HMCS Charlottetown (1943)
History | |
---|---|
Canada | |
Name | Charlottetown |
Namesake | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island |
Ordered | June 1942 |
Builder | Lauzon |
Yard number | 23 |
Laid down | 26 January 1943 |
Launched | 16 September 1943 |
Commissioned | 28 April 1944 |
Decommissioned | 25 March 1947 |
Identification | pennant number:K 244 |
Honours and awards | Atlantic, 1942; Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1942, 1944.[1] |
Fate | Sold 1947, hull expended as breakwater in British Columbia. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | River-class frigate |
Displacement |
|
Length | |
Beam | 36.5 ft (11.13 m) |
Draught | 9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load) |
Propulsion | 2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW) |
Speed |
|
Range | 646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
Complement | 157 |
Armament |
|
HMCS Charlottetown was a
Charlottetown was ordered in June 1942 as part of the 1942-1943 River-class building program.
Background
The River-class frigate was designed by William Reed of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees. Originally called a "twin-screw corvette", its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the
Improvements over the corvette design included improved accommodation which was markedly better. The twin engines gave only three more knots of speed but extended the range of the ship to nearly double that of a corvette at 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h).[5] Among other lessons applied to the design was an armament package better designed to combat U-boats including a twin 4-inch (102 mm) mount forward and a 12-pounder gun aft.[4] 15 Canadian frigates were initially fitted with a single 4-inch gun forward but with the exception of HMCS Valleyfield, they were all eventually upgraded to the double mount.[5] For underwater targets, the River-class frigate was equipped with a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar and depth charge rails aft and four side-mounted throwers.[4]
River-class frigates were the first Royal Canadian Navy warships to carry the 147B Sword horizontal fan echo sonar transmitter in addition to the irregular ASDIC. This allowed the ship to maintain contact with targets even while firing unless a target was struck. Improved radar and direction-finding equipment improved the RCN's ability to find and track enemy submarines over the previous classes.[4]
Canada originally ordered the construction of 33 frigates in October 1941.[4][5] The design was too big for the shipyards on the Great Lakes so all the frigates built in Canada were built in dockyards along the west coast or along the St. Lawrence River.[5] In all Canada ordered the construction of 60 frigates including ten for the Royal Navy that transferred two to the United States Navy.[4]
Service history
Charlottetown proceeded to
She was paid off from the RCN on 25 March 1947 at Esquimalt.[2][3] She was sold the same year and scuttled for use as a breakwater at Oyster Bay, British Columbia.[2]
References
Notes
- ^ a b "Volume 2, Part 1: Extant Commissioned Ships : HMCS Charlottetown". National Defence of Canada. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-00216-856-1.
- ^ a b c "HMCS Charlottetown (ii) (K 244)". uboat.net. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Fact Sheet No. 21 - Canadian River Class Frigates". Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0920277225.
Sources
- Department of National Defence: Official Lineages - HMCS Charlottetown Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Macpherson, Ken; Burgess, John. The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910-1981 : a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships. Collins: Toronto, 1981. ISBN 0-00216-856-1
External links
- HMCS Charlottetown on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb.org.uk.
- HMCS Charlottetown (River-class) at readyayeready.com