- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMCS Crusader in game.
HMCS Crusader at sea, note twin power Oerlikon mounts replaced by single 40mm bofors, (1954)
Description:
Although the Canadian Government had selected to be loan a full Flotilla (8 vessels) of the Cr-class of war emergency destroyers from the Royal Navy for use within Canada’s contribution to the British war effort in the Pacific before they were actually built and commissioned, only two vessels, HMS Crescent and Crusader, would be delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), as Japan would drop out of the war and surrender before any further transfers could occur. The remaining six vessels would remain in the British reserve fleet prioritised for sale to friendly nations.
This suggestion is for the HMCS Crusader during her Korean War 1952 fit.
HMCS Crusader at port, docked alongside other War Emergency Destroyers, (~1950)
History:
Ordered on the 12th of September 1942 along with the other Cr-class vessels, she would be laid down as the HMS Crusader on the 15th of November 1943 by John Brown & Co at Clydebank, Scotland. She would launch on the 5th of October 1944, however on the day of her completion she would be transferred to the RCN after year long negotiations, and commissioned as the HMCS Crusader instead of the HMS Crusader. She would commission with the pennant R20.
HMCS Crusader would leave the UK on the 15th of November 1945, sailing for the west coast of Canada via the Azores and Caribbean, only arriving at Esquimalt harbour on the 21st of January 1946. Although the RCN was decommissioning the older River-class destroyers, the Canadian Naval Board also did not see an advantage to keeping the Cr-class HMCS Crusader and Crescent commissioned, as they had plenty of Tribal-class destroyers for fleet duties, and extra commissioned hulls would only increase manning requirements and maintenance costs for no extra capability.
The Crusader would thus immediately pass into the reserve fleet, paying off on the 22nd of January 1946. She would only commission four years later, as Canada’s fleet requirements had dramatically increased with the Korean War, as they had sent many of their Tribal-class Destroyers to fight in that campaign.
She would recommission on the 2nd of April 1951, beginning working up and trials after spending a long period in reserve. She would serve as a training ship for cadets from the 12th of May 1951, when the first group arrived aboard her. She would sail in training cruises from Bedwell Harbour along with HMCS Beacon Hill and Antigonish, which were both River-class Frigates. The group would arrive at the USN base at Long Beach on the 1st of June, leaving on the 3rd, and arriving back at Esquimalt on the 7th.
She would embark a new group of cadets on the 16th, where again the group would sail around in training cruises. This time they would visit Sidney, British Columbia, as to take part in their anniversary celebrations. They would arrive on the 26th of June, leaving on the 28th for Pearl Harbour, where they would arrive on the 6th of July. They would depart Hawaii on the 10th, arriving in Esquimalt on the 19th.
The third group of cadets would sail aboard on the 2nd of August, however with only HMCS Athabaskan in company. They too would sail for Pearl Harbour, returning on the 22nd. She would embark the then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh upon their visit to Canada in October 1951. She would go back to training cadets upon the end of those duties. She would then spend five months preparing in dock for operational deployment to Korea, as to relieve one of the other destroyers then fighting there.
HMCS Crusader (right), docked with the HMCS Athabaskan (left) at Kure, Japan (1953)
She would sail for Korean waters on the 25th of May 1952, arriving at Pearl Harbour on the 31st. She would conduct operations with the Second Destroyer Squadron of the USN, stopping at Midway island for refuelling. They would arrive at Yokosuka, Japan, on the 18th of June. After visiting Sasebo harbour, she would rendezvous with HMCS Iroquois, and USS Bataan, as the three vessels were to relieve Task Element 95.11. These vessels would meet up with the USS Bradford and Marsh on the 25th of June, forming a carrier striking force on the Korean west coast. While on duty in this station, she would mostly be employed in screening the carrier for enemy vessels while they were busy with air operations.
She would remain here until the 15th of July, where she, HMS Cardigan Bay, and USS Henderson provided fire support for two USN minesweepers, the USS Redhead and Swallow, who were sweeping the northern channels of the Taedang Estuary, near Sok-to, as it was known that there was an anti-aircraft battery on the mainland that could fire upon the minesweepers, which would be trapped between the battery and the island. The shipping channel would be rechecked by the minesweepers on the 16th, however the Crusader would leave this position to bombard troop concentrations in support of Corsairs, which were themselves attacking ground units with bombs and rockets. She would return to Japan in August 1952, sailing to Kure, she would leave on the 7th for operations with HMS Ocean and Charity, by the 14th the group would provide heavy fire support to American troops north of the Parallel, with the spotting ship, the Loch-class frigate HMNZS Rotoiti, reporting their fire as extremely accurate.
On the 12th of November she would intercept radio messages that the HMAS ANZAC was under heavy fire from four heavy guns and moved to assist, HMCS Crusader would fire a number of salvoes from four guns on target before it was silenced.
She would continue to operate in this theatre in two separate deployments, the first from June 1952 to June 1953, and a second from November 1953 to August 1954.
Note: I have described operations during her first deployment, but I had to delete the specifics of the 2nd deployment due to its sheer length, with operations being much larger in scale and length compared to her operations in the first, however they were approximately the same bombardment/patrol/screening duties.
On return from Korea she would again be based out of Esquimalt for training, however she would enter refit on the 24th of January 1955, completing on the 26th of January. She would then again return to training duty, however she would also be used as a testing vessel, where she would test radios, radar, and
the then new variable depth sonar in 1958, which necessitated the removal of ‘X’ turret.
She would pay off on the 15th of January 1960 at Halifax, being sold for scrap in 1964.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: HMCS Crusader | |||||
| Country: Canada | |||||
| Type: Destroyer | |||||
| Class name: Cr-class | |||||
| Year of commission: 1945 | |||||
| Refit: 1952 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 362.75 ft (110.57m) | |||||
| Beam: 35.6 ft (10.9m) | |||||
| Draught: 10 ft 6 in (3.20m) | |||||
| Displacement: 1,900t standard | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: 2x Oil fired boilers, two geared turbines @ 40,000shp (30,000kW) overall across two shafts | |||||
| Speed: 36kt | |||||
| Endurance: 1,400nmi @ 20kt | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 186 | |||||
| Primary armament: 4x1 QF 4.5-inch Mk.IV on CP Mk.V | |||||
| Secondary armament: 1x2 40mm Bofors on Hazemeyer Mk.IV mount, 4x1 40mm Bofors Mk.VII | |||||
| Tertiary armament: 1x4 21" torpedo tubes, 2x DCR, 2x24 Hedgehog ASW Mortar | |||||
| Radar: Type 272, Type 285, Type 291, | |||||
| Sonar: Type 144 |
HMCS Crusader at sea off Portsmouth, note prototype VDS gear on the stern, (n.d)
Extra Photos:
Sources:
N.Friedman (2017) British Destroyers & Frigates, the Second World War and After (pp.91-93, 103-104)
JJ.Colledge & B.Warlow, (2006) Ships of the Royal Navy (p.84)
K. Macpherson & J. Burgess (1981) The ships of Canada’s Naval Forces 1910-1981 (pp.162, 221)
HMCS Crusader - Wikipedia
HMCS CRUSADER - CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum
https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/services/history/ships-histories/crusader.html
HMCS CRUSADER OPERATIONAL RECORD - 25 MAY 1952 - 01 JUL 1953
HMCS CRUSADER | Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy