| Frigates |
Frigate
HMCS Chebogue on 17 March 1944,
shortly after commissioning at
Esquimalt, British Columbia. Chebogue
was assigned to Escort Group C-1
in June 1944, after working up
in Bermuda. |
| Photo
by Kenneth Maclean. Department
of National Defence / National
Archives of Canada, PA-134522. |
|
The corvette's flaws became obvious with
the first trials at sea. To correct those
problems, naval engineer William Reed designed
a larger ship, the River class frigate.
The frigate is faster, more comfortable
and better armed than the corvette, with
twice its autonomy; it can sail 13,335 miles
at a speed of 12 knots.
As frigates were too large to sail down
from the Great Lakes, frigate contracts
between 1942 and 1944 were given to shipyards
on the West Coast and along the deeper waters
of the St. Lawrence. Sixty Canadian-built
frigates were provided to the Royal Canadian
Navy (RCN) starting in late 1943. The RCN
received ten additional frigates built in
Great Britain and originally destined to
the Royal Navy.
Canadian shipyards also built an improved
version of Bangor class vessels, known as
the Algerine class. There were 41 such ships
built in Canada, mostly at the Port Arthur
shipyards. Of that number, only 12 served
in the RCN; they were used as escort ships,
and did not carry minesweeping gear.
Used mostly to escort convoys, frigates
were the most valuable warships ever built
in Canada for anti-submarine warfare.
| River
Class Frigates |
| Length |
91.9 m |
| Width
|
11.14 m |
| Draught |
4 m |
| Displacement |
2,216 tons |
| Maximum
Speed |
19 knots |
| Armament |
One
4-inch (100mm) twin gun at the foreOne
12-pound gun at the aftTwo Oerlikon
20mm twin guns on deck, and two on the
aft platform145 depth charges, 2 depth
charge throwers on each side, 2 rails
at the sternOne 24-mortar "Hedgehog" |
| Crew |
140 to 160 men |
HMCS Chebogue was torpedoed
by U-1227 on 4 October 1944 while
on escort duty to convoy ONS-33. She
was towed to harbour in Wales, yet
her short career is over. |
| Photo
by Franklin Roy Kemp. Department of
National Defence / National Archives
of Canada, PA-141300. |
|
| Suggested
Reading: |
Ken Macpherson
and John Burgess, The Ships of Canada's
Naval Forces 1910-1981, A Complete Pictorial
History of Canadian Warships, Collins,
Toronto, 1981.
Ken Macpherson and John Milner, Frigates
of the Royal Canadian Navy 1943-1974,
Vanwell, St. Catharines (Ontario), v.
1989. |
|
Next: Fairmile
Motor Launch 
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Canada in WWII
