HMCS ''Barrie'' 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 ...

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 opposi ...

. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort. She was named for the city of Barrie, Ontario.

Background

Flower-class corvettes like ''Barrie'' serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The "corvette" designation was created by the French as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877. During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a

whaling ship 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, Jap ...

design. The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants. Corvettes commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were named after communities for the most part, to better represent the people who took part in building them. This idea was put forth by Admiral Percy W. Nelles. Sponsors were commonly associated with the community for which the ship was named. Royal Navy corvettes were designed as open sea escorts, while Canadian corvettes were developed for coastal auxiliary roles which was exemplified by their minesweeping gear. Eventually the Canadian corvettes would be modified to allow them to perform better on the open seas.

Construction

Ordered 1 February 1940 as part of the 1939–1940 Flower-class building program, ''Barrie'' 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 ...

by Collingwood Shipyards Ltd. at

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

on 4 April of that year. She was launched on 23 November 1940 and commissioned on the 12 May 1941. During her career ''Barrie'' had two significant refits. The first one began in September 1941 and which took two months to repair defects. The second one began in mid-March 1944 at Thompson Brothers in Liverpool, Nova Scotia where her

fo'c'sle 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 ...

was extended.

War service

After commissioning ''Barrie'' was assigned to Sydney Force. On 3 September 1941 she departed to escort convoy SC 43 however she left the convoy early to head on to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

due to major defects. After completing repairs ''Barrie'' served as an ocean escort until May 1942. On 9 February 1942, she rescued 38 survivors from the British merchant ship , which had been torpedoed and sunk south east of

Saint John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

by . In May 1942 she was assigned to the Western Local Escort Force (WLEF). She remained with the WLEF for the remainder of the war. In June 1943 she was assigned to escort group W-1. ''Barrie'' stayed with W-1 for much of the war except for a short period in 1944 where she was temporarily assigned to escort group W-8.

Post war service

''Barrie'' was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

on 26 June 1945 at Sorel, Quebec. She was sold to Argentine mercantile interests in 1947. She was renamed the ''Gasestado''. In 1957 ''Gasestado'' was taken over by the Argentine Navy and renamed ''Capitán Cánepa''. She was used as a survey vessel until being broken up in 1972.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrie, HMCS Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1940 ships Auxiliary ships of the Argentine Navy Research vessels of Argentina Corvettes of the Cold War