HMCS ALGOMA (K127)
HMCS ALGOMA
The History of HMCS ALGOMA
Commissioned at Montreal on July 11, 1941, Algoma arrived at Halifax July 18. She escorted her first convoy to Iceland in September, and was thereafter employed as an ocean escort until the end of May 1942. During this period she was involved in two major convoy actions: ONS.67 (February 1942) and ONS.92 (May 1942). In July 1942, after sic weeks' repairs at Liverpool, N.S., she joined WLEF. In October, allocated to duties connected with the invasion of North Africa, she left for Britain with convoy SC.107, which lost fifteen ships to U-boat attacks. Algoma served under RN orders the next few months, escorting convoys between Britain and the Mediterranean. In February 1943 she was based at Bone, Algeria, but returned in April to St. John's via the U.K. She served briefly with Western Support Force which, based at St. John's, existed only during May 1943, and with WLEF, before joining Quebec Force in June. Algoma escorted Quebec-Labrador convoys until mid-November, when she was lent to EG C-4 for one round trip to the U.K. She arrived at Liverpool, N.S., late in December for a major refit, which included extending her fo'c's'le and was not completed until mid-April 1944. In May she joined EG C-5 and arrived in Bermuda on June 1 to work up. Returning to St. John's on June 27, she made three round trips to the U.K. before joining EG 41 (RN), Plymouth Command, in September. She was employed on patrol and escort duties in the Channel until the end of May 1945, when she returned to Canada and was paid off July 6 for disposal at Sydney. In 1946 she was sold to the Venezuelan Navy, being renamed Constitucion, and was not discarded until 1962.
HMCS ALGOMA Statistical Data
- Pendant: K127
- 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: Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Port Arthur, Ont.
- Keel Laid: 18-Jun-40
- Date Launched: 17-Dec-40
- Date Commissioned: 11-Jul-41
- Paid off: 06-Jul-45
Remarks
Focsle Extended, Liverpool, NS, 15 Apr 44