HMCS NEW WESTMINSTER (K228)
HMCS NEW WESTMINSTER
The History of HMCS NEW WESTMINSTER
Built at Victoria, she was commissioned there January 31, 1942, and assigned to Esquimalt Force until the threat of Japanese invasion had abated. Ordered to Halifax to release an east-coast corvette for Operation "Torch" service, she arrived there on October 13, a month after leaving Esquimalt. Assigned to WLEF, she operated on the "triangle run" until May, 1943, when she began a major refit at Sydney. This refit included fo'c's'le extension and was not completed until December 10. The ship was then made a part of EG C-5, and in July, 1944, sailed with HXS.300, the largest convoy of the war. She left Londonderry on December 14, 1944, for the last time, returning home to refit at Saint John until early March 1945. Allocated to Sydney Force until the end of hostilities, she was paid off at Sorel on June 21, 1945, and in 1947 sold for commercial purposes. She served under various names, the last being the Bahamian Azua, from 1954 to 1966, when she arrived at Tampa for breaking up.
HMCS NEW WESTMINSTER Statistical Data
- Pendant: K228
- Type: Corvette
- Class: Original FLOWER (1940-41 Program)
- 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: Victoria Machinery Depot Co. Ltd., Victoria. B.C.
- Keel Laid: 04-Feb-41
- Date Launched: 14-May-41
- Date Commissioned: 31-Jan-42
- Paid off: 21-Jun-45
Remarks
Focsle Extended, Sydney, NS, 10 Dec 43