HMCS La Hulloise

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HMCS La Hulloise entering Gladstone Dock, Liverpool.
History
Canada
NameLa Hulloise
NamesakeHull, Quebec
OrderedOctober 1941
BuilderCanadian Vickers, Montreal
Laid down10 August 1943
Launched29 October 1943
Commissioned20 May 1944
Decommissioned6 December 1945
IdentificationPennant number: K 668
Recommissioned9 October 1957
Decommissioned16 July 1965
ReclassifiedPrestonian-class frigate 1957
Identificationpennant number: FFE 305
Motto"Soyons coeur franc" (Let us be true of heart)[1]
Honours and
awards
  • Atlantic 1945
  • North Sea 1945[1][2]
FateScrapped 1966
BadgeBarry wavy of twelve, argent and azure, a lozenge of the second fimbriated or, charged with three maple leaves vert, edged and veined argent, conjoined to a single stem of the last, the stem enfiled with a coronet or.[3]
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 La Hulloise was a

Second World War and again as a training ship and Prestonian-class frigate from 1957–1965. She was named for Hull, Quebec, but due to possible confusion with USS Hull, her name was altered.[4]

La Hulloise was ordered in October 1941 as part of the 1942–1943 River-class building program.[4][5] She was laid down on 10 August 1943 by Canadian Vickers Ltd. at Montreal, Quebec and launched 29 October 1943.[5] She was commissioned 20 May 1944 at Montreal with the pennant K 668.[4][5]

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.[7]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[6]

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.[6]

Canada originally ordered the construction of 33 frigates in October 1941.[6][7] 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.[7] In all Canada ordered the construction of 60 frigates including ten for the Royal Navy that transferred two to the United States Navy.[6]

Service history

After working up in

St. George's Channel.[8] On 7 March 1945, La Hulloise took part alongside Strathadam and Thetford Mines, in the sinking of U-1302 in St George's Channel.[4][9] On 20 March 1945 U-1003 collided underwater with New Glasgow of EG 26. Strathadam, La Hulloise and Thetford Mines of EG 25 were added to the search for the sub, of which Thetford Mines found survivors of the U-boat which had been scuttled on 23 March.[10] In May 1945, La Hulloise departed the UK for a tropicalization refit at Saint John, which was completed 19 October 1945. However the war had ended and she was paid off on 6 December 1945 and placed in reserve.[4]

Postwar service

On 24 June 1949, La Hulloise was recommissioned as the

Fleet Review at Spithead on 15 June 1953.[14][15] She remained a training ship until she was decommissioned in February 1953 in preparation for her conversion to a Prestonian-class frigate.[4][5] This meant a flush-decked appearance aft, with a larger bridge and taller funnel. Her hull forward was strengthened against ice and the quarterdeck was enclosed to contain two Squid anti-submarine mortars.[16]

Prestonian class La Hulloise leaving Fort Churchill in 1962

La Hulloise was recommissioned on 9 October 1957 with pennant number 305.[5] In 1961, the frigate was a member of the Ninth Canadian Escort Squadron.[17] She remained in service until 16 July 1965 when she was paid off. She was sold and broken up at La Spezia, Italy in 1966.[4]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Arbuckle, p. 55
  2. ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. ^ "RCSCC La Hulloise". The Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-00216-856-1
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMCS La Hulloise (K 668)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Fact Sheet No. 21 – Canadian River Class Frigates". Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  7. ^
    ISBN 0920277225
    .
  8. ^ Rohwer, pp. 378–9
  9. ^ Rohwer, p. 391
  10. ^ Rohwer, p. 397
  11. ^ "Iroquois Returns to Sea Duty". The Crowsnest. Vol. 1, no. 9. King's Printer. July 1949. p. 3.
  12. ^ "R.C.N. News Review". The Crowsnest. Vol. 3, no. 8. King's Printer. June 1951. p. 2.
  13. ^ "R.C.N. News Review". The Crowsnest. Vol. 5, no. 3. Queen's Printer. January 1953. pp. 2–4.
  14. ^ Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
  15. ^ "RCN to Take Part In Coronation, Review". The Crowsnest. Vol. 5, no. 4. Queen's Printer. February 1953. p. 2.
  16. ^ Raymond V.B. Blackman, ed. (1958). Jane's Fighting Ships 1958–59. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. p. 77.
  17. ^ "Ninth Escort Squadron". The Crowsnest. Vol. 13, no. 6. Queen's Printer. April 1961. pp. 19–20.

Sources
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