21 January 1944 A.D.
HMCS New Waterford (K-321) Commissioned—1 of 2 RCN Ships Dad
Served Aboard
January
21, 1944 The River Class frigate HMCS New Waterford (K321) commissions
into the Royal Canadian Navy. She is paid off 7 March 1946.
21 January 1944 A.D.
HMCS New Waterford (K-321) Commissioned—1 of 2 RCN Ships Dad
Served Aboard
HMCS New Waterford (K321)
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
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HMCS New Waterford
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Career (Canada)
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Name:
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New Waterford
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Namesake:
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Operator:
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Ordered:
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June 1942
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Builder:
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Laid down:
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17 February 1943
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Launched:
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3 July 1943
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Commissioned:
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21 January 1944
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Decommissioned:
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7 March 1946
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Identification:
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Recommissioned:
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31 January 1958
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Decommissioned:
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2 December 1966
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Reclassified:
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Identification:
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pennant number: FFE 304
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Honours and
awards:
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Fate:
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sold, scrapped 1967
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Badge:
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Barry wavy of eight, Argent and Azure, a
dolphin hauriant embowed Or[2]
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General
characteristics
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Class & type:
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Displacement:
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1,445 long tons (1,468 t; 1,618
short tons)
2,110 long tons (2,140 t; 2,360 short tons) (deep load)
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Length:
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283 ft (86.26 m) p/p
301.25 ft (91.82 m)o/a
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Beam:
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36.5 ft (11.13 m)
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Draught:
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9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft
(3.96 m) (deep load)
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Propulsion:
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Speed:
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20 knots (37.0 km/h)
20.5 knots (38.0 km/h) (turbine ships)
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Range:
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646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons)
oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h)
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Complement:
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157
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Armament:
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- 2 x
QF 4 in (102 mm) /45 Mk. XVI on twin mount HA/LA Mk.XIX
- 1 x
QF 12 pdr (3 in / 76 mm) 12 cwt /50 Mk. V on
mounting HA/LA Mk.IX (not all ships)
- 8 x 20 mm QF
Oerlikon A/A on twin mounts Mk.V
- 1 x Hedgehog 24
spigot A/S projector
- up to 150 depth charges
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HMCS New Waterford
was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and then again from 1958–1966 as a Prestonian-class frigate.
She served primarily in the waters around the United
Kingdom as a convoy support escort. She was named for New Waterford, Nova
Scotia.
New Waterford was ordered in
June 1942 as part of the 1942–1943 River-class building program.[3][4] She was laid down
on 17 February 1943 by Yarrows Ltd.
at Esquimalt and launched 3 July 1943.[4] She was
commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 21 January 1944 at Victoria, British
Columbia.[3]
Contents
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 Royal
Navy at the time, including the Flower-class corvette. The first orders were placed by the Royal Navy in 1940 and the vessels
were named for rivers in the United
Kingdom, giving name to the class. In Canada they were named for
towns and cities though they kept the same designation.[5] The name
"frigate" was suggested by Vice-Admiral Percy Nelles
of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year.[6]
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.[6] Among other
lessons applied to the design was an armament package better designed to combat
U-boats including a twin
4-inch mount forward and 12-pounder aft.[5] 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.[6] 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.[5]
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.[6][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.[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]
War service
After commissioning, New Waterford transited to Halifax,
arriving on 9 March 1944. She then proceeded to work up in Bermuda. Upon her return, New Waterford was assigned to escort group EG 6
to replace the severely damaged HMCS Teme. Arriving towards the end of June, she remained with this group until the
end of the war, assigned for short periods to Plymouth and Portsmouth. In April 1945 she
returned to Canada to commence a tropicalization refit in preparation for service in the
southern Pacific Ocean. The work, done in
Liverpool, Nova
Scotia, was completed in November and she departed for the west
coast in January 1946.[3] Soon after
arrival, she was paid off at Esquimalt on 7 March 1946.[3][4]
Postwar service
New Waterford remained out of
service until 1953, when she was briefly recommissioned. She was then sent 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.[7] She was
recommissioned with pennant number 304 on 31 January 1958.[4] She served as such
until being paid off for the final time on 22 December 1966.[4] She was sold in 1967
and broken up at Savona, Italy.[3]
References
Notes
3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Macpherson, Ken;
Burgess, John (1981). The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910–1981 : a
complete pictorial history of Canadian warships. Toronto: Collins. ISBN 0-00216-856-1.
6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Macpherson, Ken
(1989). Frigates of the Royal Canadian Navy 1943–1974. Lewiston, New
York: Vanwell Publishing. p. 6-7, 15. ISBN 0920277225.
7. Jump up ^ Raymond V.B. Blackman, ed. (1958). Jane's Fighting
Ships 1958–59. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. p. 77.
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
