HMCS ARVIDA (K113)
HMCS ARVIDA
The History of HMCS ARVIDA
Commissioned at Quebec City on May 22, 1941, Arvida arrived at Halifax on June 6. She joined Sydney Force in July, acting as escort to local sections of transatlantic convoys until September, when she joined Newfoundland Command. She left Sydney on September 5 to join her maiden ocean convoy, SC.43, and was thereafter in almost continuous service as an ocean escort until the end of 1943. In June, 1942, she became a member of EG C-4 and, in May 1943, of C-5. While escorting convoy ON.188 in mid-June, 1943, she was damaged by her own depth charges and arrived at Iceland on June 16 for repairs that took a week to complete. Three of Arvida's convoys received particularly rough handling by U-boats: ONS.92 (May, 1942), ON.127 (September, 1942), and SC.107 (November, 1942). While with ON.127 she rescued survivors of the torpedoed HMCS Ottawa on September 13. She had major refits at Saint John (January to April, 1942); Lunenburg/Saint John (December, 1942 to March, 1943); and Baltimore, Md. (January to April, 1944). While at Baltimore she was given her extended fo'c's'le, afterward joining EG W-7 of WLEF. IN mid-May, 1944, she was sent to Bermuda to work up, returned to Halifax on June 9, and in August joined EG W-2. In December she transferred to W-8, remaining with that group until the end of the war. Arvida was paid off on June 14, 1945, at Sorel and later sold for commercial use, entering service in 1950 as the Spanish-flag La Ceiba.
HMCS ARVIDA Statistical Data
- Pendant: K113
- 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: Morton Engineering and Dry Dock Co., Quebec City, Que.
- Keel Laid: 28-Feb-40
- Date Launched: 21-Sep-40
- Date Commissioned: 22-May-41
- Paid off: 14-Jun-45
Remarks
Focsle Extended, Baltimore, MD, 8 Apr 44