HMCS Agassiz (K129) ( eng. His Majesty the Canadian Ship " Agassiz " ) - a corvette of the "Flower" type , which served in Canada's Naval Forces during the Second World War. He participated in escorting transport convoys across the Atlantic Ocean. Named after the city of Agassiz of the Canadian province of British Columbia .
| HMCS Agassiz | |
|---|---|
| HMCS Agassiz (K129) | |
 The crew of the Agassiz corvette | |
| Service | |
 Canada | |
| Class and type of vessel | flower corvette [1] |
| Organization | Canadian Navy |
| Manufacturer | Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd., North Vancouver |
| Ordered to build | February 14, 1940 |
| Construction started | April 29, 1940 |
| Launched | August 15, 1940 |
| Commissioned | January 23, 1941 |
| Withdrawn from the fleet | June 14, 1945 |
| Status | sold and cut into metal in 1945 |
| Awards and honors | British military honors: Atlantic 1941-45 [2] , Gulf of St. Lawrence 1944 " [3] |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 940 t |
| Length | 62.48 m |
| Width | 10.06 m |
| Draft | 3.51 m |
| Engines | 2 × Scotch boilers, four stroke triple expansion steam engine |
| Power | 2750 h.p. (2050 kW) |
| Mover | one screw |
| Speed | 16 knots |
| Sailing range | 3,500 nautical miles at 12 knots |
| Crew | 85 people |
| Armament | |
| Radar weapons | Type SW1C or 2C radar, Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar |
| Artillery | 4 "naval gun Mk IX |
| Flak | 2 twin Vickers 50 caliber machine guns 4 x Lewis Machine Guns ( 303rd caliber ) |
| Anti-submarine weapons | 2 Mk.II bombers (two holes for dropping 40 depth charges) |
Construction
Agassiz was commissioned on February 14, 1940 as part of the program for the construction of Flower corvettes for 1939 and 1940. Laid down on April 29, 1940 by Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver. It was launched on August 15, 1940 [4] and was accepted into the Canadian Naval Forces on January 23, 1941 in Vancouver [1] [5] . For his service, he twice repaired and repaired: from January to mid-March 1943 in Liverpool (Nova Scotia) and from December 1943 to March 1944 in New York . During the second repair, the tank of the ship was expanded [5] .
Service
On April 13, 1941, Agassiz arrived in Halifax , after which in May 1941 he was included in the Newfoundland convoy forces and began to serve as escort for convoys until 1943. In August, he escorted an HX-143 convoy of 57 ships, which was supposed to bypass the Kriegsmarine submarine group in the North Atlantic [6] . September 1, 1943 was transferred to the 19th escort group [7] .
On September 18, 1941, a German submarine U-74 spotted an SC-44 convoy in the North Atlantic, which was guarded by the Chesterfield destroyer and corvettes "Agassiz", "Mayflower" , Lewis and Hanisakl . On the first night of the battle, four submarines entered the battle and torpedoed the Lewis [8] , while the Agassiz took on board the survivors [5] . On September 18 and 19, four convoy ships were torpedoed, in response to which the British sent three more corvettes to help the convoy [8] .
In July 1942, Agassiz participated in the battle for the ON-102 convoy as part of the Central Ocean Convoy Forces (MOEF), group A3. As part of group C2, he also defended convoy SC-97, as part of group C3 - convoy ON-115. After the first major repair, he was transferred to group C1 from MOEF and in total escorted 12 transatlantic convoys without a single loss before the second repair in 1944. From March 1944 to February 1945 he accompanied the North American coastal convoys as part of the Western local convoy forces. From April 1944 he acted as part of the convoy group W-2, from August - in the group W-7, with which he met the end of the war [9] [5] .
On June 14, 1945 in Sydney (Nova Scotia) the Agassiz corvette was removed from the lists of the British Navy [1] [5] , after which it was sold in November 1945 and cut into metal in Moncton (New Brunswick) [10] .
Transatlantic convoys
| Convoy | Escort group | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| OB 347 | July 22–31, 1941 [11] | 64 ships reached without loss from Iceland to different destinations | |
| Hx 143 | August 8-17, 1941 [12] | 73 ships reached losslessly from Newfoundland to Iceland | |
| ON 8 | August 21–25, 1941 [13] | 46 ships reached without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland | |
| SC 44 | September 12-22, 1941 [14] | 4 ships from a convoy sailing from Newfoundland to Iceland were torpedoed and sank | |
| ON 19A | September 22 - October 4, 1941 [13] | Travel from and to Iceland | |
| SC 50 | October 19–31, 1941 [14] | 41 ships without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland | |
| ON 32 | November 6-14, 1941 [13] | 49 ships reached without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland | |
| SC 56 | November 24 - December 5, 1941 [14] | 45 ships reached losslessly from Newfoundland to Iceland | |
| Hx 184 | April 12-19, 1942 [12] | 30 ships reached without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland | |
| ON 91 | May 2–11, 1942 [13] | 31 ships without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland | |
| Hx 190 | MOEF Group A3 | May 20—27, 1942 [12] | 18 ships without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland |
| ON 102 | MOEF Group A3 | June 10-21, 1942 [13] | One ship from a convoy sailing from Newfoundland to Iceland was torpedoed and sank |
| Hx 196 | MOEF Group A3 | July 2-10, 1942 [12] | 42 ships reached without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland |
| ON 114 | MOEF Group A3 | July 20-30, 1942 [13] | 32 ships reached without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland |
| ON 115 | MOEF Group C3 | July 31 - August 3, 1942 [13] | Sending reinforcements |
| SC 97 | MOEF Group C2 | August 22-26, 1942 [14] | 2 ships from a convoy sailing from Newfoundland to Iceland were torpedoed and sank |
| SC 98 | MOEF Group C3 | September 2-8, 1942 [14] | 69 ships reached without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland |
| ON 131 | MOEF Group C3 | September 19-28, 1942 [13] | 54 ships arrived without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland |
| Hx 210 | MOEF Group C3 | October 7-14, 1942 [12] | 36 ships without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland |
| ON 141 | MOEF Group C3 | October 26 - November 3, 1942 [13] | 59 ships without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland |
| SC 109 | MOEF Group C3 | November 16–27, 1942 [14] | 2 ships from a convoy sailing from Newfoundland to Iceland were torpedoed; one sank |
| ON 152 | MOEF Group C3 | December 10-28, 1942 [13] | 15 ships reached without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland |
| SC 127 | MOEF Group C1 | April 20 - May 2, 1943 [14] | 55 ships without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland |
| ON 184 | MOEF Group C1 | May 16-25, 1943 [13] | 39 ships without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland |
| Hx 242 | June 6-14, 1943 [12] | 61 ships without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland | |
| ON 190 | June 25 - July 3, 1943 [13] | 87 ships without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland | |
| Hx 247 | July 14-21, 1943 [12] | 71 ship without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland | |
| ON 195 | August 1–8, 1943 [13] | 51 ships without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland | |
| Hx 252 | August 20–27, 1943 [12] | 52 ships reached without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland | |
| ON 201 | September 10-18, 1943 [13] | 70 ships reached without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland | |
| Hx 258 | September 28 - October 5, 1943 [12] | 59 ships without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland | |
| ON 207 | October 19-28, 1943 [13] | 52 ships reached lossless from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland | |
| Hx 264 | November 5–16, 1943 [12] | 65 ships reached without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland | |
| ON 213 | November 27 - December 7, 1943 [13] | 60 ships without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland |
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Lenton, HT British and Dominion Warships of World War II / HT Lenton, JJ Colledge. - Doubleday & Company, 1968 .-- P. 201, 210.
- ↑ Battle Honors . Britain's Navy . Date of treatment August 15, 2013.
- ↑ Royal Canadian Warships - The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence - Second World War . Veterans Affairs Canada . Date of treatment August 15, 2013.
- ↑ HMCS Agassiz (K 129) . Uboat.net . Date of treatment August 15, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Macpherson, Ken. The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910-1981: a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships / Ken Macpherson, John Burgess. - Toronto: Collins, 1981. - P. 68, 231. - ISBN 0-00216-856-1 .
- ↑ Rohwer, 2005 , p. 90.
- ↑ Rohwer, 2005 , p. 97.
- ↑ 1 2 Rohwer, 2005 , p. 100.
- ↑ Convoy Web . Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Date of treatment June 27, 2011.
- ↑ Macpherson, Ken. Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945 / Ken Macpherson, Marc Milner. - St. Catherines: Vanwell Publishing, 1993. - P. 117. - ISBN 1-55125-052-7 .
- ↑ OB convoys unspecified . Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Date of treatment July 6, 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 HX convoys . Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Date of treatment June 19, 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ON convoys unspecified . Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Date of treatment June 19, 2011. Archived on September 29, 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SC convoys . Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Date of treatment June 19, 2011. Archived on May 20, 2011.
Literature
- Jürgen Rohwer. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two. - Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005. - ISBN 1-59114-119-2 .
Links
- Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Ship Technical Information (link not available)
- Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Photo Archive (link not available)