 Jun 1944 to resume her duties, but returned from her next westbound convoy with the assistance of HM tug Tenacity.  Repaired, she left St. John's on 23 Jul 1944 to join HXS.300, the largest convoy of the war, and continued as an ocean escort until her final departure from "Derry on 27 Jan 1945.  Arriving at Halifax on 11 Feb 1945, she commenced a refit on completion of which, in Apr 1945, she was assigned to Halifax Force for local duties.  On 17 Jun 1945 she was paid off at Sorel for disposal.  Sold for commercial use in 1947, she was renamed Rexton Kent II (later dropping the "II") and finally scuttled off the east coast in 1966.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950836)

HMCS Long Branch (K487) (Flower-class)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Long Branch (K487) (Flower-class), 5-inch Gun and shell, 1944.

HMCS Louisburg (K143)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Louisburg (K143) (Flower-class).  Built at Quebec City and commissioned there on 2 Oct 1941, HMCS Louisburg arrived at Halifax on 15 Oct 1941.  She was assigned to Sydney Force until mid-Jan 1942, when she was transferred to Newfoundland Command.  On 1 Feb 1942 she left St. John's for Londonderry as escort to convoy SC.67, another of whose escorts, HMCS Spikenard, was lost.  After a long refit at Halifax, from 27 Mar 1942 to 27 Jun 1942, HMCS Louisburg made two more round trips to 'Derry before being assigned to duties in connection with Operation "Torch," the invasion of North Africa.  She arrived at Londonderry on 23 Sep 1942, then proceeded to the Humber for fitting of extra A/A/ armament.  This work was completed on 18 Oct 1942.  On 9 Dec 1942, while anchored at Londonderry, she was accidentally rammed by HMS Bideford, necessitation five weeks' repairs at Belfast.  HMCS Louisburg had scarcely commenced her "Torch" duties when, on the afternoon of 6 Feb 1943 near Cape Tenes, Algeria convoy KMF-8 (Gibraltar to Bone) was attacked by Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero bombers. HMCS Louisburg was hit by bombs and torpedoes and sank in position 36º15'N, 00º15'E.  Forty-three of her crew were lost including several RN sailors and 2 Canadian sailors who died later of injuries received as a result of the sinking.

(Riggio family, Photo)

Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 bombers of the 193ª Squadriglia Bombardamento Terrestre (193th Land Bombing Squadrilla), 87º Gruppo (87th Group), 30º Stormo(87th Wing).

HMCS Louisburg (K401)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Louisburg (K401) (Flower-class).  Built at Quebec City, she was launched on 13 Jul 1943 and commissioned there on 13 Dec 1943.  She sailed to Halifax in advance of completion in order to escape the freeze-up, arriving in late Dec 1943, and was not ready for service until Feb 1944.  Late in Mar 1944 she went to Bermuda for workups and upon returning to Halifax was assigned as an unallocated unit to Western Approaches Command, Londonderry.  She sailed for the UK on 23 Apr 1944 and spent the next four months on escort duties associated with the invasion.  In Sep 1944 she was allocated to EG 41, Plymouth, and late in Mar 1945, returned home for refit at Saint John.  Upon completion of this refit she was paid off at Sorel on 25 Jun 1945 and placed in reserve there.  She was sold in 1947 to the Dominican Navy and renamed Juan Alejandro Acosta.  Deleted from active list in 1978, she was driven ashore in a hurricane on 31 Aug 1979 alongside her sister Colon (former HMCS Lachute).

HMCS Lunenburg (K151)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Lunenburg (K151) (Flower-class).  Launched on 10 Jul 1941 at Lauzon, Quebec, she was commissioned on 4 Dec 1941, at Quebec City.  She arrived at Halifax on 13 Dec 1941 and after working up did escort duty between Halifax and St. John's.  In Jul 1942, she was transferred to Halifax Force as escort to Quebec City-Hamilton Inlet (Labrador) convoys.  HMCS Lunenburg arrived at Sydney on 31 Aug 1942 to join Gulf Escort Force, but two weeks later was detached for Operation "Torch" duties.  Arriving at Londonderry on 27 Sep 1942, she proceeded to Liverpool for extra A/A armament and in Nov 1942 began a four-month stint escorting convoys between the UK and the Mediterranean.  At the end of Mar 1943, she returned to Liverpool for a major refit, including fo'c's'le extension, completing on 17 Aug 1943.  After a brief sojourn in Canadian waters she was assigned to EG 6, Western Approaches Command, arriving at Plymouth late in Nov 1943.  For the next five months she operated in support of convoys between the UK and Gibraltar, and between Londonderry and other UK ports, as well as patrolling the Northwestern Approaches from her Londonderry base.  On 11 Jan 1944, while so employed, she was attacked by U-953 (Oblt Karl-Heinz Marbach) 50N-18W but was not hit.  When the group's corvettes were replaced with frigates in Apr 1944, HMCS Lunenburg went to Western Approaches Command Greenock, to be based at Portsmouth for invasion duties.  For the next five months she was employed primarily in the English Channel.  She left Londonderry on 23 Sep 1944 for refit begun at Saint John, NB, but completed at Halifax in mid-Jan 1945.  Following work-ups in Bermuda she returned to the UK via the Azores, to serve with Plymouth Command until the end of the war.  In May 1945, she visited St. Helier during the re-occupation of the Channel Islands.  She left Greenock in mid-Jun 1945 for Halifax, was paid off at Sorel on 23 Jul 1945, and broken up at Hamilton in 1946.

(Debbie King Photo)

HMCS Lunenburg (K151) (Flower-class) in the English Channel off Portland 10 Jun 1944

HMCS Matapedia (K112)

(Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS Matapedia (K112) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Quebec City on 9 May 1941, HMCS Matapedia arrived at Halifax on 24 May 1941.  She was assigned to Sydney Force as a local escort until late Sep 1941, when she was transferred to Newfoundland Command for ocean escort work between St. John's and Iceland.  On her first trip, she left Sydney on 29 Sep 1941 for Iceland with convoy SC.47.  After three round trips she left St. John's on 6 Feb 1942, with SC.68 for Londonderry, returning in Mar 1942 with ON.70.  It was to her only trip to the UK, as she joined WLEF on her return and, with the exception of a stint with Gaspé Force from Nov to Dec 1944, remained with WLEF until the end of the war.  She underwent a major refit at Pictou.  On 8 May 1943, she was rammed amidships in a thick fog off Sambro Lightship by SS Scorton, and seriously damaged. After temporary repairs at Dartmouth from 10 Sep to 12 Oct 1943, she was towed to Liverpool, NS, for full repairs and refit, including fo'c's'le extension.  This was completed early in Feb 1944, and a month later she proceeded to Bermuda for two weeks' workups, on her return joining EG W-4 for the balance of the war.  She underwent one further major refit from 15 Feb to 28 Apr 1945, at Halifax, again followed by workups in Bermuda, but the war was over now and she was paid off at Sorel on 16 Jun 1945.  HMCS Matapedia was broken up at the Steel Company of Canada, Hamilton, Ontario in 1950.

(Charles James Sadler Photo)

HMCS Matapedia (K112) (Flower-class).

HMCS Mayflower (K191)

(Naval Museum of Alberta Photo)

HMCS Mayflower (K191) (Flower-class).

HMCS Mayflower (K191) (Flower-class).  Built for the RN, she was commissioned at Montreal on 28 Nov 1940 as HMS Mayflower.  She arrived at Halifax on 11 Dec 1940 to work up and complete stores.  On 9 Feb 1941, HMS Mayflower left with convoy HX.108 for the UK, fitted, like her sister HMS Hepatica, with a dummy gun.  This and other shortcomings were looked after on the Tyne River, where she was pronounced complete on 5 May 1941.  On 15 May 1941, she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned as HMCS Mayflower K191.  Soon after, she left Loch Ewe as a member of EG 4 with convoy OB.332 for Iceland on 10 Jun 1941.  Later that month she joined Newfoundland Command, and for the remainder of the year served between Iceland at St. John's as an ocean escort.  During this period she took part in the battle of convoy SC.44, when four merchant ships and HMCS Levis were lost,  HMCS Mayflower collected survivors of the latter.  After a major refit at Charleston, SC, from 9 Dec 1941 to 9 Feb 1942, HMCS Mayflower resumed her mid-ocean role on the "Newfie-Derry" run until Apr 1944.  In Mar 1943, while escorting Convoy ON.77 from Liverpool, England, the SS Imperial Transport was torpedoed by U-94.  Her crew was rescued by the Free French corvette Aconit.  HMCS Mayflower was ordered to sink the stricken vessel at daybreak with gunfire.  When daybreak came, a boarding party was sent over and it was determined she would be saved.  Five days later, under escort of HMCS Mayflower, the SS Imperial Transport made port at St. John's, Newfoundland.  In Apr 1942, she became a member of EG A-3, transferring to C-3 in Feb 1943.  She underwent two further long refits: from 29 Oct 1942 to 11 Jan 1943, at Pictou; and from 29 Nov 1943 to 14 Feb 1944, at Norfolk, VA.  She received her extended fo'c's'le during the latter, following which she worked up in St. Margaret's Bay, then sailed on 21 Apr 1944 for the UK to join Western Approaches Command, Greenock, for invasion duties.  She left Oban on 31 May 1944 to escort blockships for Normandy and arrived off the beaches on the day after D-Day.  For the remainder of the war she operated in UK waters, and on 31 May 1945, was paid off for return to the RN.  Laid up at Grangemouth, Scotland, she was broken up at Inverkeithing in 1949.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Mayflower (K191) (Flower-class).

HMCS Merrittonia (K688)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Merrittonia (K688) (Flower-class).  Laid down as HMCS Pointe Claire, she was renamed HMCS Merrittonia, Ontario, in Mar 1944.  Commissioned at Quebec City on 10 Nov 1944, she arrived at Halifax in mid-Dec 1944 and sailed to Bermuda for a month's workups.  On her return HMCS Merrittonia was assigned to EG C-7 and left St. John's on 7 Feb 1945 to meet the group, which was westbound with convoy ON.283 from Britain.  Thereafter, she was continuously employed on North Atlantic convoy duty.  She left Londonderry for the final time at the beginning of Jun 1945.  She was paid off on 11 Jul and laid up at Sorel for disposal.  Purchased by K.C. Irving Ltd., Moncton, NB, on 16 Nov 1945, she was wrecked on the Nova Scotia coast on 30 Nov 1945.

(John Vukson Photo)

HMCS Merrittonia (K688) (Flower-class).

HMCS Midland (K220)

(Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS Midland (K220) (Flower-class).  Built at Midland, Ontario, she was commissioned at Montreal on 17 Nov 1941.  She arrived at Halifax on 30 Nov 1941, and spent her entire career with WLEF, from Jun 1943, as member of EG W-2.  She underwent two extensive refits: the first at Liverpool, NS, from 30 Nov 1942 to 14 Apr 1943; the second at Galveston, Texas from mid-Mar 1944 to 25 May 1944.  The latter refit included the extension of her fo'c's'le.  Upon its completion she returned briefly to Halifax before leaving on 1 Jul 1944 for three weeks' working-up in Bermuda.  She was paid off at Sydney on 15 Jul 1945.  Sold in 1946 to the Great lakes Lumber Co., she was broken up the same year at Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4821041)

HMCS Midland (K220) (Flower-class).

HMCS Mimico (K485)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Mimico (K485) (Flower-class).  Laid down as HMS Bulrush, she was transferred to the RCN and renamed HMCS Mimico prior to launching.  She was commissioned on 8 Feb 1944 at Sunderland, UK.  On 18 Apr 1944, after working up at Stornoway, she arrived at Oban, Scotland, where she was assigned to Western Approaches Command for escort duty in connection with the invasion.  She arrived off the Normandy beaches with a convoy on the day after D-Day.  She remained on escort duty in the Channel, assigned briefly in Sep 1944 to Portsmouth Command and, in Oct 1944, to Nore Command, based at Sheerness.  In Feb and Mar 1945, she refitted at Chatham, then returned to Sheerness and resumed her previous role until late in May 1945, when she left the UK for the last time.  She was paid off on 18 Jul 1945, and laid up at Sorel.  After the war, Mimico was sold to civilian service and became Honduran Olympic Victor in 1950, Japanese Otori Maru No. 12 in 1956, Kyo Maru No. 25 from 1962-1978.

HMCS Moncton (K139)

(Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS Moncton (K139) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Saint John, NB on 24 Apr 1942, she arrived at Halifax on 12 May 1942.  She was the last of the RCN's initial Flower class programme to complete, owing to heavy demands on her builder, the Saint John Dry Dock Co., for repair work to war-damaged ships.  After working up she joined WLEF, Halifax, and when the force was divided into escort groups in Jun 1943, she became a member of EG W-5.  She remained in this service until transferred to the west coast in Jan 1944, proceeding there via Guantanamo, Cristobal, Balboa, and San Pedro, Cal.  Upon arrival she was assigned to Esquimalt Force, of which she remained a member until VJ-Day.  In the course of an extensive refit at Vancouver from 5 May to 7 Jul 1944, her fo'c's'le was extended.  She was paid off at Esquimalt on 12 Dec 1945, and sold for conversion to a whale-catcher at Kiel.  She entered service in 1955 as the Dutch-flag Willem Vinke and was broken up at Santander, Spain, in 1966.

(RCN Photo, via Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta. - Canadian Navy Heritage website. Image Negative Number MC-2631)

HMCS Moncton (K139) (Flower-class), ca 1942.

HMCS Moose Jaw (K164)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Moose Jaw (K164) (Flower-class).  Built at Collingwood, she was commissioned at Montreal on 19 Jun 1941, and arrived at Halifax on 27 Jun 1941 for final fitting-out.  After working up, she arrived at St. John's on 25 Aug 1941 to join Newfoundland Command, and on 5 Sep 1941, sailed with HMCS Chambly for exercises.  The two were ordered to reinforce the beleaguered convoy SC.42, which lost 18 ships, and just before joining on 10 Sep 1941, they surprised and sank U-501 astern of the convoy.  HMCS Moose Jaw, which had rammed the U-boat, required ten days' repairs at Greenock, following which she arrived at Tobermory on 1 Oct 1941 to work up.  For the next four months she operated between St. John's and Iceland, but in Jan 1942, she arrived at Londonderry from SC.64, the inaugural "Newfie-Derry" convoy.  On 19 Feb 1942, she ran aground on the south entrance of St. John's harbour en route to join convoy HX 176, and although re-floated soon afterward proved to be holed and leaking in several places.  Temporary repairs were carried out at St. John's from 20 Feb to 05 Mar 1942 and permanent repairs at Saint John, NB, from 15 Mar to 25 Jun 1942.  Briefly assigned to WLEF, she was detached in Sep 1942 for duties in connection with Operation "Torch", and made her passage to the UK with convoy SC.107, which lost 15 ships to U-boats.  During the next five months HMCS Moose Jaw was employed escorting UK-Mediterranean convoys, returning to Halifax on 19 Apr 1943 with convoy ONS.2.  Refitted there, she joined Quebec Force at the end of May 1943 for escort duties in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, later transferring to Gaspé Force.  She underwent a major refit, including fo'c's'le extension, at Liverpool, NS, from 19 Dec 1943 to 23 Mar 1944.  After working up in St. Margaret's Bay she left Halifax on 1 May 1944 for the UK, to join Western Approaches Command, Greenock, for invasion duties.  She served in the Channel until Sep 1944, when she joined EG 41, Plymouth, and escorted coastal convoys from her base at Milford Haven until the end of the war.  She left for home in May 1945, was paid off at Sorel on 08 Jul 1944 and broken up at Hamilton in 1949.

HMCS Morden (K170)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Morden (K170) (Flower-class).  Built at Port Arthur, Ontario, she was commissioned at Montreal on 6 Sep 1941.  Morden arrived at Halifax on 16 Sep 1941.  She joined Newfoundland Command and left St. John's 23 Nov 1941 to escort SC.56, her first convoy, to Iceland.  She continued on to the UK, however, to carry out two months' refit and repairs at Southampton.  She left the Clyde on 5 Mar 1942, to pick up westbound convoy ON.73, and was thereafter continuously in service as an ocean escort until the fall of 1943 - from Aug 1942, as a member of EG C-2.  The following is from the memoirs of Larry Restall "We detected a surfaced submarine (later found to be U-756) attempting to break into convoy at night.  I was on the after gun crew during action stations, firing at the sub which dived.  We attempted to ram but the sub was able to submerge.  We passed over the submarine and dropped a pattern of depth charges.  According to German records the sub never reported again."  On 22 Oct 1942, the SS Winnipeg was torpedoed and sunk by U-443 while enroute from Liverpool to Saint John, NB.  HMCS Morden rescued all who were aboard her.  After a brief refit at Lunenburg in Jun 1943, and workups at Pictou, she sailed for Plymouth to join EG 9.  She left Devonport on 15 Sep 1943 to join the group on patrol south of the Sicily Islands, but the group was ordered to the assistance of combined convoy ONS.18/ON.202 which lost six merchant ships and three of its escort.  In Oct 1943 Morden rejoined EG C-2 and was given an extensive refit at Londonderry between late Nov 1943 and the end of Jan 1944.  The work done included the lengthening of her fo'c's'le.  She left 'Derry for the last time on 14 Nov 1944.  In May 1945, on completion of a long refit at Sydney and Halifax, she joined EG W-9 of WLEF and left New York on 23 May 1945 as local escort to HX.358, the last HX convoy.  Paid off on 29 Jun 1945, at Sorel, she was broken up at Hamilton in 1946.

HMCS Nanaimo (K101)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Nanaimo (K101) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Esquimalt on 26 Apr 1941, HMCS Nanaimo arrived at Halifax on 27 Jun 1941 and for the next three months carried out local duties.  In Oct 1941 she was assigned to Newfoundland Command, leaving Halifax on 11 Oct 1941 to join convoy SC.49 for Iceland, her first trip as an ocean escort.  After three round trips to Iceland, she escorted SC.68 to Londonderry in Feb 1942.  Her return trip with ON.68 was to be her last Atlantic crossing, for in Mar 1942 she was reassigned to WLEF.

On 16 Jun 1942, the SS Port Nicholson was sunk by U-87.  The Port Nicholson formed part of convoy XB 25, one of the coastal convoy routes between Halifax Harbour and Boston.  She was under the command of her master, Harold Charles Jeffrey, and was carrying a cargo of 1,600 tons of automobile parts and 4,000 tons of military stores.  The convoy was tracked by the German submarine U-87, commanded by Joachim Berger.  At 4.17 hours on the morning of 16 June 1942 he fired a torpedo at the convoy, which was then 100 miles (160 km) off Portland, Maine.  He fired a second torpedo a minute later, but the gale conditions at the time prevented him from observing the results accurately, and he recorded that while one torpedo had hit a ship, the other seemed to have missed.  In fact, both torpedoes struck the Port Nicholson, the first in the engine room, the second in the stern.  Two men in the engine room were killed immediately, and as the Port Nicholson began to settle by the stern, the remaining crew abandoned ship and were picked up by HMCS Nanaimo.  The Port Nicholson did not sink immediately, and by dawn was still afloat.  Her master returned to the ship, accompanied by the chief engineer, and Lieutenant John Molson Walkley and three ratings from HMCS Nanaimo, to see if the ship could be salvaged.  While they were aboard, worsening weather caused the ship to suddenly start to sink.  The party abandoned her, but their boat was overturned in the suction as Port Nicholson went down, drowning Jeffrey, Walkley, the chief engineer and a rating.  The two surviving ratings were rescued by HMCS Nanaimo, which landed the survivors from Port Nicholson at Boston.

With the formation of escort groups in Jun 1943, HMCS Nanaimo became a member of EG W-9, transferring to W-7 in Apr 1944.  In Nov 1944, she was allocated to Pacific Coast Command, arriving at Esquimalt on 07 Dec 1944.  There she underwent a refit that lasted until 21 Feb 1945 but left her one of the few corvettes to survive the war with a short fo'c's'le.  She was paid off for disposal at Esquimalt on 28 Sep 1945, and subsequently sold for mercantile use.  Converted to a whale-catcher at Kiel in 1953, she entered service as the Dutch-flag Rene W. Vinke, finally being broken up in South Africa in 1966.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4821017)

HMCS Nanaimo (K101) (Flower-class), 4-inch Mk. IX Gun, ca 1945.

(City of Vancouver Archives CVA 1184-3365)

HMCS Nanaimo (K101) (Flower-class), Vancouver, ca 1945.

HMCS Napanee (K118)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Napanee (K118) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 12 May 1941, HMCS Napanee arrived at Halifax on 17 May 1941.  She was assigned initially to Sydney Force but transferred in Sep 1941 to Newfoundland Command, leaving Sydney for Iceland with convoy SC.47 on 29 Sep 1941.  She served on that route until Jan 1942, when she sailed with SC.65, the first of many "Newfie-Derry" convoys she would escort until Aug 1944.  The worst of them was ON.154, which lost 14 ships in Dec 1942, but HMCS Napanee assisted in sinking one of its attackers, U-356, on 27 Dec 1942.  In Mar 1943, she made a side trip to Gibraltar with EG  C-1, which she had joined in Sep 1942.  She arrived at Montreal 22 May 1943, for a five-month refit, including fo'c's'le extension, afterward working up at Pictou and joining EG C-3.  She left 'Derry for the last time on 3 Aug 1944, refitted again at Pictou, then carried out three weeks' workup in Bermuda.  On her return she joined EG W-2, on the "triangle run" until the end of the war.  She was paid off on 12 Jul 1945, at Sorel, and was broken up at Hamilton in 1946.

HMCS New Westminster (K228)

(DND Photo)

HMCS New Westminster (K228) (Flower-class).  Built at Victoria, she was commissioned there on 31 Jan 1942, and assigned to Esquimalt Force until the threat of Japanese invasion had abated.  Ordered to Halifax to release an east-coast corvette for Operation "Torch" service, she arrived there on 13 Oct 1942, a month after leaving Esquimalt.  Assigned to WLEF, she operated on the "triangle run" until May 1943, when she began a major refit at Sydney.  This refit included fo'c's'le extension and was not completed until 10 Dec 1943.  The ship was then made a part of EG C-5, and in Jul 1944, sailed with HXS.300, the largest convoy of the war.  She left Londonderry on 14 Dec 1944, for the last time, returning home to refit at Saint John until early Mar 1945.  Allocated to Sydney Force until the end of hostilities, she was paid off at Sorel on 21 Jun 1945, and in 1947 sold for commercial purposes.  She became the mercantile Elisa in 1950; Portoviejo in 1952 and Azura in 1954.  Sold in 1966 for breaking up at Tampa, Florida.

HMCS Norsyd (K520)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Norsyd (K520) (Flower-class).  The name is a contraction of North Sydney.  HMCS Norsyd was commissioned at Quebec City on 22 Dec 1943 and, en route to Halifax, was diverted to Indiantown, NB, for fitting-out that was not completed until mid-Mar 1944.  She arrived in Bermuda later that month to work up, and on her return was assigned to EG W-7, escorting local convoys, until Nov 1944, when she was transferred to EG C-2, St. John's, taking her first convoy, HX.323, eastward early in Dec 1944.  On 27 May 1945, she began a refit at Halifax and soon after its completion, on 25 Jun 1945 was paid off and laid up at Sorel.  She was sold into mercantile service in 1948 as Balboa.  In 1946 she was purchased by the Mossad Le Aliya bet (The Institute for Immigration B.) the ship was called “Hagana” (Defence), and it sailed to Palestine in the end of Jul 1946 from Yugoslavia.  It was caught by HMS Venus several days later, boarded and brought to Haifa, were it’s occupants were interned in Palestine.  After the Declaration of Israel’s Independence, it was converted back to its Corvette configuration and commissioned on 18 Jul 1948 as INS Haganah.  She served until she was broken up in 1956.

(Clay Restall Photo)

HMCS Norsyd (K520) (Flower-class).

HMCS North Bay (K339)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS North Bay (K339) (Flower-class).  Built at Collingwood, Ontario, she was commissioned there on 25 Oct 1943.  HMCS North Bay arrived at Halifax on 29 Nov 1943, and in Dec 1943 carried out workups in St. Margaret's Bay.  On completion of these she was assigned to EG 9, Londonderry, making her passage there as escort to convoy SC.154 early in Mar 1944.  When EG 9 became a frigates-only group, HMCS North Bay returned to St. John's in Apr 1944 and became a member of EG C-4.  From 11 Dec 1944 to mid-Feb 1945, she underwent a refit at Sydney and proceeded to Bermuda to work up.  On completing this exercise she sailed directly to St. John's to join EG C-2, but later in Apr 1945 she was transferred to C-3 and, on 30 Apr 1945, left St. John's to join convoy SC.174 for a final trip to Londonderry.  She returned in May 1945 with ON.304 and was paid off on 01 Jul 1945 and laid up at Sorel.  In 1946 she was sold for merchant service and became the Bahamian Kent County II; renamed Galloway Kent in 1950; renamed Bedford II in 1951.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3394476)

HMCS North Bay (K339) (Flower-class), Hedgehog array, Oct 1943.

HMCS Oakville (K178)

(Naval Museum of Alberta Photo)

HMCS Oakville (K178) (Flower-class).  Built at Port Arthur, Ontario, she was commissioned at Montreal on  18 Nov 1941.  She arrived at Halifax ten days later and joined Halifax Force on her arrival.  On its formation in Mar 1942, she transferred to WLEF.  In Jul 1942 she returned to Halifax Force to escort Halifax-Aruba convoys and, on her second arrival at Aruba late in Aug 1942, was diverted to reinforce convoy TAW.15 (Aruba-Key West section).  The convoy was attacked 28 Aug 1942 in the Windward Passage, losing four ships, but HMCS Oakville sank the seasoned U-94, in part by ramming.  After temporary repairs at Guantanamo she arrived at Halifax on 16 Sep 1942 and there completed repairs on 01 Dec 1942.  She then joined the US Eastern Sea Frontier Command to escort New York-Guantanamo convoys until 22 Mar 1943, when she arrived at Halifax to join WLEF.  She served with three of its escort groups: W-7 from Jun 1943; W-8 from Dec 1943; and W-6 from Apr 1944.  After minor repairs at Halifax, she proceeded to Bermuda for workups in May 1944, thereafter returning to her duties with EG W-6.  A refit begun at Lunenburg early in Apr 1945, was discontinued in Jun 1945 and the ship was paid off at Sorel on 20 Jul 1945.  She was sold to the Venezuelan Navy in 1946.  On 10 Jan 1946, Venezuelan vessel Oakville, former HMCS Oakville K178, arrived at New York city with a skeleton crew: Frank Peter Hindley, Gerald James Ryan and Frederick Jackson.  Renamed Patria, she served in the Venezuelan Navy until 1962

(DND Photo)

HMCS Oakville (K178) (Flower-class).

HMCS Orillia (K119)

(David Rose Photo)

HMCS Orillia (K119) (Flower-class).  Commissioned 25 Nov 1940, at Collingwood, she arrived at Halifax on 11 Dec 1940 for completion and was assigned to Halifax Local Defence Force until 23 May 1941.  HMCS Orillia sailed that day for St. John's to become one of the seven charter members of the NEF, and for the balance of the year escorted convoys between St. John's and Iceland.  In Sep 1941, she was escort to convoy SC.42, which lost 18 ships.  She arrived at Halifax 24 Dec 1941 for a refit, upon completion of which on 22 Mar 1942, she joined EG C-1, leaving St. John's 02 Apr 1942 with SC.77 for Londonderry.  On her arrival she was sent to Tobermory for three weeks' workups, then returned to the "Newfie-Derry" run until Jan 1944.  Orillia took part in major battles around convoys SC.94, which lost 11 ships in Aug 1942 and ON.137 in Oct 1942, which lost only 2 ships despite being heavily attacked.  She was a member of EG C-2 from Nov 1942 to May 1944, when she joined EG C-4 following two months' refit at Liverpool, NS.  She left Londonderry for the last time on 16 Jan 1944, to commence a long refit, again at Liverpool, which included the lengthening of her fo'c's'le.  This refit was completed on 3 May 1944, but further repairs were completed at Halifax late in Jun 1944.  She arrived in Bermuda on 29 Jun 1944 for three weeks' workups, on her return joining EG W-2, Western Escort Force, for the duration of the war.  Paid off on 02 Jul 1945, at Sorel, she was broken up at Steel Co. of Canada, Hamilton, Ontario, in Jan 1951.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Orillia (K119) (Flower-class).

(CFB Esquimalt Military Museum Photo)

HMCS Orillia (K119) (Flower-class).

(USN Naval History and Heritage Photos)

HMCS Orillia (K119).

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).

HMCS Sackville (K181)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class).  Built by Saint John Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Saint John, NB, she was launched on 15 May 1941.  Commissioned on 30 Dec 1941, at Saint John, N.B., HMCS Sackville arrived at Halifax on 12 Jan 1942.  She joined NEF after working up, and on 26 May 1942 left St. John's to escort HX.191 as part of the newly formed EG C-3.  In Apr 1943, she transferred to C-1, and in Sep 1943 briefly joined EG 9 in support of the beleaguered combined convoy ONS.18 / ON.202, which lost six merchant vessels and three escorts.  In Oct 1943 HMCS Sackville transferred to C-2 for the balance of her war career.  She underwent two major refits: at Liverpool, NS, and Halifax, from 14 Jan to 02 May 1943; and at Galveston, Texas, from late Feb to 7 May 1944, when her fo'c's'le was extended.  Upon her return from working up in Bermuda, in Jun 1944, she made a crossing to Londonderry.  Soon after leaving for the westward journey she split a boiler and had to return to 'Derry for repairs.  She left again on 11 Aug 1944, to limp home as escort to ONS.248, refitted at Halifax and, in Sep 1944, briefly became a training ship at HMCS Kings.  In Oct 1944 she began, at Halifax, refit and reconstruction to a loop-laying vessel, and work was still in progress by VE-Day.  The ship was paid off on 8 Apr 1946, but re-commissioned 4 Aug 1950, as a depot ship, reserve fleet.  She was refitted in 1950 but remained inactive until 1953, when, as a Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel (CNAV), she began a survey of the Gulf of St. Lawrence that was to last several years.  She also carried out a number of cruises to the Baffin Island-Greenland area.  Extensive modification in 1968 reflected HMCS Sackville's new status as a research vessel, and she was operated by the Department of National defence on behalf of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.  In 1983, as the sole surviving corvette, she was transferred to the Canadian Naval Corvette Trust (now Canadian Naval Memorial Trust) and restored to her wartime appearance.

(Johnny Forget Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class), summer 1942.

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class).  Photo taken from HMCS Kamloops K176 while convoy escort for ONS.18 & ON.202, Sep 1943.

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class).

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class).

(Gary Medford Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) as CNAV Sackville (113).  As a Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel (CNAV) (113), she began a survey of the Gulf of St. Lawrence that was to last several years.  She also carried out a number of cruises to the Baffin Island-Greenland area.  Extensive modification in 1968 reflected HMCS Sackville's new status as a research vessel operated by the Department of National defence on behalf of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.  In 1983, as the sole surviving corvette, she was transferred to the Canadian Naval Corvette Trust (now Canadian Naval Memorial Trust) and restored to her wartime appearance.

(Author Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class), alongside in Halifax Harbour, 2005.

(Author Photos)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class), alongside in Halifax Harbour, 2005.

(Author Photos)

QF 4-inch/45 Gun Mk IX, mounted on the forward deck in a gun turret, HMCS Sackville.

(Author Photos)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class), Hedgehog Anti-Submarine projector/mortars, 40-mm Bofors Light Anti-Aircraft Gun Mk. VIII on AA mount.

Author with HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class), Halifax.

(USN Naval History and Heritage Photo)

HMCS Sackville (K181) (Flower-class).

HMCS Saskatoon (K158)

(Naval Museum of Manitoba Photo)

HMCS Saskatoon (K158) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 9 Jun 1941, HMCS Saskatoon arrived at Halifax on 22 Jun 1941.  She joined Halifax Force after working up and in Aug 1941 made a trip to the Bahamas, returning at the end of Sep 1941.  She remained on local escort duty until Mar 1942, then joined WLEF on its formation.  She served with this force on the "triangle run" until the end of the war, becoming a member of EG W-8 when it was established in Jun 1943, and transferring to W-6 in Apr 1944.  During her career she had two major refits: at Halifax from 11 Aug to 17 Nov 1942; and at Pictou from mid-Dec 1943 to 01 Apr 1944.  Following the latter, which included fo'c's'le extension, she worked up for three weeks at Pictou and another three in Bermuda.  She was paid off on 25 June 1945 at Sorel and soon afterward sold for conversion to a merchant vessel.  Renamed Tra los Montes, she served as a whaler from 1948.  Renamed Olympic Fighter (1950), Otori Maru No. 6 (1956), and Kyo Maru No. 20 (1961).  Last in Lloyd's Register for 1978.

 (Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS Saskatoon (K158) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Saskatoon (K158) (Flower-class).

HMCS Shawinigan (K136)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Shawinigan (K136) (Flower-class).  Built by George T. Davie & Sons Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec.  Commissioned on 19 Sep 1941, at Quebec City, HMCS Shawinigan arrived at Halifax on 27 Oct 1941.  She joined Sydney Force in November but on 13 Jan 1942, arrived at St. John's to join Newfoundland Command.  She left 25 Jan 1942 to escort convoy SC.66 to Londonderry, the first of three round trips.  In mid-May 1942 she left 'Derry for the last time, and in Jun 1942 was assigned to Halifax Force as escort to Quebec-Labrador convoys.  She joined WLEF that November, almost immediately commencing a refit at Liverpool, NS.  This refit was completed in mid-Mar 1943, and in Jun 1943 Shawinigan joined the recently established EG W-3.  In Apr 1944, while undergoing another refit at Liverpool, during which she had her fo'c's'le extended, she was transferred to W-2 and, on completion of the refit on 16 Jun 1944, proceeded to Bermuda to work up.  At 0230 hours on 25 Nov 1944, while on independent A/S patrol out of Sydney, she was torpedoed in the Cabot Strait by U-1228 (Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich-Wilhelm Marienfeld).  She exploded and sank immediately with all hands. A memorial dedicated to the 91 lost was erected at Shawinigan, Quebec.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Shawinigan (K136) (Flower-class).

HMCS Shediac (K110)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3554094)

HMCS Shediac (K110) (Flower-class).  Built at Lauzon, Quebec, she was commissioned at Quebec City on 08 Jul 1941.  HMCS Shediac arrived at Halifax on 18 Jul 1941.  She served briefly with Halifax Force and Sydney Force before joining Newfoundland Command in Oct 1941, leaving Sydney 5 Oct 1941 to escort convoy SC.48 to Iceland.  After three round trips there, she accompanied SC.67 to Londonderry in Jan 1942, again the first of three return trips.  Following a six-week refit at Liverpool, NS, she joined WLEF in Jul 1941, returning in Oct 1941 to the "Newfie-Derry" run as a member of EG C-1.  She took part in two major convoy battles: ONS.92 (May 1942); and ONS.154 (Dec 1942).  On 4 Mar1943, while escorting KMS.10, a UK-Gibraltar convoy, she assisted in the destruction of U-87 west of the Azores.  She left Londonderry for the last time on 28 Mar 1943, underwent refit at Liverpool, NS, from 27 Apr to 1 Jul 1943, then joined WLEF's EG W-8.  Transferred to the west coast, she left Halifax 3 Apr 1944, and arrived at Esquimalt 10 May 1044.  She refitted at Vancouver from mid-Jun to mid-Aug 1944, in the process receiving her extended fo'c's'le.  She was paid off at Esquimalt on 28 Aug 1945 and sold in 1951 for conversion to a whale-catcher, entering service as the Dutch-flag Jooske W. Vinke in 1954.  She was broken up at Santander, Spain, in 1965.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Shediac (K110) (Flower-class).

HMCS Sherbrooke (K152)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) (Flower-class).   Commissioned at Sorel on 05 Jun 1941, HMCS Sherbrooke arrived at Halifax on 12 Jun 1941.  She joined Halifax Force later that month but transferred in Sep 1941 to Newfoundland Command and left Sydney on 29 Sep 1941 to escort convoy SC.47 as far as Iceland.  After two round trips to Iceland, she left St. John's on 14 Jan 1942, to join SC.64, the first "Newfie-Derry" convoy, and was thereafter employed as an ocean escort on that run principally with EG C-4.  She took part in two particularly hard-fought convoy battles: ON.127 (Aug 1942); and HX.229 (Mar 1943).  Her westbound trip after the latter convoy was her last; after a major refit at Lunenburg from Apr to Jun 1943, and work-ups at Pictou, she joined EG W-2 of WLEF, transferring in Apr 1944, to W-7 and in Oct 1944, to W-1.  Late in May 1944, she underwent a refit at Liverpool, NS, that included fo'c's'le extension, followed by a month's repairs at Halifax and three weeks' workups in Bermuda in Oct 1944.  She was paid off at Sorel on 28 Jun 1945, and broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1947.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) (Flower-class).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3455882)

HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) (Flower-class), QF 4-inch gun firing,  June 1945.

HMCS Smiths Falls (K345)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Smiths Falls (K345) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Kingston on 28 Nov 1944, she was the last RCN corvette to enter service.  She arrived at Halifax late in Dec 1944 and remained there fitting out until 10 Feb 1945, then proceeded to Bermuda for work-ups.  On her return Smiths Falls was assigned to EG C-2, Londonderry, and made her passage there as escort to convoy SC.171 early in Apr 1945, the first of three crossing before the end of hostilities.  She left Londonderry early in Jun 1945 for the last time, and was paid off 08 Jul 1945 and placed in reserve at Sorel for disposal.  Sold for conversion to a whale-catcher, she entered service in 1950 as the Honduran-flag Olympic Lightning, but was sold to Japanese owners in 1956 and renamed Otori Maru No. 16 then, Kyo Maru No. 23 from 1961 until 1978.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Smiths Falls (K345) (Flower-class).

HMCS Snowberry (K166)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Snowberry (K166) (Flower-class).  Built for the RN, she was commissioned at Quebec City on 26 Nov 1940 as HMS Snowberry.  She arrived at Halifax on 13 Dec 1940 for further work and sailed 09 Feb 1941, with convoy HX.108 for the UK.  There she completed fitting out at Greenock, completing 3 Apr 1940, and worked up at Tobermory before joining Western Approaches Command, Greenock, in May.  On 15 May 1941 she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned as HMCS Snowberry K166.  She left Aultbea early in Jun 1941 to join convoy OB.332, arriving at Halifax on 23 Jun 1941 to join Newfoundland Command.  From Jul to Oct 1941 she made three round trips to Iceland, and on 08 Dec 1941 arrived at Charleston, SC, for six weeks' refit.  On 12 Feb 1942, she left St. John's to escort SC.69 to Londonderry.  In Mar 1942 she joined the newly formed WLEF, shifting in June to Halifax Tanker Escort Force for one round trip to Trinidad and two round trips to Aruba with Tanker convoys.  In Sep 1942 she was placed under US control, escorting New York-Guantanamo convoys until Mar 1943, when she arrived at Charleston, SC, for refit, including fo'c's'le extension.  On completion in mid-May 1942, and after workups at Pictou, she joined the newly established EG 5 (later EG 6) and returned to UK waters in Aug 1942.  While serving with this support force on 20 Nov 1943, as escort to a U.K.-Gibraltar/ Freetown convoy, she took part in the sinking of U-536 north of the Azores.  When the group replaced its corvettes with frigates in Mar 1944, HMCS Snowberry proceeded to Baltimore, MD, for five weeks' refit, afterward returning to Halifax.  She went to Bermuda to work up in July 1944, and on returning was briefly assigned to WLEF but left St. John's in mid-September for the UK.  There she joined Portsmouth Command for the balance of the war.  She was handed back to the RN at Rosyth on 8 Jun 1945, and sunk as a target vessel off Portsmouth in 1946.  She was salvaged and broken up at Thornaby-on-Tees in 1947.

(Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS Snowberry (K166) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Snowberry (K166) (Flower-class).

(USN Naval History and Heritage Photos)

HMCS Snowberry (K166)

HMCS Sorel (K153)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Sorel (K153) (Flower-class).  

Commissioned at Sorel on 19 Aug 1941, HMCS Sorel arrived at Halifax on 30 Aug 1941.  She joined Sydney Force in Oct 1941 but transferred in Nov 1941 to Newfoundland Force, leaving St. John's on 18 Nov 1941 to escort convoy SC.55 to Iceland.  On her next trip, mechanical defects forced her to go on to the UK, and she arrived at Leith, Scotland, 17 Jan 1942, for ten weeks' repairs.  She left Londonderry on 23 Apr 1942 to join convoy ON.88, and in May 1942 joined WLEF.  Between 19 Oct 1942, and Feb 1943, she underwent refit, including fo'c's'le extension, successively at Liverpool, NS, Pictou, and Halifax.   In Feb 1943 she entered service as a training ship, first at Digby, then at St. Margaret's Bay, and at Pictou.  In Sep 1943, she was temporarily allocated to EG C-3 for one round trip to Londonderry, and on her return underwent refit at Halifax and Dartmouth.  This refit was completed on 31 Mar 1944, and she then proceeded to Bermuda for workups and on her return was assigned to WEF's EG W-4 for the rest of the war.  Paid off on  on 22 Jun 1945, she was sold to the Yugoslav Navy on 16 Nov 1945.   While manned by a Yugoslav crew, she ran aground on the southern point of Henry Island on 13 Dec 1945.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Sorel (K153) (Flower-class).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3199119)

HMCS Sorel (K153) (Flower-class) during workups off Pictou, Nova Scotia, in July 1943.

HMCS Spikenard (K198)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MC-2975)

HMCS Spikenard (K198) (Flower-class).  Built for the RN, she was commissioned on 06 Dec 1940, at Quebec City as HMS Spikenard.  She arrived at Halifax five days later to complete fitting out and working up.  She left Halifax on 21 Jan 1941, escorting convoy HX.104 to the UK, where she received her finishing touches at South Shields, Tyne, from 04 Feb to 21 Apr 1941.  She arrived at Tobermory on 22 Apr 1941 to work up, and on 15 May 1941 she transferred to the RCN and was commissioned as HMCS Spikenard.  On 10 June 1941 she left Aultbea to escort convoy OB.332.  Arriving at Halifax on 25 Jun 1941, she joined Newfoundland Command, and between Jul 1941 and Jan 1942, made three round trips to Iceland as ocean escort.  On 1 Feb 1942, she left St. John's for convoy SC.67 on the recently inaugurated "Newfie-Derry" run, and on 10 Feb 1942 HMCS Spikenard was torpedoed and sunk by U-136, (Type VIIC) about 465 nautical miles west of Malin Head, Ireland in position 56º10'N, 21º07'W, while escorting convoy SC-67.

Convoy SC.67 sailed early in Feb 1942 from St. John's bound for Londonderry.  HMCS Spikenard K198 was the senior ship of the escort for SC.67.  Other escorts included Corvettes HMCS Chilliwack K131, HMCS Shediac K110, HMCS Louisburg K143, HMCS Lethbridge K160 and HMCS Dauphin K157.  Just before 2300 hrs on 10 Feb 1942, the convoy was due south of Iceland, when HMCS Chilliwack attacked a submerged contact on the port bow of the formation.  Almost immediately thereafter, HMCS Louisburg at the rear of the convoy spotted the wake of a torpedo running down her port side.  HMCS Spikenard had been zigzagging on the starboard wing of the convoy when another torpedo struck the nearby tanker, Heina.  A few seconds later, a torpedo struck HMCS Spikenard, ripping out her forepeak and destroying the bridge and radio.  HMCS Spikenard may have become aware of U-136 in the few minutes before, as action stations had been sounded and her speed increased just before she was hit.  Within minutes, HMCS Spikenard sank by the fore and headed for the bottom.  Only eight men survived, found by a westbound British ship the next day.  HMCS Spikenard had been torpedoed at about the same time as the tanker, and sank so quickly, that the other escorts didn't realize she was gone until morning.

HMCS St. Lambert (K343)

(DND Photo)

HMCS St. Lambert (K343) (Flower-class).  Built at Quebec City, she was commissioned there on 27 May 1944.  She arrived at Halifax on 19 Jun 1944 and in Jul 1944 sailed for Bermuda to work up.  On her return  in mid-Aug 1944, HMCS St. Lambert was assigned to EG C-6, Londonderry, and left St. John's 18 Sep 1944 to join convoy HXF.308 for her passage there.  She served on North Atlantic convoys for the rest of her career, leaving St. John's on 27 May 1945, as escort to HX.358, the last HX convoy of the war.  In mid-Jun 1945 she sailed for Londonderry on her final trip homeward and was paid off on 20 Jul 1945 and laid up at Sorel for disposal.  Sold in 1946 for conversion to a merchant ship, she became the Panamanian Chrysi Hondroulis and, in 1955, the Greek-flag Loula, last noted in Lloyd's Register for 1957-58.

HMCS Stellarton (K457)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Stellarton (K457) (Flower-class).  Built at Midland, Ontario, she was commissioned at Quebec City on 29 Sep 1944, HMCS Stellarton arrived at Halifax late in Oct 1944 and sailed for Bermuda early in Nov 1944 to work up.  She left Bermuda on 4 Dec 1944 for St. John's, where she joined EG C-3 and on 4 Jan 1945, sailed to pick up her first convoy, HX.329.  She was employed for the rest of the war as a mid-ocean escort, and left Londonderry for the last time on 21 May 1945 to join ON.304.  On 1 Jul 1945 she was paid off and placed in reserve at Sorel until 1946, when she joined the Chilean navy as Casma.  She was paid off in 1967 and broken up in 1969.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Stellarton (K457) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Stellarton (K457) (Flower-class).

HMCS Strathroy (K455)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Strathroy (K455) (Flower-class).  Built at Midland, Ontario, she was commissioned there on 20 Nov 1944.  HMCS Strathroy arrived at Halifax in Dec 1944 and immediately escorted her first convoy, HF.147, to Saint John, NB.  She arrived there on 18 Dec 1944 for completion of fitting-out that could not be done at the builder's prior to freeze-up.  She then carried out workups in Bermuda, and on completing these joined Halifax Force in Apr 1945, for local escort duties.  On 12 Jul 1945 she was paid off and laid up at Sorel for disposal.  She was purchased in 1946 by the Chilean Navy and renamed Chipana; serving until paid off on 30 Sep 1966.  She was broken up in 1969.

HMCS Sudbury (K162)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Sudbury (K162) (Flower-class).  Built at Kingston, Ontario, she was commissioned on 15 Oct 1941, at Montreal.  HMCS Sudbury arrived at Halifax on 26 Oct 1941.  She joined Sydney Force as local escort to ocean convoys but in Jan 1942, joined Newfoundland Command, making one round trip to Londonderry.  On her return she transferred to the newly formed WLEF and in June 1942 to Halifax Tanker Escort Force.  In the following three months she made two round trips to Trinidad and one to Aruba, escorting tankers both ways.  In Sep 1942 Sudbury was placed under US control, escorting New York-Guantanamo convoys.  She arrived at Liverpool, NS, on 26 Dec 1942, for two months' refit, worked up at Halifax and then joined WLEF, in Jun 1943, becoming a member of EG W-9.  In Sep 1943 she was lent to EG C-5 for her second transatlantic trip, afterward resuming service with W-9 until New Year's Day, 1944, when she left for the west coast.  She arrived at Esquimalt on 3 Feb 1944, and later that month commenced refit, including fo'c's'le extension, at Vancouver.  On completion on 10 May 1944, she joined Esquimalt Force for the duration of the war, being paid off on 28 Aug 1945, at Esquimalt.  After the war HMCS Sudbury was sold and converted for use as a salvage tug, entering service in 1949 under her original name.  She was broken up at Victoria in 1967.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Sudbury (K162) (Flower-class).

HMCS Summerside (K141)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Summerside (K141) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Quebec City on 11 Sep 1941, HMCS Summerside arrived at Halifax on 25 Sep 1941.  She was assigned to local escort duty out of Halifax and later Sydney but left St. John's on 11 Dec 1941 as ocean escort to SC.59 for Iceland, returning with ON.50.  It was to be her only trip there.  She left St. John's on 25 Jan 1942, for convoy SC.66 to Londonderry, returning with ON.71 to join WLEF in Mar 1942.  In Jul 1942 she was transferred to Gulf Escort Force until, earmarked for duties in connection with Operation "Torch", she left Halifax on 19 Oct 1942 for the UK.  For the next four months she was employed on UK-Mediterranean convoys, returning to Canada in mid-Mar, 1943, for a major refit at Saint John from 11 Apr to 25 Sep 1943.  Her fo'c's'le was extended in the process.  After working up at Halifax she joined EG C-5 and in Apr 1944, after seven transatlantic trips, was assigned at Londonderry to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties.  She was employed in UK waters until returning to Canada for two months' refit at Liverpool, NS, commencing in mid-Oct 1944.  After further repairs at Halifax were completed on 18 Jan 1945, she proceeded to Bermuda for three weeks' workups.  In Mar 1945 she sailed for the UK to serve with EG 41 (RN) out of Plymouth until the war's end.  She returned to Canada at the end of May 1945, was paid off at Sorel on 06 Jul 1945 and broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1946.

(CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Photo)

HMCS Summerside (K141) gunshield art, 7 Feb 1943.

HMCS The Pas (K168)

(Derwyn Crozier-Smith Photo)

HMCS The Pas (K168) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 21 Oct 1941, HMCS The Pas arrived at Halifax on 04 Nov 1941.  She joined Halifax Force as a local escort, but in Mar 1942, was reassigned to WLEF, then forming.  In Jun 1942 she was transferred to Halifax Tanker Escort Force, and during the next three months made three round trips between Halifax and Trinidad-Aruba.  In Sep 1942 she came under US control as escort to New York-Guantanamo convoys but arrived at Liverpool, NS, on 29 Nov 1942, for two months' refit.  Following workups locally, she rejoined WLEF and, on its division into escort groups in Jun 1943, became a member of EG W-4.  The ship was badly damaged in collision with the American SS Medina in the western Atlantic on 21 Jul 1943, while escorting convoy ON.192, and was under repair at Halifax and Shelburne until early Oct 1943.  She then returned to her duties with WLEF until Sep 1944 (from Apr 1944 as a member of EG W-3), when she underwent a refit at Sydney and, on completion of this late in Nov 1944, joined HMCS Cornwallis as a training ship for the balance of the war.  The Pas never did receive an extended fo'c's'le.  She was paid off on 24 Jul 1945, at Sorel and broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, the following year.

(CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Photo)

HMCS The Pas (K168) (Flower-class).

 (Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS The Pas (K168) (Flower-class), St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia, 11 Nov 1942.

HMCS Thorlock (K394)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Thorlock (K394) (Flower-class).  Built at Midland, Ontario, HMCS Thorlock was commissioned there on 13 Nov 1944, and arrived at Halifax on 16 Dec 1944.  On 7 Jan 1945, she left for Bermuda to work up, setting out on 01 Feb 1945 for the return journey northward.  Later that month she was allocated to EG C-9 and on 26 Feb 1945 left Halifax to pick up her first convoy, SC.168.  She served for the remainder of the war as an ocean escort, making five transatlantic trips.  On 12 May 1945, when on the final leg of an Atlantic crossing with convoy ON.300 from the UK, she was diverted, along with HMCS Victoriaville, to accept the surrender of U-190 and escort the U-boat to Bay Bulls, Newfoundland.  She was paid off on 15 Jul 1945, and placed in reserve at Sorel.  Sold in 1946, she served in the Chilean Navy as Papudo until disposed of for scrap in 1967.

HMCS Timmins (K223)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Timmins (K223) (Flower-class).  Built at Esquimalt, she was commissioned there on 10 Feb 1942.  HMCS Timmins served with Esquimalt Force until transferred to the east coast.  Upon arrival at Halifax on 13 Oct 1942 she was assigned to WLEF.  With its division into escort groups in Jun 1943, she became a member of EG W-6, transferring to W-2 in Apr 1944.  She commenced a two-month refit at Liverpool, NS, late in Jun 1943, followed by workups at Pictou.  A second refit, again at Liverpool, was carried out between late Jun and mid-Oct 1944.  It included the extension of her fo'c's'le and three weeks' working-up in Bermuda followed.  HMCS Timmins was paid off on 15 Jul 1945, at Sorel, and sold later that year for commercial use.  She entered service in 1948 as the Honduran-flag Guayaquil and, ironically, foundered at Guayaquil, Ecuador, on 3 Aug 1960.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Timmins (K223) (Flower-class).

HMCS Trail (K174)

(Terry Marentette Photo)

HMCS Trail (K174) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Vancouver on 31 Apr 1941, she left Esquimalt 31 May 1941 for the east coast, arriving at Halifax on 27 Jun 1941.  In Aug 1941 she joined Newfoundland Command, departing St. John's on 23 Aug 1941 to escort convoy HX.146 as far as Iceland.  During the year she made four round trips there, and on 20 Jan 1942, left St. John's to join SC.65 for the first of two round trips to Londonderry.  She returned to Halifax on 02 Apr 1942 and, after a brief refit at Liverpool, NS, joined Halifax Force for Northern Waters in June.  Between Jul and Nov 1942 she was employed escorting convoys between Labrador and Quebec City, also calling at Gaspé and Hamilton Inlet.  She arrived at Halifax in Nov 1942 to join WLEF for the balance of the war, as a member successively of escort groups W-6 (from Jun 1943); W-5 (from Apr 1944) and W-4 (from Dec 1944).  She underwent a refit at Lunenburg from mid-Jul to 03 Sep 1943, followed by workups at Pictou, and a further refit at Liverpool, NS, between mid-Jul and 23 Oct 1944.  Following the latter, which included extension of her fo'c's'le, she underwent additional repairs at Halifax and then proceeded to Bermuda to work up in Dec 1944.  She left there on 7 Jan 1945, for Boston, MA, to resume service with WLEF until paid off on 17 Jul 1945 at Sorel.  In August 1950, HMCS Trail was sold to the Steel Co. of Canada, Hamilton, Ontario, and was ship was broken up at Hamilton.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Trail (K174) (Flower-class).

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Trail (K174) (Flower-class).

(US Naval History and Heritage Photos)

HMCS Trail (K174).

HMCS Trentonian (K368)

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Trentonian (K368) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Kingston on 01 Dec 1943, HMCS Trentonian departed for Halifax on 26 Dec 1943.  HMCS Trentonian arrived at Halifax late in Dec 1943 and, after further fitting-out at Liverpool, NS, and Halifax, left the latter port for Bermuda on 18 Feb 1944, to work up.  Returning at the beginning of Mar 1944, she was assigned to Western Approaches Command and left for Londonderry on 23 Apr 1944 to join.  For three months she carried out escort duty in connection with the invasion and on 13 Jun 1944, while escorting the cable vessel Monarch off Normandy, she was shelled in error by a US destroyer.  The Monarch was hit several times resulting in numerous casualties, luckily however, HMCS Trentonian was not hit during this incident.  Late in Aug 1944 she transferred to EG 41 (RN) and, based at different times at Plymouth and at Milford Haven, escorted Channel convoys.  While so engaged on 22 Feb 1945, she was torpedoed and sunk near Falmouth by U-1004, with the loss of six lives.

U-1004 was eventually scuttled in "Operation Deadlight", the code name for the scuttling of German U-boats aquired by the Allies after the end of the war.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Trentonian (K368) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Trentonian (K368) (Flower-class).

HMCS Trillium (K172)

(Library and Archives Canada/DND Photo)

HMCS Trillium (K172) (Flower-class), and MTB V-252, at Jetty No. 5 on Halifax side of the Narrows.  Built at Montreal for the RN, she was commissioned at there on 31 Oct 1940 as HMS Trillium.  She arrived at Halifax on 14 Nov 1940 and in the Clyde on 20 Dec 1940 for final fitting out at Greenock, which was completed on 3 Mar 1941.  In Apr 1941, after three weeks' workups at Tobermory, she joined EG 4 (RN), Greenock, for outbound North American convoys.  On 15 May 1941, HMS Trillium was transferred to the RCN and commissioned as HMCS Trillium.  She left Aultbea on 10 Jun 1941 with OB.332 for St. John's to join Newfoundland Command.  After two round trips to Iceland she arrived at Halifax on 28 Aug 1941 for three months' refit there and at Lunenburg.  On completion of the refit in Dec 1941 she made one further round trip to Iceland and, on 20 Jan 1942, left St. John's for convoy SC.65 to Londonderry.  After two return trips on the "Newfie-Derry" run she went to Galveston, Texas, for refit from 16 Apr to 23 Jun 1942.  Following workups at Pictou, she resumed mid-ocean service with EG A-3 from Aug 1942 until Apr 1943, when she arrived at Boston for a refit that included the extension of her fo'c's'le.  This was completed on 27 Jun 1943, after which she worked up at Pictou before joining EG C-4.  Late in Apr 1944 she returned to Pictou for a two-month refit, followed by additional repairs at Halifax, and early in Aug 1944 went to Bermuda to work up.  She arrived at St. John's 2 Sep 1944, to join EG C-3.  On 14 Jan 1945, while escorting the Milford Haven section of ON.278, she sank a coaster in a collision and required five weeks' repairs, afterward resuming mid-ocean service until the end of the war.  HMCS Trillium was unique in that she spent her entire career as a mid-ocean escort, participating in three major convoy battles: SC.100 (Sep 1942); ON.166 (Feb 1943); and SC.121 (Mar 1943).  She left St. John's on 27 May 1945, for the UK, where she was returned to the RN at Milford Haven on 27 Jun 1945.  Sold in 1947 for conversion to a whale-catcher, she entered service as the Honduran-registered Olympic Runner in 1950, Otori Maru No. 10 in 1956 and Kyo Maru No. 16 in 1959.  Last in Lloyd's Register for 1972/1973.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Trillium (K172) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Trillium (K172) (Flower-class).

HMCS Vancouver (K240)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Vancouver (K240) (Flower-class).  Laid down and launched as HMCS Kitchener K240, she was renamed HMCS Vancouver K240 in Nov 1941.  Commissioned at Esquimalt on 20 Mar 1942, she joined Esquimalt Force and, on 20 Jun 1942 escorted the torpedo-damaged SS Fort Camosun to Victoria.  In Aug 1942 she left for Kodiak, Alaska, to perform escort service for several weeks in support of the Aleutian campaign.  On 24 Feb 1943, she again arrived at Kodiak to serve under US control until the end of May 1943.  In mid-Sep 1943 she emerged from three months' refit at Vancouver with an extended fo'c's'le.  Reassigned in Feb 1944, to WLEF, she arrived at Halifax on 25 Mar 1944.  After serving briefly with escort groups W-3 and W-1, she was transferred in Jun 1944 to Quebec Force as escort to Quebec City-Goose Bay convoys for three months.  Late in Nov 1944, after a month's refit at Charlottetown, PEI, she proceeded to Bermuda to work up, and on her return rejoined W-1 for the balance of hostilities.  She was paid off on 26 Jun 1945, at Sorel, she was sold on 5 Oct 1945 and broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1946.

(Ron Bell Photo)

HMCS Vancouver (K240) (Flower-class).

(US Naval History and Heritage Photos)

HMCS Vancouver (K240).

HMCS Ville de Québec (K242)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Ville de Québec (K242) (Flower-class).  Built by Morton Engineering & Dry Dock Co., Quebec City, Quebec, she was laid down on 7 Jun 1941 as HMCS Quebec.  Renamed in Apr 1942, she was commissioned on 24 May 1942, at Quebec City as HMCS Ville de Quebec K242.  She sailed for Halifax on 06 Jun 1942, and arrived there on 12 Jun 1942 having escorted Quebec-Sydney convoy QS.7 en route.  After a brief period for final fitting of equipment, she sailed on her first operation cruise on 06 Jul 1942.  Late in Jul 1942, after working up at Pictou, she was assigned to WLEF and used almost exclusively as an escort to convoys between Boston and Halifax.  In Sep 1942, HMCS Ville de Québec was allocated to Operation "Torch."  For her Atlantic crossing she was assigned as escort to Convoy HX-212.  Not being a regular member of the escort group, she was assigned to pick up survivors.  When she arrived in Liverpool on 21 Sep 1942, she landed 172 merchant seamen from some of the six ships that had been torpedoed and sunk.  She arrived at Londonderry on 10 Nov 1942, sailing again on 26 Nov 1942 as escort to convoy KMS.4G to Bone, North Africa.  For the succeeding four months was employed on UK-Mediterranean convoys.  On 13 Jan 1943, she sank U-224 west of Algiers.  She made one attack with depth-charges and, as she was turning to make another, saw the U-boat break surface in the middle of the depth-charge pattern.  HMCS Ville de Quebec turned and rammed the U-boat, sinking it.  She returned to Canada in Apr 1943, carried out brief repairs at Halifax, then arrived at Gaspé on 12 May 1943 to join Quebec Force, escorting Quebec-Sydney and Quebec-Labrador convoys.  In Sep 1943 she returned to Halifax and later that month joined EG W-2, WLEF.  In mid-Jan 1944, she began an extensive refit at Liverpool, NS, completing early in May 1944, and on 22 May 1944 left for a month's workups in Bermuda.  On her return she joined EG C-4 for one round trip to Londonderry, transferring in Sept 1944 to EG 41, Plymouth.  Based at Milford Haven, she served with that group for the balance of the war.  On 22 Apr 1945, HMCS Ville de Quebec K242 returned to Halifax with convoy ONS.2, and was later paid off on 06 Jul 1945 at Sorel.  Sold for mercantile use in 1946 and renamed Dispina; Dorothea Paxos in 1947; Tanya in 1948; and Medex in 1949.  She was listed on Lloyd's Register until 1952.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Ville de Québec (K242) (Flower-class).

(RCN Photo)

HMCS Ville de Québec (K242) (Flower-class).

HMCS West York (K369)

 (DND Photo)

HMCS West York (K369) (Flower-class).  Built by Midland Shipyards, Ltd., Midland, Ontario, she was commissioned at Collingwood, Ontario, on 6 Oct 1944.  HMCS West York arrived at Halifax in mid-Nov 1944 and left a month later for Bermuda to work up.  In Feb 1945, she joined EG C-5 at St. John's, leaving 16 Feb 1945 to rendezvous with her maiden convoy, HX.338.  She made three round trips across the Atlantic before the end of her career, the last one as escort to ON.305, which she joined from Londonderry at the end of May 1945.  Paid off on 9 Jul 1945, and laid up at Sorel, she was sold later that year for commercial use.  As SS West York, she was towing the decommissioned HMCS Assiniboine when the towline parted and the destroyer was wrecked on Prince Edward Island, 7 Nov 1945. The former West York sailed under a variety of names and flags, returning to Canadian registry in 1960 as Federal Express.  On 5 May 1960 she was rammed by Polaris (Swedish vessel) while moored at Montreal.  She broke free from her moorings and rammed into Thorshope (Norwegian vessel) and sank within 30 minutes.  Later partly raised and scrapped.

(RCN Photo)

HMCS West York (K369) (Flower-class).

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175)

(Ken Macpherson, Naval Museum of Alberta Photo)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) (Flower-class).  Laid down as HMCS Banff, she was renamed HMCS Wetaskiwin during construction.  Commissioned at Esquimalt on 17 Dec 1940 as HMCS Wetaskiwin K175,  she was the first west coast-built corvette to enter service.  She patrolled out of Esquimalt until 17 Mar 1941 when HMCS Alberni, HMCS Agassiz and HMCS Wetaskiwin departed Esquimalt for Halifax.  Enroute they stopped at San Pedro, California for fuel, where a party for the crew, hosted by actress Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks, was held for them. They arrived at Halifax on 13 Apr 1941.  On 23 May 1941, HMCS Alberni, HMCS Agassiz and HMCS Wetaskiwin left Halifax for St. John's to join the recently formed NEF.  In Jun 1941 she escorted her first convoy, HX.130, to Iceland, and during the next eight months made six round trips there with eastbound convoys.  She returned to Halifax on 24 Jan 1942, and in Feb 1942 commenced a major refit at Liverpool, NS.  After working up in May 1942 she joined EG C-3, arriving in Londonderry on 5 Jun 1942 for the first time from convoy HX.191.  During this period Wetaskiwin participated in two major convoy actions: SC.42 (Sep 1941); and SC.48 (Oct 1941).  On 31 July 1942, while escorting ON.115, she shared with HMCS Skeena the sinking of  U-588.  In mid-Jan 1943 she arrived at Liverpool, NS, for refit, which was completed on 9 Mar 1943 and followed by further repairs at Halifax.  In May 1943, she joined EG C-5, and that Dec 1943 went to Galveston, Texas, for a long refit, including extension of her fo'c's'le.  Following its completion on 6 Mar 1944, she returned briefly to Halifax before proceeding to Bermuda for work-ups late in Apr 1944.  Returning northward, she re-joined C-5, leaving Londonderry on 23 Sep 1944 for the last time to join EG W-7, WLEF, for the remainder of the war.  She was paid off at Sorel on 19 Jun 1945, and sold in 1946 to the Venezuelan Navy, which re-named her Victoria.  She was discarded in 1962.

(DND Photo)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) (Flower-class).

(Marlene Hill Photo)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) (Flower-class).

(Marlene Hill Photo)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) (Flower-class).

(Marlene Hill Photo)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) (Flower-class).

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(US Naval History and Heritage Photos)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175)

HMCS Weyburn (K173)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950904)

HMCS Weyburn (K173) (Flower-class).  Commissioned at Montreal on 26 Nov 1941, she arrived at Halifax on 06 Dec 1941 and joined Halifax Force for local escort work, but was soon in need of repairs.  These were carried out at Halifax during Mar and Apr 1942, following which she joined WLEF.  In Jul 1942 she transferred to Gulf Escort Force for Quebec City-Sydney convoys but in Sep 1942 was allocated to duties in connection with Operation "Torch."  She arrived at Londonderry on 27 Sep 1942 from convoy SC.100, and at Liverpool on 02 Oct 1942 for fitting of Oerlikon A/A guns.  The work was completed on 21 Oct 1942 and in Nov 1942, HMCS Weyburn began four months' employment as escort to UK-Mediterranean convoys.  On 22 Feb 1943 HMCS Weyburn was mined off Cape Espartel east of Gibraltar in position 35º46'N, 06º02'W.  Twelve members of her crew including her commanding officer were lost with the ship.  The mine had been laid by U-118 on 1 Feb 1943.

(DND Photo, NP-1012)

HMCS Weyburn (K173) (Flower-class).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.4950903)

HMCS Weyburn (K173) (Flower-class).

(DND Photo)

HMCS Weyburn (K173) (Flower-class).

HMCS Whitby (K346)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Whitby (K346) (Flower-class).  Built at Midland, Ontario, she was commissioned at there on 6 Jun 1944.  She did not arrive at Halifax until 16 Aug 1944, owing to a layover en route at Shelburne for repairs.  Following workups in Bermuda in Sep 1944 she sailed direct to St. John's, arriving on 30 Sep 1944, and was assigned to EG C-4.  She left St. John's on 5 Oct 1944 for Londonderry to join the group, with which she was to serve for the balance of the war.   HMCS Whitby left Londonderry for Canada in mid-Jun 1945, and was paid off on 16 Jul 1945 and then placed in reserve at Sorel.  She was sold in 1946 for merchant service.  HMCS Whitby was acquired by the Portuguese Navy from the USA, and renamed NRP Bengo on 29 Apr 1948, probably for the delivery voyage to Mozambique, and on 1 Oct 1948 converted to pilot tender and renamed Bengo.  She was still in service as the pilot vessel Bengo at Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) in Mozambique in Aug 1977.

HMCS Windflower (K155)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Windflower (K155) (Flower-class), during acceptance trials in 1940, no armament fixed.  Built for the RN, she was commissioned on 20 Oct 1940 as HMS Windflower, at Quebec City.  She arrived at Halifax on 31 Oct 1940 and left on 6 Dec 1940 with convoy HX.94 for the UK.  There, at Scotsoun, she completed fitting out on 2 Mar 1941, following which she went to Tobermory to work up.  Later in Mar 1941 she was assigned to EG 4 (RN), Greenock, escorting convoys between the UK and Iceland.  On 15 May 1941 she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned as HMCS Windflower.  She left Aultbea on 10 Jun 1942 for St. John's with OB.332, and on arrival transferred to Newfoundland Command.  After two round trips between St. John's and Iceland, she arrived at Liverpool, NS, on 29 Aug 1942 for a short refit, resuming her ocean escort duties in mid-Oct 1942.  She made one more round trip to Iceland, and on 7 Dec 1941, while making her second trip, was rammed and sunk in convoy SC.58 by the Dutch freighter Zypenberg in dense fog off the Grand Banks.  Twenty-three of her complement were lost.

HMCS Woodstock (K238)

(DND Photo)

HMCS Woodstock (K238) (Flower-class).  Built by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., Collingwood, Ontario, HMCS Woodstock was commissioned on 1 May 1942, at Montreal.  She arrived at Halifax on 23 May 1942 and, after working up at Pictou, joined WLEF.  Assigned to Operation "Torch," she arrived on 23 Sep 1942 at Londonderry from convoy HX.207 and proceeded to the Humber for six weeks' refit, including extra A/A armament.  While serving as escort to UK-Mediterranean convoys, on 10 Jan 1943, she sank MTB 105, 250 miles northwest of the Azores, after a merchant ship carrying it had been sunk.  HMCS Woodstock returned to Canada arriving in Halifax on 24 Mar 1943 with convoy ON.172, and in Apr 1943, after repairs at Halifax, joined EG C-1 for one round trip to the UK.  In Jun 1943 she was transferred to EG 5, Western Support Force, at St. John's but late that month was reassigned to EG C-4 at Londonderry.  She escorted only one convoy as member of that group before commencing refit late in Jun 1943 at Liverpool, NS.  Completed at Halifax in mid-Sep 1943, the refit was followed by three weeks' workups at Pictou, the ship then rejoining C-4.  In Apr 1944, while at Londonderry, she was allocated to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties, and was so employed for the next three months.  She left 'Derry for the last time on 3 Aug 1944, for two months' refit at Liverpool, NS.  She left Halifax on 18 Oct 1944 for the west coast, arriving at Esquimalt a month later to join Esquimalt Force.  On 27 Jan 1945, she was paid off there for conversion to a loop-layer but upon re-commissioning on 17 May 1945 was employed as a weather ship until finally paid off on 18 Mar 1946.  Sold in 1948 for conversion to a whale-catcher, she entered service in 1951 as the Honduran-flag Olympic Winner.  She passed into Japanese ownership in 1956, and was renamed Otori Maru No. 20, and in 1957, Akitsu Maru.  She was broken up at Etajima in 1975.

(DND/RCN Photo, NP 1069)

HMCS Woodstock (K238) (Flower-class), with a depth charge exploding astern of her.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950910)

RCN Corvette in drydock.

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