River-class Destroyer (1931)
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The River class was a series of fourteen
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s of the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, 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 s ...
(RCN) that served before and during 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 opposin ...
. They were named after Canadian rivers. The River class was a dissimilar collection of warships, consisting of twelve vessels purchased from 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 F ...
and two built specifically by British yards for the RCN. They included two A class, five C class, two D class, one E class, two F class, one
G class G class or Class G may refer to: Locomotives * NZR G class (1928), a type of steam locomotive used in New Zealand * Tasmanian Government Railways G class, a class of 0-4-2T steam locomotive used in Australia * V/Line G class, a class of diesel-e ...
and one H class. and were the first ships specifically built for the RCN and were adapted from the Royal Navy's A class.


History

The majority of the River-class ships began the Second World War with the same equipment that they were built with; however, this was gradually modified as the war progressed. Modifications included removing gun mounts to make room for additional depth charge and torpedo systems, as well as adding new communications and radar masts. The River class were the backbone of the RCN destroyer fleet and served as leaders of the
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 co ...
during the
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...
. Four of the class were lost and one severely damaged during the war: and were sunk by collisions in 1940; was torpedoed by in 1942, and ''Skeena'' was driven aground on Viðey Island near Reykjavík, Iceland in 1944. ''Saguenay'' lost much of her stern in a November 1942 collision, and was subsequently relegated to training duties. The surviving ships were all decommissioned and scrapped following the war.


1939

On 23 October 1939, the German-flagged tanker ''Emmy Friederich'' scuttled herself on encountering ''Saguenay'' in the
Yucatán Channel The Yucatán Channel or Straits of Yucatán (Spanish: ''Canal de Yucatán'') is a strait between Mexico and Cuba. It connects the Yucatán Basin of the Caribbean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico. It is just over wide and nearly deep at its deepest ...
.


1940

On 8 March 1940 ''Assiniboine'', along with intercepted and captured the German merchant ship ''Hannover'' near
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
. ''Hannover'' was later converted into . On the night of 25 June 1940, ''Fraser'' was tasked to join the destroyer and light cruiser on Operation Aerial to rescue 4,000 refugees trapped by the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
from the coast of Bordeaux, France. The warships encountered rough seas and poor visibility, forcing the commanding officer of ''Fraser'' to close quarters with the other two vessels. ''Fraser'' executed a turn to port to bring the ship behind ''Calcutta'' but in doing so, the two ships collided. The bow of the heavier ''Calcutta'' sliced into ''Fraser'' with such force that the destroyer was cut into three pieces. ''Fraser'' lost 47 sailors, and a further 19 were lost from ''Calcutta''. Many of the survivors from ''Fraser'' transferred that summer to ''Margaree'' and were lost when that vessel sank on 22 October 1940 as a result of a collision with the freighter . ''Margaree'' was lost on 22 October 1940, when she collided with the freighter MV ''Port Fairy'' at position . Of the 176 aboard ''Margaree'' at the time, 34 were rescued by ''Port Fairy'', but the other 142, including the captain and four other officers, were lost. In November, ''Ottawa'' assisted in sinking the Italian submarine .


1941


1942

On 31 July 1942, ''Skeena'' and depth charged and sank the German submarine while escorting ON 115 at . While escorting convoy SC-94 on 6 August 1942, ''Assiniboine'' achieved her first victory when she rammed, depth charged and shelled south of
Cape Farewell Cape Farewell ( kl, Nunap Isua; da, Kap Farvel) is a headland on the southern shore of Egger Island, Nunap Isua Archipelago, Greenland. As the southernmost point of the country, it is one of the important landmarks of Greenland. Geography Loc ...
, Greenland. On 14 September 1942, while escorting Convoy ON-127 east of St John's,
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, ''Ottawa'' was torpedoed by . Less than 30 minutes later, unable to maneuver, she was hit by a second torpedo. The second attack broke her in half, sinking her. 114 crew lost their lives, including the commanding officer, while 65 survivors were rescued by nearby vessels. On 15 November 1942, ''Saguenay'' was rammed by the Panamanian freighter ''Azra'' off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The impact of the collision set off ''Saguenay''s depth charges, which blew off her stern. She made port at
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...
, where her stern was plated over. On 23 May 1943, ''Saguenay'' was transferred to Halifax, to serve with the Western Ocean Escort Force working from Halifax and St. John's, Newfoundland. In October 1943 ''Saguenay'' was towed to
Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is an incorporated town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is in the historical Digby County, Nova Scotia, county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western s ...
, as a tender assigned to , the Royal Canadian Navy's training depot for new entries (recruits). She was used for teaching seamanship and gunnery until 30 July 1945, paid off in late 1945, and broken up in 1946. ''St. Laurent'' had her first victory on 27 December 1942 when she was credited with sinking while escorting
Convoy ON 154 Convoy ON 154 - also ON(S) 154 or ONS 154 - was a North Atlantic convoy of the ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 154th of the numbered series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British ...
north of the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
, along with the corvettes , and .


1943

On 2 March 1943 ''Assiniboine'' was damaged by her own depth charges during a battle with . She made
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on 7 March and took 3 months to repair. , formerly HMS ''Fortune'' joined the River class in May 1943. HMCS ''Gatineau'' joined in June.


1944

On 6 March 1944 at 1830 hrs, the German U-boat was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position following a lengthy hunt to exhaustion. It was initially torpedoed by the British and an unsuccessful attempt was made at towing the submarine to port. The U-boat was subsequently sunk by
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s from ''Icarus'', Canadian corvettes and , Canadian frigate , Canadian destroyers HMCS ''Chaudière'' and , and the British corvette . ''St. Laurent'' was credited with the 10 March 1944 sinking of in the North Atlantic, along with the destroyer , corvette and frigate . On 6 July 1944, ''Ottawa'' and ''Kootenay'' were detached from a convoy to assist HMS ''Statice'' with a submarine contact off Beachy Head,
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
. As ''Ottawa'' swept the area, she gained sonar contact and attacked with depth charges. Shortly afterward, large amounts of debris appeared on the surface, including caps marked ''U-678''. On 7 July 1944, ''Kootenay'', ''Ottawa'', and the corvette depth-charged and sank the German VIIC-class U-boat in 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 ...
south-west of
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
. On 18 August ''Kootenay'', ''Ottawa'', and ''Chaudière'' depth-charged and sank the German VIIC-class U-boat in the
Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
near
La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
. On 20 August, the same ships depth-charged and sank the German VIIC-class U-boat in the Bay of Biscay west of
Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...
. ''Skeena'' was lost in a storm on the night of 24 October 1944. She was anchored off Reykjavík, Iceland and dragged her anchor and grounded in waves off Viðey Island with the loss of 15 of her crew. Her hulk was written off and sold to Icelandic interests in June 1945; she was then raised and broken up. Her propeller was salvaged and used in a memorial near the Viðey Island ferry terminal.uboat.net page
/ref>


1945

On 14 February 1945 ''Assiniboine'' collided with merchant ship ''Empire Bond'' in 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 ...
. She made
Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...
for repairs and was operational again in early March.


Ships


Notes and references


Sources

* Butterley, Keith, and Macpherson, Ken. ''River class destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy''. 2nd ed. St. Catharines, Ont. : Vanwell Pub., c2008. * * * Macpherson, Kenneth R. and Barrie, Ron. (2002)(Third Edition) ''The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002''. Vanwell Publishing. *


External links

{{Authority control Destroyer classes River class destroyers