HMCS Outremont
![]() HMCS Outremont
| |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | Outremont |
Namesake | Outremont, Quebec |
Ordered | October 1941 |
Builder | Morton Engineering & Dry Dock Co., Quebec City |
Laid down | 18 November 1942 |
Launched | 3 July 1943 |
Commissioned | 27 November 1943 |
Decommissioned | 5 November 1945 |
Identification | pennant number: K 322 |
Recommissioned | 2 December 1955 |
Decommissioned | 7 June 1965 |
Reclassified | Prestonian-class frigate 1955 |
Identification | pennant number: FFE 310 |
Motto | "Proud to serve"[1] |
Honours and awards | Atlantic 1944, Arctic 1944, Normandy 1944[1][2] |
Fate | Sold, scrapped 1966 |
Badge | Party per chevron or and vert, in chief surmounting the peak of the chevron an ancient crown gules and in base a peacock in his pride, or[1] |
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 x 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 Outremont was a
Outremont was ordered in October 1941 as part of the 1942–1943 River-class building program.[3][4] She was laid down on 18 November 1942 by Morton Engineering & Dry Dock Co. at Quebec City and launched 3 July 1943.[4] She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 27 November 1943 at Quebec City.[3]
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.
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.[5]
Canada originally ordered the construction of 33 frigates in October 1941.[5][6] 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.[6] In all Canada ordered the construction of 60 frigates including ten for the Royal Navy that transferred two to the United States Navy.[5]
Service history
After working up in St. Margaret's Bay, Outremont was assigned to escort group EG 6 based out of
Outremont returned to Canada in December 1944 to undergo a tropicalization refit at Sydney in preparation for service in the southern Pacific Ocean. She returned to service on 20 August 1945 only to be paid off 5 November.[3]
Postwar service
Outremont was sold to Marine Industries after the war. She was later repurchased by the Royal Canadian Navy for conversion to a Prestonian-class frigate. 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.[8] She was recommissioned on 2 September 1955 at Saint John with the pennant 310. Her crew came from sister ship Penetang, which had been paid off the same day.[9] Outremont deployed to the Caribbean Sea in May–June 1956 for training exercises with the destroyer Nootka and two United States Navy submarines.[10]
She served in a training capacity with the
References
Notes
- ^ a b c Arbuckle, p. 84
- ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0-00216-856-1.
- ^ a b "HMCS Outremont (K 322)". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Fact Sheet No. 21 – Canadian River Class Frigates". Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0920277225.
- ISBN 978-0981078489.
- ^ Raymond V.B. Blackman, ed. (1958). Jane's Fighting Ships 1958–59. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. p. 77.
- ^ "Outremont Joins, Penetang Departs". The Crowsnest. Vol. 7, no. 12. Queen's Printer. October 1955. p. 3.
- ^ "HMCS Outremont". The Crowsnest. Vol. 8, no. 10. Ottawa: Queen's Printer. August 1956. p. 20.
- ^ "Seventh Escort Squadron". The Crowsnest. Vol. 13, no. 1. Queen's Printer. November 1960. p. 25.
- ^ "Frigates Allocated to Great Lakes". The Crowsnest. Vol. 12, no. 6. Queen's Printer. April 1960. pp. 2–3.
Sources
- Arbuckle, J. Graeme (1987). Badges of the Canadian Navy. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 0-920852-49-1.
- 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