Nautical Research Journal
craſt in 1939 to the third largest fl eet on the planet by 1945, with over 400 ships in commission. T e RCN’s 123 corvettes were the largest class of ships in Canadian service, the largest class of warships ever built at 270 hulls, and the largest class ever built in Canada; 121 Flowers coming down the ways between 1940 and 1944. Corvettes served in more navies than any other class of warships, nineteen fl eets including the United States Navy (USN) and even the Kriegsmarine, which took over four French corvettes in 1940.
Canadian corvettes escorted thousands of ships from the Aleutians to the Mediterranean; from the Caribbean to the Arctic. Along the way they sank fourteen submarines and shot down one aircraſt . Ten were lost, representing forty percent of RCN casualties during the war. Corvettes rescued hundreds of torpedoed survivors and preserved the lives of thousands of merchant sailors, along with their valuable ships and cargoes, by their very presence around the convoys.
By war’s end, the North Atlantic was the only theater of war commanded by a Canadian, and the RCN had primary responsibility for escorting Atlantic convoys. Much of these achievements was due to the fi rst eighty corvettes built in Canada in 1940 and 1941, memorialized by First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, when he said “T e Canadian corvettes solved the problem of the Atlantic convoys.”
T e fi rst Canadian corvettes
As war clouds gathered in 1938, Canada’s National Research Council sent a delegation to Britain that returned with plans for an auxiliary vessel called a ‘Patrol Vessel of Whaler Type’. Designed by Smith’s Dock of Middlesbrough and based on their steam whaler, Southern Pride, Patrol Vessels would have good sea-keeping ability and could be built in small yards using well known construction methods. T ey used simple and reliable machinery that was easy to build and maintain, consisting of an open-crankshaſt style four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine fed by two oil-fi red Scotch boilers. Planned armament was a 4-inch gun, Asdic, and depth charges.
(Developed in Britain during the 1920s, Asdic was the fi rst shipborne active sonar system, named for the Anti-Submarine Division Investigation Committee). Patrol vessels did not, however, conform to the RCN’s idea of a ‘proper’ navy; the Naval Staff desiring a fl eet of Tribal-class destroyers and Halcyon-class minesweepers instead.
Circumstance overtook the RCN’s vision when war was declared in September 1939. T e Navy discovered that Canadian yards did not have the expertise to build ships to naval standards, nor could they be ordered from Britain because they were already overwhelmed with Royal Navy (RN) orders. T e Canadians suggested a barter program where Canada would build Patrol Vessels to trade for British Tribal- class destroyers. Orders were placed with Canadian yards for sixty-four ships, with the expectation of trading about half for Tribals while the rest would replace requisitioned civilian vessels in Canada. Early in 1940 the barter arrangement collapsed. Ten Patrol Vessels already under construction in Canada for the RN were transferred to them, and the remaining fi ſt y- four were assigned to the RCN. T ese ships became the fi rst Canadian corvette program.
Despite being built from the same plans, the RN and RCN developed very diff erent ships. Due to a chronic shortage of escort vessels, British corvettes quickly assumed the convoy escort and anti-submarine roles while the Canadian corvettes were built for inshore auxiliary duties. All except the ten being built for the RN were outfi tted with Oropesa minesweeping equipment. T is required removal of the galley from the aſt end of the engine room casing, shortening the casing by four frames (over seven feet) to make space on the quarterdeck for the large steam-powered sweep winch. T e galley moved forward over #1 boiler, creating a rise in the casing to clear the boiler itself. T e stern was squared off , allowing room for the minesweeping equipment, sweep wire fairleads, and the depth charges.
Another diff erence was the location of the anti-aircraſt gun tub. British corvettes placed theirs amidships on the casing forward of the main mast, which meant the gun could not fi re directly astern. T e Canadian
5
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
