HMCS St. Thomas was a Castle-classcorvette of the Royal Canadian Navy. She served during the Second World War in the Battle of the Atlantic, taking part in the sinking of the German U-boatU-877 in 1944. Initially ordered by the BritishRoyal Navy as Sandgate Castle, the ship was transferred to Canada before completion. Following the war, the corvette was converted for mercantile use and renamed Camosun III, then Chilcotin and Yukon Star in 1958 before being broken up in Washington in 1974.
The Castle class were an improved corvette design over their predecessor Flower class. The Flower class was not considered acceptable for mid-Atlantic sailing and was only used on Atlantic convoy duty out of need. Though the Admiralty would have preferred Loch-classfrigates, the inability of many small shipyards to construct the larger ships required them to come up with a smaller vessel. The increased length of the Castle class over their predecessors[2] and their improved hull form gave the Castles better speed and performance on patrol in the North Atlantic and an acceptable replacement for the Flowers.[3] This, coupled with improved anti-submarine armament in the form of the Squid mortar led to a much more capable anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessel.[2] However, the design did have criticisms, mainly in the way it handled at low speeds and that the class's maximum speed was already slower than the speeds of the new U-boats they would be facing.[4]
A Castle-class corvette was 252 feet (77 m) long with a beam of 36 feet 8 inches (11.18 m) and a draught of 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m) at deep load.[2][note 1] The ships displaced 1,060 tonnes (1,040 long tons) standard[2] and 1,580 tonnes (1,560 long tons) deep load.[4][note 2] The ships had a complement of 120.[2][note 3]
The corvettes were armed with one QF 4-inch Mk XIX gun mounted forward.[2][note 4] Anti-air armament varied from 4 to 10[2]Oerlikon 20 mm cannons.[5] For ASW purposes, the ships were equipped with one three-barreled Squid anti-submarine mortar with 81 projectiles. The ships also had two depth charge throwers and one depth charge rail on the stern that came with 15 depth charges.[4]
The ships were equipped with Type 145 and Type 147B ASDIC.[4] The Type 147B was tied to the Squid anti-submarine mortar and would automatically set the depth on the fuses of the projectiles until the moment of firing. A single Squid-launched attack had a success rate of 25%.[6] The class was also provided with HF/DF and Type 277 radar.[5]
Construction and career
The British Admiralty ordered as Sandgate Castle, after the castle in Kent, on 19 January 1943 and allocated her the pennant number K373. She was built at Smiths Dock Company and launched on 28 December 1943,[7] but was never commissioned into the Royal Navy. Instead, she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy.
St. Thomas was named for the city of St. Thomas, Ontario in Canada and was commissioned on 4 May 1944 with the pennant number K488.[7][8] Her first captain was Lieutenant Commander Leslie Perman Denny, RCNR. Of the ship's complement, at least five were from St. Thomas, and about a dozen from Elgin County.[8]
Her primary mission was to escort convoys across the North Atlantic to Britain. After working up at Tobermory she joined the Mid-Ocean Escort Force escort group C-3 as a trans-Atlantic convoy escort.[7]St. Thomas escorted 13 convoys across the North Atlantic in 1944–1945.
Sinking of U-877
St. Thomas is credited with the sinking of U-877, a German submarine on 27 December 1944.[9] The battle took place north-west of the Azores in position 46º25'N, 36º38'W, 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) off the coast of Newfoundland. St. Thomas twice detected and carried out attacks on the U-boat using her Squid forward-throwing anti-submarine mortar. St. Thomas had begun to withdraw, when the damaged U-boat was discovered to have surfaced 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away. Rather than attacking a third time, the Canadian First Lieutenant (second-in-command), Stanislas Déry, ordered the crew, "Ne tirez pas" (Don't shoot). Instead, St. Thomas and HMCS Sea Cliff rescued all 56 members of the German crew.[8] Shortly afterwards U-877 sank.[8][10] The German second-in-command was credited with calling Déry every year to thank him for saving his life.[8] The sinking of U-877 was another of the many submarines successfully hunted and sunk by the RCN during the Battle of the Atlantic, confirming the Canadians as leading U-boat hunters. .[11]
Her second, and last captain was Lieutenant Commander Berkeley Hynes, RCNVR, who commanded St. Thomas from 27 January 1945 until shortly before her decommissioning late that same year. She returned to Canada in April 1945 and underwent a refit at Halifax, Nova Scotia beginning on 30 April. After the refit was completed she sailed to Esquimalt, British Columbia in July and remained there until being paid off on 22 November 1945.[7]
Postwar service
Following the war St. Thomas was sold into mercantile service and converted to a coastal passenger/cargo ship with a gross register tonnage of 1,835 tons.[12] Initially renamed Camosun III in 1946 and owned by Union Steamships Ltd., the ship was renamed Chilcotin in 1958 before being sold to Alaska Cruise Lines Ltd and renamed again to Yukon Star in 1958.[7][12] In 1970, Yukon Star was sold to West Line Ltd and hulked for use as a floating hotel in Tacoma, Washington.[13] The ship was sold to J. Gadison Machinery Ltd. in 1974 before being sold again that year to General Metals of Tacoma Inc. and broken up at Tacoma.[7][12][13] The original ship's bell from St. Thomas was donated to the city of St. Thomas in the late 1940s.[8]
References
Notes
^Brown states the beam at 36.5 feet (11.1 m) and the draught at 13.5 feet (4.1 m)
^Chesneau states the displacement at deep load as 1,590–1,630 t (1,560–1,600 long tons)
^Brown states the complement as 99 and Johnston states the complement of Canadian ships at 112 (7 officers and 105 ratings).
^Mk XIX = Mark 19. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. This was the nineteenth model of British QF 4-inch gun
Citations
^"Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
^ abcdefRea, Kyle (5 May 2010). "HMCS St. Thomas anchors new exhibition". St Thomas Times-Journal. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
^(PDF). pdf government report archive. Canadian Navy forces. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
^"Another U-boat goes down to the bottom and Canada's St Thomas Proudly Accepts the Credit". Toronto Daily Star. 14 March 1945. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
^"Navy Minister Says general's Remark Untrue". Ottawa Citizen. 13 February 1945. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
Goodwin, Norman (2007). Castle Class Corvettes: An Account of the Service of the Ships and of Their Ships' Companies. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN978-1-904459-27-9.
Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-048-7.
Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN1-55125-072-1.
Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-59114-119-2.
January 20, 2023
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HMCS St Thomas was a Castle class corvette of the Royal Canadian Navy She served during the Second World War in the Battle of the Atlantic taking part in the sinking of the German U boat U 877 in 1944 Initially ordered by the British Royal Navy as Sandgate Castle the ship was transferred to Canada before completion Following the war the corvette was converted for mercantile use and renamed Camosun III then Chilcotin and Yukon Star in 1958 before being broken up in Washington in 1974 HistoryUnited KingdomNameSandgate CastleNamesakeSandgate Castle KentOrdered19 January 1943BuilderSmiths Dock Company Southbank on TeesLaid down23 June 1943Launched28 December 1943FateTransferred to the Royal Canadian NavyCanadaNameSt ThomasNamesakeSt Thomas OntarioCommissioned4 May 1944Decommissioned22 November 1945Identificationpennant number K 488Honours andawardsAtlantic 1944 45 1 FateSold into mercantile service in 1946NameCamosun III 1946 Chilcotin 1958 Yukon Star 1958 In service1946Out of service1970FateBroken up 1974 at Tacoma WashingtonGeneral characteristics as built TypeCastle class corvetteDisplacement1 060 long tons 1 077 t Length252 ft 77 m Beam36 ft 8 in 11 18 m Draught13 ft 6 in 4 11 m Installed power2 water tube boilers 2 750 ihp 2 050 kW Propulsion1 4 cylinder triple expansion steam engine Single screwSpeed16 5 knots 30 6 km h 19 0 mph Range6 200 nmi 11 500 km at 15 kn 28 km h 17 mph Complement120Sensors and processing systemsType 272 radar Type 145 sonar Type 147B sonarArmament1 QF 4 inch Mk XIX gun 1 Squid anti submarine mortar 1 Depth charge rail 15 depth charges 4 10 20 mm anti aircraft cannon Contents 1 Design and description 2 Construction and career 2 1 Sinking of U 877 2 2 Postwar service 3 References 3 1 Notes 3 2 Citations 3 3 SourcesDesign and description EditThe Castle class were an improved corvette design over their predecessor Flower class The Flower class was not considered acceptable for mid Atlantic sailing and was only used on Atlantic convoy duty out of need Though the Admiralty would have preferred Loch class frigates the inability of many small shipyards to construct the larger ships required them to come up with a smaller vessel The increased length of the Castle class over their predecessors 2 and their improved hull form gave the Castles better speed and performance on patrol in the North Atlantic and an acceptable replacement for the Flowers 3 This coupled with improved anti submarine armament in the form of the Squid mortar led to a much more capable anti submarine warfare ASW vessel 2 However the design did have criticisms mainly in the way it handled at low speeds and that the class s maximum speed was already slower than the speeds of the new U boats they would be facing 4 A Castle class corvette was 252 feet 77 m long with a beam of 36 feet 8 inches 11 18 m and a draught of 13 feet 6 inches 4 11 m at deep load 2 note 1 The ships displaced 1 060 tonnes 1 040 long tons standard 2 and 1 580 tonnes 1 560 long tons deep load 4 note 2 The ships had a complement of 120 2 note 3 The ships were powered by two Admiralty three drum boilers which created 2 750 indicated horsepower 2 050 kW This powered one vertical triple expansion engine that drove one shaft giving the ships a maximum speed of 16 5 knots 30 6 km h 19 0 mph 2 The ships carried 480 tons of oil giving them a range of 6 200 nautical miles 11 500 km 7 100 mi at 15 knots 28 km h 17 mph 4 The corvettes were armed with one QF 4 inch Mk XIX gun mounted forward 2 note 4 Anti air armament varied from 4 to 10 2 Oerlikon 20 mm cannons 5 For ASW purposes the ships were equipped with one three barreled Squid anti submarine mortar with 81 projectiles The ships also had two depth charge throwers and one depth charge rail on the stern that came with 15 depth charges 4 The ships were equipped with Type 145 and Type 147B ASDIC 4 The Type 147B was tied to the Squid anti submarine mortar and would automatically set the depth on the fuses of the projectiles until the moment of firing A single Squid launched attack had a success rate of 25 6 The class was also provided with HF DF and Type 277 radar 5 Construction and career EditThe British Admiralty ordered as Sandgate Castle after the castle in Kent on 19 January 1943 and allocated her the pennant number K373 She was built at Smiths Dock Company and launched on 28 December 1943 7 but was never commissioned into the Royal Navy Instead she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy St Thomas was named for the city of St Thomas Ontario in Canada and was commissioned on 4 May 1944 with the pennant number K488 7 8 Her first captain was Lieutenant Commander Leslie Perman Denny RCNR Of the ship s complement at least five were from St Thomas and about a dozen from Elgin County 8 Her primary mission was to escort convoys across the North Atlantic to Britain After working up at Tobermory she joined the Mid Ocean Escort Force escort group C 3 as a trans Atlantic convoy escort 7 St Thomas escorted 13 convoys across the North Atlantic in 1944 1945 Sinking of U 877 Edit St Thomas is credited with the sinking of U 877 a German submarine on 27 December 1944 9 The battle took place north west of the Azores in position 46º25 N 36º38 W 1 000 kilometres 620 mi off the coast of Newfoundland St Thomas twice detected and carried out attacks on the U boat using her Squid forward throwing anti submarine mortar St Thomas had begun to withdraw when the damaged U boat was discovered to have surfaced 4 kilometres 2 5 mi away Rather than attacking a third time the Canadian First Lieutenant second in command Stanislas Dery ordered the crew Ne tirez pas Don t shoot Instead St Thomas and HMCS Sea Cliff rescued all 56 members of the German crew 8 Shortly afterwards U 877 sank 8 10 The German second in command was credited with calling Dery every year to thank him for saving his life 8 The sinking of U 877 was another of the many submarines successfully hunted and sunk by the RCN during the Battle of the Atlantic confirming the Canadians as leading U boat hunters 11 Her second and last captain was Lieutenant Commander Berkeley Hynes RCNVR who commanded St Thomas from 27 January 1945 until shortly before her decommissioning late that same year She returned to Canada in April 1945 and underwent a refit at Halifax Nova Scotia beginning on 30 April After the refit was completed she sailed to Esquimalt British Columbia in July and remained there until being paid off on 22 November 1945 7 Postwar service Edit Following the war St Thomas was sold into mercantile service and converted to a coastal passenger cargo ship with a gross register tonnage of 1 835 tons 12 Initially renamed Camosun III in 1946 and owned by Union Steamships Ltd the ship was renamed Chilcotin in 1958 before being sold to Alaska Cruise Lines Ltd and renamed again to Yukon Star in 1958 7 12 In 1970 Yukon Star was sold to West Line Ltd and hulked for use as a floating hotel in Tacoma Washington 13 The ship was sold to J Gadison Machinery Ltd in 1974 before being sold again that year to General Metals of Tacoma Inc and broken up at Tacoma 7 12 13 The original ship s bell from St Thomas was donated to the city of St Thomas in the late 1940s 8 References EditNotes Edit Brown states the beam at 36 5 feet 11 1 m and the draught at 13 5 feet 4 1 m Chesneau states the displacement at deep load as 1 590 1 630 t 1 560 1 600 long tons Brown states the complement as 99 and Johnston states the complement of Canadian ships at 112 7 officers and 105 ratings Mk XIX Mark 19 Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks models of ordnance until after World War II This was the nineteenth model of British QF 4 inch gun Citations Edit Battle Honours Britain s Navy Retrieved 10 May 2014 a b c d e f g h Chesneau p 63 Brown 2007 p 142 a b c d e Brown 2007 p 127 a b Brown 2007 p 126 Brown 2012 p 129 a b c d e f Macpherson and Barrie p 166 a b c d e f Rea Kyle 5 May 2010 HMCS St Thomas anchors new exhibition St Thomas Times Journal Retrieved 5 December 2015 On This Day in the Canadian Navy December PDF pdf government report archive Canadian Navy forces 2010 Archived from the original PDF on 13 June 2011 Retrieved 16 August 2010 Another U boat goes down to the bottom and Canada s St Thomas Proudly Accepts the Credit Toronto Daily Star 14 March 1945 Retrieved 5 December 2015 Navy Minister Says general s Remark Untrue Ottawa Citizen 13 February 1945 Retrieved 5 December 2015 a b c St Thomas 5396911 Miramar Ship Index Retrieved 13 May 2016 a b Colledge p 553 Sources Edit Brown David K 2007 Atlantic Escorts Ships Ships Weapons amp Tactics in World War II Barnsley UK Seaforth Publishing ISBN 978 1 84415 702 0 Brown David K 2012 Nelson to Vanguard Warship Design and Development 1923 1945 Barnsley UK Seaforth Publishing ISBN 978 1 84832 149 6 Chesneau Roger ed 1980 Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1922 1946 Greenwich UK Conway Maritime Press ISBN 0 85177 146 7 Colledge J J Warlow Ben 2006 1969 Ships of the Royal Navy The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy Rev ed London Chatham Publishing ISBN 978 1 86176 281 8 Goodwin Norman 2007 Castle Class Corvettes An Account of the Service of the Ships and of Their Ships Companies Liskeard UK Maritime Books ISBN 978 1 904459 27 9 Lenton H T 1998 British amp Empire Warships of the Second World War Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 1 55750 048 7 Macpherson Ken Barrie Ron 2002 The Ships of Canada s Naval Forces 1910 2002 Third ed St Catharines Ontario Vanwell Publishing ISBN 1 55125 072 1 Rohwer Jurgen 2005 Chronology of the War at Sea 1939 1945 The Naval History of World War Two Third Revised ed Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 1 59114 119 2 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMCS St Thomas K488 amp oldid 1119967301, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
