Allied Warships

HMCS Matapedia (K 112)

Corvette of the Flower class


Photograph taken by Charles James Sadler, RCNVR. First Class Stoker, Official number V-4963, serving in the Canadian destroyer HMCS Columbia.

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeCorvette
ClassFlower 
PennantK 112 
Built byMorton Engineering and Dry Dock Co. (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) 
Ordered23 Jan 1940 
Laid down2 Feb 1940 
Launched14 Sep 1940 
Commissioned9 May 1941 
End service16 Jun 1945 
History

Fo'c's'le extention at Liverpool (Nova Scotia, Canada) completed on 3 February 1944.

Decommissioned 16 June 1945.
Scrapped in Canada on December 1950.

 

Commands listed for HMCS Matapedia (K 112)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1T/Lt. Ronald James Herman, RCNVR10 Dec 194026 Apr 1943
2T/Lt. John de la Fosse Frewer, RCNVR27 Apr 194312 May 1944
3T/Lt. Christopher French Usher, RCNVR13 May 194416 Jun 1945

You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.

Notable events involving Matapedia include:


HMS Matapedia as seen from the Canadian destroyer HMCS Columbia.

Photographs taken by
Charles James Sadler RCNVR, Stoker, Service NO. V-4963.
HMCS Columbia / HMCS Avalon / HMCS Joliette.

6 Jul 1941

Convoy HX 137.

This convoy departed Halifax on 6 July 1941 for the U.K.

On departure from Halifax it was made up of the following merchant vessels; Alchiba (Dutch, 4427 GRT, built 1920), Beaverhill (British, 10041 GRT, built 1928), Beechwood (British, 4987 GRT, built 1940), British Faith (British (tanker), 6955 GRT, built 1928), British Integrity (British (tanker), 8412 GRT, built 1927)), Clairton (British, 6080 GRT, built 1919), Empire Guillemot (British, 5720 GRT, built 1919), Empire Summer (British, 6949 GRT, built 1941), Empire Woodcock (British, 5572 GRT, built 1918), Gold Shell (British (tanker), 8208 GRT, built 1931), Heina (Norwegian, 4028 GRT, built 1925), Hjalmar Wessel (Norwegian, 1742 GRT, built 1935), King Arthur (British, 5224 GRT, built 1928)), Lechistan (Polish, 1937 GRT, built 1929), Manchester Spinner (British, 4767 GRT, built 1918), Margartia Chandris (Greek, 5401 GRT, built 1920), Matiana (British, 9045 GRT, built 1922)), Michalis (Greek, 5685 GRT, built 1919), Modavia (British, 4858 GRT, built 1927), Moorby (British, 4992 GRT, built 1936), Mount Rhodope (Greek, 5182 GRT, built 1919), Nellie (Greek, 4826 GRT, built 1913), New Westminster City (British, 4747 GRT, built 1929), Nicoya (British, 5364 GRT, built 1929), Olympos (Greek, 5216 GRT, built 1918), Penrose (British, 4393 GRT, built 1928), Pentridge Hill (British, 7579 GRT, built 1941), Pontfield (British (tanker), 8319 GRT, built 1940), Port Caroline (British, 8263 GRT, built 1919), Redgate (British, 4323 GRT, built 1929), Saint Gobain (Swedish (tanker), 9959 GRT, built 1936), Sandar (Norwegian (tanker), 7624 GRT, built 1928), Sourabaya (British (tanker / whale factory ship), 10107 GRT, built 1915), Taron (British (tanker), 8054 GRT, built 1936), Torfinjarl (Norwegian, 1481 GRT, built 1922), Tower Field (British, 4241 GRT, built 1935), Trehata (British, 4817 GRT, built 1928), Tyndareus (British, 11361 GRT, built 1916), Varand (British (tanker), 6023 GRT, built 1927) and Virgilia (British (tanker), 5723 GRT, built 1927).

On departure from Halifax the convoy was escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Circassia (A/Capt. E.V. Lees, RN) and the corvettes HMS Dianthus (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) C.E. Bridgman, RNR), HMCS Snowberry (T/Lt. R.S. Kelley, RCNR) and HMCS Spikenard (Lt.Cdr. H.G. Shadforth, RCNR).

During 7/8 July 1941, the corvettes HMCS Barrie (T/Lt. R.M. Mosher, RCNR) and HMCS Matapedia (T/Lt. R.J. Herman, RCNVR) were also with the convoy.

At 0617P/9, in thick fog, HMS Circassia struck the fishing schooner Andavaka in position 44°37'N, 52°31'W. The schooner quickly sank and 15 survivors were picked up, there were no casualties and no one was injured also HMS Circassia sustained no damage.

On 9 July 1941, the destroyers HMCS Saguenay (Lt. P.E. Haddon, RCN), HMS Reading (Lt.Cdr. D.V. Clift, RN) and corvette HMS Honeysuckle (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Gregorie, RNR) joined the convoy coming from St. John's, Newfoundland.

On 10 July 1941, Convoy BHX 137 joined, which had departed Bermuda on 4 July 1941 and was made up of the following merchant vessels; Athelvictor (British (tanker), 8320 GRT, built 1941), Baron Dechmont (British, 3675 GRT, built 1929), Baron Douglas (British, 3899 GRT, built 1932), British Fortitude (British (tanker), 8482 GRT, built 1937), British Resolution (British (tanker), 8408 GRT, built 1937), City of Leicester (British, 3351 GRT, built 1926), City of Marseilles (British, 8317 GRT, built 1913), Collegian (British, 7886 GRT, built 1923), Diloma (British (tanker), 8146 GRT, built 1939), Empire Hawk (British, 5033 GRT, built 1919), Gorjistan (British, 5888 GRT, built 1929), Grangepark (British, 5132 GRT, built 1919), Hammaren (Swedish, 3220 GRT, built 1930), Prins Willem III (Dutch, 1524 GRT, built 1939), Recorder (British, 5981 GRT, built 1930) and Siris (British, 5242 GRT, built 1919).

On departure from Bermuda convoy BHX 137 had been escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Cheshire (Capt.(Retd.) J.M. Begg, RN) which was detached to Halifax after the convoys had joined company.

Around 0600N/17, the corvettes HMS Aubretia (Lt.Cdr. V.F. Smith, RNR) and HMS Nigella (T/Lt. T.W. Coyne, RNR) and the rescue ship Zamalek (British, 1567 GRT, built 1921) joined the convoy.

Around 1920N/17, the destroyers HMS Amazon (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Roper, RN) and HMS Bulldog (Cdr. A.J.B. Cresswell, RN) joined the convoy.

Also joining on the 17th was the destroyer HMS Georgetown (Lt. A.J.R. White, RN) and the A/S trawler HMS St. Apollo (T/Lt. R.H. Marchington, RNVR).

Around 1955N/17, HMS Circassia, HMCS Saguenay, HMS Reading, HMS Honeysuckle, HMS Dianthus, HMCS Snowberry and HMCS Spikenard parted company with the convoy to proceed to Iceland.

Later the destroyer ORP Burza (Kmdr.ppor. (Cdr.) Z.I. Wojewodzki) and A/S trawler HMS Daneman (T/Lt. G.O.T.D. Henderson, RNVR) also joined. These ships had departed Scapa Flow on the 17 July and Stornoway on 15 July respectively.

The convoy arrived in U.K. waters on 21 July 1941.

Media links


Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1939-1945

MacPherson, Ken and Milner, Marc


Return to the Allied Warships section



As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.