RCN Corvettes (Castle class): HMCS Orangeville (K491), HMCS Petrolia (K498), HMCS St. Thomas (K488), HMCS Tillsonburg (K496)
HMCS Orangeville (K491)
(Bill Abercrombie Photo)
HMCS Orangeville (K491) Castle class Corvette. Laid down and launched as HMS Hedingham Castle, she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned at Leith on 24 Apr 1944 as HMCS Orangeville K491. After working up at Tobermory in May she joined EG C-1 at Londonderry, leaving on 04 Jun 1944 to meet ONS.239, her first convoy. She spent the remainder of the war on North Atlantic convoy duty, leaving ‘Derry for the last time on 21 Apr 1945, to escort ONS.48. After refitting at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, from May to Aug 1945, HMCS Orangeville was placed in maintenance reserve at Halifax and finally paid off on 12 Apr 1946. She was sold later that year for conversion to mercantile use under the Chinese flag and renamed Ta Tung. In 1951 she was taken over the the Nationalist Chinese government, rearmed and renamed Te-An.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Orangeville (K491) Castle class Corvette.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Orangeville (K491) Castle class Corvette.
HMCS Petrolia (K498)
(IWM Photo)
HMCS Petrolia (K498) Castle class Corvette. Laid down and launched as HMS Sherborne Castle K453, she was built by Harland & Wolff Ltd., Belfast, Ireland. She was, on completion, transferred to the RCN and commissioned on 29 Jun 1944 as HMCS Petrolia K498 (renamed the day she was commissioned), at Belfast. Following workups at Tobermory, she joined EG C-4 at Londonderry in Aug 1944, leaving on 2 Sep 1944 for her first convoy, ONS.251. An ocean escort for the rest of the war, she left Londonderry for the last time early in Jun 1945. In Aug 1945 Petrolia underwent a refit at Charlottetown and was placed in maintenance reserve at Halifax in Oct 1945. Paid off at Liverpool, Nova Scotia on 8 Mar 1946, she was sold not long afterward to a New York buyer and renamed Maid of Athens. In 1947 she was transferred to Indian registry and renamed Bharat Laxmi, serving until broken up at Bombay in 1965.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Petrolia (K498) Castle class Corvette, St. John’s, Newfoundland.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Petrolia (K498) Castle class Corvett
HMCS St. Thomas (K488)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS St. Thomas (K488) Castle class Corvette. Built at Smith’s Dock Co., South Bank-on-Tees, UK, she was laid down and launched as HMS Sandgate Castle. On 4 May 1944 she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned at Middlesbrough as HMCS St. Thomas K488. In Jun 1944 St. Thomas carried out workups at Tobermory, leaving later that month for Londonderry where, in Jul 1944, she became part of EG C-3. She sailed on 3 Aug 1944 to join ON.247, her first convoy, and was employed as an ocean escort for the rest of the war. On 27 Dec 1944, while escorting HX.327, north-west of the Azores, she sank U-877 in the North Atlantic with her squid mortar. She rescued 35 of the U-boats crew, while HMCS Sea Cliff rescued another 21. She left Londonderry for the last time on 11 Apr 1945, commencing refit on arrival at Halifax 30 Apr 1945. Following completion of the refit in Jul 1945 she sailed for the west coast and was paid off at Esquimalt on 22 Nov 1945. In 1946 she was sold to the Union Steamship Co., Vancouver, converted to a coastal passenger vessel, and renamed Camosun. She was renamed Chilcotin in 1958 and, later that year, Yukon Star. After several years idleness, she was broken up at Tacoma in 1974.
(W. Haig Parry Photo)
HMCS St. Thomas (K488) Castle class Corvette.
HMCS Tillsonburg (K496)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Tillsonburg (K496) Castle class Corvette. Built by Ferguson Bros. Ltd., Port Glasgow, Scotland, she was laid down and launched as HMS Pembroke Castle. On completion she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned on the Clyde on 29 Jun 1944 as HMCS Tillsonburg K496. Following working-up at Stornoway, Tillsonburg arrived at Londonderry on 19 Aug 1944, sailing a week later for St. Johns, Newfoundland, to join EG C-6, then forming. Unlike her sisters, she first escorted an eastbound convoy, HXF.308, leaving St. John’s on 18 Sep 1944 to join it. An ocean escort for the balance of the war, she left Londonderry for her last crossing in mid-Jun 1945. Briefly based at St. John’s, Sydney, and Halifax, she was paid off at Halifax on 15 Feb 1946, and later that year was sold to Chinese owners for mercantile service. Initially named Ta Ching, she was renamed Chiu Chin in 1947. In 1951 she was taken over by the Nationalist Chinese government, rearmed and renamed Kao-An. She was discarded in 1963.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Tillsonburg (K496) Castle class Corvette.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Tillsonburg (K496) Castle class Corvette.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Tillsonburg (K496) Castle class Corvette.