HMCS St. Laurent (H83)
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| Career (Canada) |  |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | St. Lawrence River |
| Ordered: | 9 July 1930 |
| Builder: | Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 1 December 1930 |
| Launched: | 29 September 1931 |
| Commissioned: | 17 February 1937 |
| Decommissioned: | 10 October 1945 |
| Fate: | Sold to be broken up for scrap on 9 November 1945. |
| Notes: | Formerly HMS Cygnet. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | C class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,375 tons (1,397 tonnes) standard 1,942 tons (1,974 tonnes) deep |
| Length: | 329 feet (100 m) o/a |
| Beam: | 33 feet (10.1 m) |
| Draught: | 12.5 feet (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 x Admiralty 3-drum water tube boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 36,000 shp (26800 kW) on 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 35.5 kn (66 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,500 nmi (10,190 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | 181 (10 officers, 171 ratings) |
| Armament: |
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HMCS St. Laurent (H83) was a River-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1937-1945.
She was formerly HMS Cygnet (H83) of the Royal Navy's C-class and wore pennant H83 during her service.
She was built by Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness and commissioned into the RN around 1932. She ended her service with the RN on 17 February 1937 when she was commissioned into the RCN.
[edit] World War II
St. Laurent was assigned to the RCN's Atlantic Fleet during World War II. During the first year and half of the war, she was largely busy rescuing survivors of the Battle of the Atlantic.
On 2 July 1940, under command of H.G. DeWolf, St. Laurent rescued 118 crewmembers, 109 guards and 586 German and Italian prisoners of war who had been aboard the unescorted British passenger ship SS Arandora Star which was torpedoed by U-47 125 nautical miles (232 km) northeast of Malin Head, Ireland.
On 4 September 1940, St. Laurent rescued 89 survivors of the British merchant ship Titan which had been torpedoed by U-47 80 nautical miles (148 km) southwest of Rockall. On 15 September 1940, St. Laurent rescued 13 survivors of the Canadian merchant ship Kenordoc which had been shelled and damaged by U-99 44 nautical miles (81 km) northwest of Rockall.
On 2 December 1940, St. Laurent rescued survivors from HMS Forfar that had been torpedoed and sunk by U-99 500 nautical miles (926 km) west of Ireland. On 3 December 1940, St. Laurent rescued 53 survivors from the British tanker Conch which had been torpedoed by U-99 370 nautical miles (685 km) west of Ireland.
After refitting at Halifax in 1941, St. Laurent escorted convoy ON-119 with Escort Group C-2 and then convoys ON-133, HX-211, SC-110, ONS-154, HX-222, ONS-2, SC-127 and ON-184 as part of Escort Group C-1.[1] St. Laurent had her first victory on 27 December 1942 when she was credited with sinking U-356 while escorting ONS-154 north of the Azores, along with the corvettes HMCS Chilliwack (K131), HMCS Battleford (K165) and HMCS Napanee (K118).
On 10 March 1944, St. Laurent was credited with sinking U-845 in the North Atlantic, along with the destroyer HMS Forester, corvette HMCS Owen Sound (K340) and corvette HMCS Swansea (K328).
St. Laurent was decommissioned on 10 October 1945.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ North Atlantic Run, Marc Milner, 1985, Naval Institute Press ISBN 0-87021-450-0
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