HMCS Chebogue

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HMCS Chebogue
History
Canada
NameChebogue
NamesakeChebogue, Nova Scotia
OperatorRoyal Canadian Navy
OrderedJune 1942
Builder
Esquimalt
Yard number88
Laid down19 March 1943
Launched17 August 1943
Commissioned22 February 1944
Decommissioned25 September 1945
IdentificationPennant number:K 317
Honours and
awards		Atlantic 1942-43[1]
FateScrapped 1948.
General characteristics
Class and typeRiver-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,445 long tons (1,468 t; 1,618 short tons)
  • 2,110 long tons (2,140 t; 2,360 short tons) (deep load)
Length
  • 283 ft (86.26 m) p/p
  • 301.25 ft (91.82 m)o/a
Beam36.5 ft (11.13 m)
Draught9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)
Propulsion2 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed
  • 20 knots (37.0 km/h)
  • 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h) (turbine ships)
Range646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h)
Complement157
Armament

HMCS Chebogue was a

Second World War. She served primarily as an ocean convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named for Chebogue, Nova Scotia
. During the war she was torpedoed and declared a constructive loss.

Chebogue was ordered in June 1942 as part of the 1942–1943 River-class building program.

Esquimalt and launched 17 August 1943.[2] She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 22 February 1943 at Esquimalt.[2]

Background

Main article: River-class frigate

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

Percy Nelles of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year.[5]

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.

U-boats including a twin 4-inch mount forward and 12-pounder 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]

War service

After transiting to

Mid-Ocean Escort Force escort group C-1 as a trans-Atlantic convoy escort. On her second return trip to Canada with a convoy she was torpedoed.[2]

Torpedoing

On 4 October 1944 while escorting

RNLI lifeboat Edward, Prince of Wales was despatched to aid in the rescue of the ship's crew. The weather worsened going from 40-knot (74 km/h; 46 mph) winds to those of 70 knots (130 km/h; 81 mph). For recovering the crew of Chebogue Coxswain William Gammon was awarded the Gold Medal for Gallantry, with Second Coxswain Tom Ace and Mechanic Gilbert Davies receiving the Bronze Medal.[8]

Chebogue was re-floated and taken to Port Talbot where she was declared a constructive loss.[2] Chebogue was placed in reserve at Port Talbot until December when she was towed to Newport, Wales where it was intended to make her seaworthy enough to be towed across the Atlantic Ocean. That plan was cancelled and Chebogue was instead taken to Milford Haven and paid off 25 September 1945. She was broken up in 1948.[2][3]

References

Notes
  1. ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-00216-856-1
    .
  3. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMCS Chebogue (K 317)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Fact Sheet No. 21 – Canadian River Class Frigates". Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  5. ^
    ISBN 0920277225
    .
  6. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-boats – HMCS Chebogue (K317)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Torpedo damage to HMCS Chebogue". WarMuseum.ca. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  8. ^ "1939–1945: Second World War - Timeline - Our history". rnli.org. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
References
  • 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
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