HMCS Huron (G24)
Huron underway
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History | |
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Canada | |
Name | Huron |
Namesake | Huron people |
Ordered | 5 April 1940 |
Builder | Vickers-Armstrongs, Newcastle upon Tyne |
Laid down | 15 July 1941 |
Launched | 25 June 1942 |
Commissioned | 28 July 1943 |
Decommissioned | 9 March 1946 |
Identification | Pennant number: G24 |
Recommissioned | 1950 |
Decommissioned | 30 April 1963 |
Identification | Pennant number: DDE 216 |
Motto | Ready the brave |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Scrapped, La Spezia, 1965 |
Notes | Colours: Gold and crimson |
Badge | Or nicotine bloom Gules seed pod Vert and stamens Or.[2] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tribal-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | |
Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.1 m) |
Draught | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
Propulsion | 2 shaft Admiralty boilers, 44,000 hp (32,811 kW) |
Speed | 36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph) |
Range | 5,700 nmi (10,600 km) at 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
Complement | 259 |
Armament |
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HMCS Huron was a
Design and description
The Tribals were designed to fight heavily armed destroyers of other navies, such as the Japanese
Huron, as one of the British-built Tribal-class destroyers, was 335 feet 6 inches (102.3 m) long between perpendiculars and 377 feet (114.9 m) long overall with a beam of 36 feet 6 inches (11.1 m) and a draught of 13 feet (4.0 m). As built, the destroyer had a standard displacement of 1,927 long tons (1,958 t) and 2,745 long tons (2,789 t) at deep load.[3][6] Huron had a complement of 14 officers and 245 ratings.[6]
The destroyer was propelled by two shafts driven by two Parsons geared turbines powered by steam created by three Admiralty-type three drum boilers. This created 44,000 shaft horsepower (33,000 kW) and gave the ship a maximum speed of 36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph). The destroyers could carry 505–516 long tons (513–524 t) of fuel oil.[3]
As built, Huron was fitted with six
The ship was equipped with
Construction and career
Huron was ordered on 5 April 1940 as part of the 1940 shipbuilding programme.[9] However, due to the increased workload on British shipyards due to losses on the continent, her keel-laying was delayed.[10] She was laid down on 15 July 1941 by Vickers-Armstrongs on the River Tyne in England and launched on 25 June 1942.[9] She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 19 July 1943 at Newcastle upon Tyne.[11] She was completed on 28 July.[10]
Russian convoys
After commissioning, Huron was assigned to the
Operations along the French coast
Huron continued to escort
On 25 April 1944, Huron, along with several other destroyers, encountered three
On 9 June 1944, as a result of Ultra intercepts, Huron and several other destroyers intercepted a force of German destroyers heading for the Allied invasion fleet in what became known as the Battle of Ushant, off the coast of Brittany. After a fierce gun battle, she assisted Haida in running Z32 aground and pummeling the wreck.[20][21] Later that month, on 27 and 28 June 1944, while on patrol with fellow Tribal-class destroyer HMS Eskimo, they intercepted a German detachment composed of a heavily armed minesweeper and two naval trawlers. After the destroyers were detected, the Germans attempted to get in closer to shore under the protection of their coastal artillery. Huron sank the minesweeper and a trawler. However, the second trawler severely damaged Eskimo, knocking that destroyer out of action.[17][22][note 2] On 8 July 1944, Huron and HMS Tartar attacked two naval trawlers before being driven off by coastal artillery.[23] Rohwer states that Huron and Tartar attacked the German 4th Minesweeping Flotilla off the Channel Islands during the night of 7/8 July. The two destroyers combined to sink two of the minesweepers, M 4605 and M 4601.[24] Plymouth Command ran a final operation in support of the Normandy landings, Operation Kinetic, which was designed to break up German coastal supply. On 31 July 1944, the 10th Destroyer Flotilla sailed from Plymouth and returned on 3 August. They sailed again the next day on what was to be Huron's final patrol before departing for Canada.[25]
Refit and end of war
In August 1944, Huron returned to Canada to undergo a refit at Halifax, Nova Scotia. She returned to UK waters in November 1944, carrying out escort duties in the Western Approaches. In March 1945, she was transferred to the Home Fleet for screening duties, traveling from Scapa Flow and the River Clyde. On 16 April 1945, Huron sailed for Murmansk on one final Arctic convoy to the Soviet Union, returning to Scapa Flow on 6 May 1945.[10][26] On the return convoy to Scapa Flow, the last convoy battle of the European war takes place. The convoy is attacked by German U-boats, with one member of the escort, HMS Goodall being sunk.[27] Huron, Haida and the cruiser HMS Berwick departed Scapa Flow for Trondheim, Norway, calling in fjords with relief supplies. Upon reaching Trondheim, the Allied units take over custody of surrendered U-boats. Huron returned to Greenock, Scotland on 24 April 1945.[26][28] In May 1945 she returned to Canada. She began a tropicalization refit to prepare her for possible service in the southern Pacific Ocean. However, this was cancelled due to the surrender of Japan.[11] Following the end of the war, she was decommissioned into the reserve on 9 March 1946.[10][11]
Postwar service
In 1950, Huron was recommissioned with the new pennant number 216[9] for training purposes, but with the onset of the Korean War she was sent overseas. She sailed for her first tour in Korean waters on 22 January 1951.[11] She arrived in theatre on 15 March 1951 and in early April, Huron and sister ship HMCS Athabaskan screened aircraft carriers on the east coast of Korea while they performed airstrikes on Wonsan. In May, Huron transferred to the west coast, screening carriers and performing inshore patrols. During one of her patrols, the destroyer captured a large Chinese junk and its eight crew. In late June, the destroyer switched to the east coast, screening carriers and performing shore bombardment and inshore patrol missions. Huron screened the aircraft carriers HMS Glory and USS Sicily during airstrikes on North Korea, which became known as the "Han River Demonstration" during truce talks in July. Huron left for Canada on 14 August, relieved by Athabaskan.[29]
Upon her return to Canada on 21 September 1951, Huron underwent a major refit, completing in 1953.
Legacy
The 4-inch (102 mm) twin high-angle Mk XIX naval gun turret was removed from Huron was presented to the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.
Notes
- Roman numeralsto denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after the Second World War.
- ^ Rohwer on page 336 claims the force was a converted trawler M 4611 and one patrol boat V 213. M 4611 was sunk and V 213 was the ship that damaged Eskimo and escaped.
Citations
- ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ "Volume 2, Part 1: Extant Commissioned Ships". National Defence and the Canadian Forces. 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Chesneau, p. 40
- ^ Tucker, p. 26
- ^ Friedman, pp. 53–55
- ^ a b c Macpherson and Barrie, p. 59
- ^ Friedman, p. 55
- ^ Friedman, pp. 52–53
- ^ a b c "HMCS Huron (G24)". uboat.net. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mason, Geoffrey B. (2001). "HMCS Huron, destroyer". naval-history.net. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g Macpherson & Barrie, p. 61.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 279.
- ^ a b Forrest, Laura (18 May 2015). "A Canadian veteran remembers the "terrible" Murmansk Run". Barents Observer. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ^ Rohwer, pp. 286, 292–93.
- ^ Rohwer, pp. 293, 300.
- ^ Schull, pp. 250–51.
- ^ a b Gimblett, pp. 68, 75.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 318.
- ^ Schull, pp. 252, 258.
- ^ Zuehlke, pp. 218–225.
- ^ Schull, pp. 258, 288–295.
- ^ Schull, pp. 339–40.
- ^ Schull, p. 340.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 341.
- ^ Schull, p. 348.
- ^ a b Schull, pp. 401, 406
- ^ Rohwer, p. 412.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 416.
- ^ Thorgrimsson and Russell, pp. 49–50, 55, 59–60.
- ^ Thorgrimsson and Russell, p. 141.
- ^ Friedman, p. 394
References
- Brice, Martin H. (1971). The Tribals. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0245-2.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-95-0.
- ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
- Gimblett, Richard H., ed. (2009). The Naval Service of Canada 1910–2010: The Centennial Story. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-1-55488-470-4.
- Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Schull, Joseph (1961). The Far Distant Ships: An Official Account of Canadian Naval Operations in the Second World War. Ottawa: Queen's Printer. OCLC 19974782.
- Thorgrimsson, Thor; Russell, E.C. (1965). Canadian Naval Operations in Korean Waters 1950–1955. Ottawa: King's Printer. OCLC 5285395.
- Tucker, Gilbert Norman (1952). The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History – Volume 2: Activities on Shore During the Second World War. Ottawa: King's Printer. OCLC 4346983.
- ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
- Zuehlke, Marc (2006). Holding Juno: Canada's Heroic Defence of the D-Day Beaches: June 7-12, 1944. Douglas & Mcintyre. ISBN 1553651944.
Further reading
- Whitby, Michael (2022). "The Challenges of Operation 'Tunnel', September 1943 — April 1944". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 29–46. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.