HMCS NANAIMO (1st) (K101)

HMCS NANAIMO (1st)

HMCS NANAIMO (1st)

The History of HMCS NANAIMO (1st)

Commissioned at Esquimalt on April 26, 1941, Nanaimo arrived at Halifax on June 27 and for the next three months carried out local duties. In October she was assigned to Newfoundland Command, leaving Halifax on October 11 to join convoy SC.49 for Iceland, her first trip as an ocean escort. After three round trips to Iceland, she escorted SC.68 to Londonderry in February, 1942. Her return trip with ON.68 was to be her last Atlantic crossing, for in March she was reassigned to WLEF. With the formation of escort groups in June, 1943, she became a member of EG W-9, transferring to W-7 in April, 1944. In November, 1944, she was allocated to Pacific Coast Command, arriving at Esquimalt on December 7. There she underwent a refit that lasted until February 21, 1945 but left her one of the few corvettes to survive the war with a short fo'c's'le. She was paid off for disposal at Esquimalt on September 28, 1945, and subsequently sold for mercantile use. Converted to a whale-catcher at Kiel in 1953, she entered service as the Dutch-flag Rene W. Vinke, finally being broken up in South Africa in 1966.

HMCS NANAIMO (1st) Statistical Data

  • Pendant: K101
  • Type: Corvette
  • Class: FLOWER Class 1939-1940
  • Displacement: 950 tonnes
  • Length: 205.1 ft
  • Width: 33.1 ft
  • Draught: 11.5 ft
  • Speed: 16 kts
  • Compliment: 6 Officers and 79 Crew
  • Arms: 1-4" Gun, 1-2 pdr, 2-20mm, Hedgehog
  • Builder: Yarrows Ltd.. Esquimalt, B.C.
  • Keel Laid: 27-Apr-40
  • Date Launched: 28-Oct-40
  • Date Commissioned: 26-Apr-41
  • Paid off: 28-Sep-45

Remarks

Focsle Extension Never Done.

Keywords: HMCS NANAIMO (1st), Royal Canadian Navy Ship, Corvette, FLOWER Class 1939-1940 Class