HMCS ''Algoma'' was a that served with the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Named for the

Algoma District Algoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The name was created by an American ethnologist, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), who was appointed Indian agent to the Ojibwe in ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, it served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic. After the war it was sold to the

Venezuelan Navy ) , mascot = , battles = Venezuelan War of Independence and the Battle of Lake Maracaibo , anniversaries = July 24, Birthday of Simon Bolivar, Navy Day and Battle of Lake Maracai ...

and renamed ''Constitución''. Designed as a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

escort, the vessel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 18 June 1940, launched on 17 December and commissioned on 11 July 1941. The ship took part in three major convoy battles and Operation Torch escort duties and was decommissioned in 1945. She served with the Venezuelan Navy from 1946 until 1962.

Design and description

Flower-class corvettes such as ''Algoma'' serving with the

(RCN) in the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The Flower-class corvettes originated from a need that arose in 1938 to expand the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

following the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

. A design request went out for a small escort for coastal

s. Based on a traditional

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

-type design, the initial Canadian ships of the Flower class had a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of . They were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

with a beam of and a maximum draught of . The initial 1939–1940 corvettes were powered by a four-cylinder

vertical triple expansion A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up h ...

engine powered by steam from two

Scotch boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boile ...

s turning one three-bladed propeller rated at . The Scotch boilers were replaced with

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...

s in later 1939–1940 and 1940–1941 Programme ships. The corvettes had a maximum speed of . This gave them a range of at . The vessels were extremely wet. The Canadian Flower-class vessels were initially armed with a Mk IX BL gun forward on a CP 1 mounting and carried 100 rounds per gun. The corvettes were also armed with a QF Vickers 2-pounder () gun on a bandstand aft, two single-mounted .303 Vickers machine guns or Browning 0.5-calibre machine guns for anti-aircraft defence and two twin-mounted .303 Lewis machine guns, usually sited on bridge wings. For

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

, they mounted two depth charge throwers and initially carried 25 depth charges. The corvettes were designed with a Type 123

ASDIC Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...

sonar set installed. The Flower-class ships had a complement of 47 officers and ratings. The Royal Canadian Navy initially ordered 54 corvettes in 1940 and these were fitted with Mark II Oropesa

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

gear used for destroying contact mines. Part of the depth charge rails were made portable so the minesweeping gear could be utilised.

Modifications

In Canadian service the vessels were altered due to experience with the design's deficiencies. The galley was moved further back in the ship and the mess and sleeping quarters combined. A wireless

direction finding Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stati ...

set was installed, and enlarged

bilge The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull. Internally, the bilges (usu ...

keels were installed to reduce rolling. After the first 35–40 corvettes had been constructed, the foremast was shifted aft of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and the mainmast was eliminated. Corvettes were first fitted with basic SW-1 and SW-2 CQ surface warning

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

, notable for their fishbone-like antenna and reputation for failure in poor weather or in the dark. The compass house was moved further aft and the open-type bridge was situated in front of it. The ASDIC hut was moved in front and to a lower position on the bridge. The improved

Type 271 radar The Type 271 was a surface search radar used by the Royal Navy and allies during World War II. The first widely used naval microwave-frequency system, it was equipped with an antenna small enough to allow it to be mounted on small ships like ...

was placed aft, with some units receiving

Type 291 radar The Type 291 radar was designed as a search radar for ships destroyer-sized and smaller in 1942. By the end of the Second World War it had been installed in almost every British and Commonwealth destroyer and escort ship as well as many submarine ...

for air search. The minesweeping gear, a feature of the first 54 corvettes, was removed. Most Canadian Flower-class corvettes had their

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

s extended which improved crew accommodation and seakeeping. Furthermore, the sheer and flare of the bow was increased, which led to an enlarged bridge. This allowed for the installation of Oerlikon cannon, replacing the Browning and Vickers machine guns. Some of the corvettes were rearmed with

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

anti-submarine

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

. The complements of the ships grew throughout the war rising from the initial 47 to as many as 104.

Construction and career

Canadian service

''Algoma'' was ordered 1 February 1940 as part of the 1939–1940 Flower class building program. She was

on 18 June 1940 by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. in

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur had been the district seat o ...

, and launched on 17 December 1940. The vessel was commissioned on 11 July 1941 in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, and arrived in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, on 18 July 1940 to begin her career. In the Battle of the Atlantic, escort ships for

s of merchant ships were organised into groups, with ''Algoma'' initially joining the groups 4.1.12 and 4.1.14 before reorganisation into

Mid-Ocean Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British, and Canadian escorts to these c ...

(MOEF) Escort Group A3 (EG A3). On 21 February 1942, the convoy ON 67 was located by German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s which was being escorted by the convoy escort group A6, of which ''Algoma'' was a member of at the time. In the battle from 21–24 February eight ships were sunk. On 11 May, the convoy ONS 92, escorted by A3 was spotted by U-boats. The convoy lost six merchant vessels before contact was lost due to bad weather. ''Algoma'' then went in for refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia in July, which took six weeks to complete. Upon returning to active service, the corvette joined the Western Local Escort Force. She was then assigned to Operation Torch duties in October and left for the United Kingdom with convoy SC 107. On 1 November the convoy was intercepted by the German wolfpack "Hecht" and until the end of the battle on 6 November, 13 merchant ships were sunk. ''Algoma'' was then placed under command of the

, escorting convoys to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. In February 1943, the ship was based at Bône, Algeria before returning to Atlantic waters, based at St. John's, Newfoundland. The convoy escorted by ''Algoma'' on the return journey, ON 179, suffered no losses even though it was pursued by U-boats. After a brief stint with the Western Support force in May 1943 and a return to WLEF, the corvette joined Quebec Force in June, the unit dedicated to escort and patrol around Quebec until November. ''Algoma'' did one quick tour with MOEF group C4 before arriving at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, for a major refit. ''Algoma'' returned to service in May 1944, joining MOEF group C5. She performed three round-trips with convoys before joining EG 41 at Plymouth, United Kingdom, under the command of the Royal Navy's Plymouth Command. She spent the rest of the war patrolling the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. For service in the war, ''Algoma'' was given the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

s "Atlantic 1941–44" and "English Channel 1945".

Venezuelan service

''Algoma'' was paid off on 6 July 1945 at Sydney, Nova Scotia, for disposal. The Venezuelan Navy bought her in 1945 and renamed her ARV ''Constitución''. She was discarded in 1962.

Citations

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Algoma, HMCS 1940 ships Corvettes of the Cold War Flower-class corvettes of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy Ships built in Ontario