Allied Warships

HMCS St. Catharines (K 325)

Frigate of the River class

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeFrigate
ClassRiver 
PennantK 325 
Built byYarrows Ltd. (Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada) 
OrderedOct 1941 
Laid down2 May 1942 
Launched5 Dec 1942 
Commissioned31 Jul 1943 
End service18 Nov 1945 
History

Decommissioned 18 November 1945.

 

Commands listed for HMCS St. Catharines (K 325)

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
1Lt.Cdr. Herbert Coates Reynard Davis, RCNR13 Apr 194314 Mar 1944
2T/A/Lt.Cdr. Anthony Fenwick Pickard, RCNR15 Mar 194413 Dec 1944
3T/Lt.Cdr. James Phillip Fraser, DSC, RCNR14 Dec 194424 May 1945
4T/Lt. Adair Bruce Swain, RCNVR25 May 194518 Nov 1945

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Notable events involving St. Catharines include:


29 Nov 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. D.G. Kent, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. R. Dyer, RN), HMCS St. Catharines (Lt.Cdr. H.C.R. Davis, RCNR) and HMS Fennel (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Moffat, RCNVR). (1)

30 Nov 1943
HMS Stratagem (T/Lt. R.L. Willoughby, RNR) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMCS St. Catharines (Lt.Cdr. H.C.R. Davis, RCNR) and aircraft. (2)

11 Jan 1944
HMS Vampire (Lt. C.W. Taylor, RNR) participated in A/S exercises off Larne. Also a practice attack was made on HMCS St. Catharines (Lt.Cdr. H.C.R. Davis, RCNR). (3)

18 Feb 1944
HrMs O 9 (Lt. J.B.M.J. Maas, RNN) participated in A/S exercises off Lough Foyle together with HMCS Morden (T/Lt. E.C. Smith, RCNVR), HMCS St. Catharines (Lt.Cdr. H.C.R. Davis, RCNR) and HMS Fennel (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Moffat, RCNVR). (4)

6 Mar 1944
After unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port German U-boat U-744 was sunk at 1830hrs on 6 March 1944 in the North Atlantic, in position 52°01'N, 22°37'W, after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. R. Dyer, RN). U-744 was attacked for over 30 hours by depth charges from HMS Icarus, the Canadian frigate HMCS St. Catharines (T/Lt.Cdr. A.F. Pickard, RCNR with Cdr. P.W. Burnett, DSC, RN escort group commander onboard), Canadian corvettes HMCS Fennel (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Moffat, RCNVR), HMCS Chilliwack (T/A/Lt.Cdr. C.R. Coughlin, RCNVR), Canadian destroyers HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN), HMCS Gatineau (A/Lt.Cdr. H.V.W. Groos, RCN) and the British corvette HMS Kenilworth Castle (Lt. J.J.Allon, RNR).

Media links


Frigates of the Royal Canadian Navy 1943-1974

MacPherson, Ken

Sources

  1. ADM 173/17788
  2. ADM 173/18128
  3. ADM 173/19334
  4. File 2.12.03.6372 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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