- Yes
- No
Hello, I’d like to suggest a boat. Namely, a Flower-class that served the Royal Canadian Navy during WW2. If you recognize the name then you know why I’m suggesting this, if not well you’re in for a treat.
History:
In early 1939 with the increasing risk of war, it became clear that the Royal Navy needed a large number of escort ships to fight the U-boat threat. This would be taken up by Smiths Dock Company who would take one of their whaler designs, Southen Pride and modified it to the RN’s needs. This would lead to the Flower-class Corvette, well the class was originally meant for coastal convoys but would end up having a long-range which made them a mainstay of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force. These would make them a mainstay in the North Atlantic until boats of others and bigger classes like Destroyer Escorts or Frigates could be built in large numbers. On top of that, its simple design that shared a lot with commercial merchant ships allowed them to be built in small commercial shipyards all across the United Kingdom & Canada.
Many of the RCN’s early Flower-class ships had minesweeping equipment mounted. The RCN would order 70 original and 34 modified Flower-class ships from Canadian shipbuilders, who would also build 7 original Flowers for the United States Navy. The Canadian ships would also have a few design differences compared to the RN ones. Those would include, having the “bandstand” where the aft pom-pom was mounted moved to the rear of the superstructure and the galley was moved forward to immediately abaft the engine room. Corvettes commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War would be named after communities, to represent the people building them. This concept was proposed by Admiral Percy W. Nelles. This would lead to sponsors being commonly associated with the community the ship was named after. The Canadian boats of the class were originally meant for coastal auxiliary roles but these would eventually modified to perform on the open seas.
Oakville was laid down by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. at Port Arthur, Ontario(now known as Thunder Bay, Ontario) on December 21, 1940 and would be launched on June 21, 1941. However, she wouldn’t be commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy(RCN) until November 18, 1941 in Montreal, Quebec. She would arrive in Halifax, ten days later and join the Halifax Force after her arrival. HMCS Oakville would be transferred quite a bit during her service, starting with, in March 1942 she would be transferred to the Western Local Escort Force during its formation. In July of the same year, she’d be returned to the Halifax Force to perform escort from Halifax to Aruba in the Caribbean. During her second visit to Aruba in late August she would be directed to join convoy TAW.15 was reinforcements. Where on August 28, 1942, they were attacked by U-94. The U-boat when first spotted was bombarded by an American seaplane. Oakville would also try and depth charge it, which would end up forcing it to the surface and would end up ramming the submarine twice, although due to the lack of equipment meant for ramming submarines on HMCS Oakville, she would take heavy damage. Due to the time of day of the attack, the boarding part would show up in nothing but their shorts. This party would be made up of 11 sailors under the command of Clarence King and would include Sub Lieutenant Hal Lawrence and Petty Officer A.J. Powell. They would proceed to force the Germans to surrender, but not until after they managed to scuttle the ship. Due to the fact that the ship had been scuttled when Lawrence went to recover the Enigma machine and documents he would have to retrace his steps and even swim a bit to escape after he discovered that fact. When the servicers and allied sailors were recovered by Oakville and an American ship, the Americans had to be convicted that the Canadian sailors they just recovered were part of the Axis due to being covered they were blood and oil. HMCS Oakville would receive repairs in Guantanamo, Cuba before heading back to Halifax to receive full repairs when she arrived on the 16th of September and stayed there until completion on December 1st. Afterwards, she would join the Western Local Escort Force where she would serve until the end of the war. The RCN paid off Oakville and decommissioned her on the 20th of July in 1945, where shortly thereafter she would be sold to Venezuela and renamed to Patria.
Specs:
Displacement: 1,015 long tons (1,031 t; 1,137 short tons)
Length: 208 ft (63.4 m)o/a
Beam: 33 ft (10.1 m)|
Draught: 11 ft (3.35 m)
Propulsion:
- single shaft
- 2 × water tube boilers
- 1 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
- 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed: 16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range: 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement: 90
Sensors and processing systems:
- 1 × Type 271 SW2C radar
- 1 × Type 144 sonar
Armament:
- 1 × 4-inch BL Mk.IX single gun
- 1 × 2-pounder. Mk.VIII single “pom-pom” AA gun
- 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon single
- 1 × Hedgehog A/S mortar
- 4 × Mk.II depth charge throwers
- 2 depth charge rails with 70 depth charges
Sources
https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/services/history/ships-histories/oakville.html
HMCS Oakville - Wikipedia
Flower-class corvette - Wikipedia
H.M.C.S. Oakville - Photographed prior to changes and renovations (see later photos). World War II. | Oakville Historical Society
HMCS OAKVILLE K178 - For Posterity's Sake
Over The Side: The Courageous Boarding Of U-94 - Legion Magazine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G50knEfX0ds