HMCS BITTERSWEET (K182)
HMCS BITTERSWEET
The History of HMCS BITTERSWEET
Built at Sorel, Bittersweet was towed to Liverpool, N.S. for completion so as not to be icebound. She was commissioned January 23, 1941 at Halifax, and on March 5 left with convoy HX.113 for the Tyne. There, from April 1 to June 6, the finishing touches were carried out, and after working up at Tobermory she left for Iceland on June 27, having been assigned to Newfoundland Command. She was continuously employed as an ocean escort until December 31, 1941, when she arrived at Charleston, S.C., for refit, resuming her duties in March. Bittersweet served with EG C-5 and C-3 until October 1943, one of her most strenuous convoys being ONS.192, which lost seven ships. She underwent refit at Baltimore, Md., from October to November 1943, which included the extension of her fo'c's'le, then proceeded to Pictou to work up. She then resumed her convoy duties, leaving Londonderry late in October, 1944 to join her last convoy, ON.262. Upon arriving in Canada she went to Pictou to commence a refit that was completed at Halifax February 10, 1945. She was then assigned briefly to Halifax Force before transferring in April to Sydney Force, with which she remained until the end of the war. She was returned to the RN at Aberdeen on June 22, 1945, and broken up at Rosyth the following year.
HMCS BITTERSWEET Statistical Data
- Pendant: K182
- 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: Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel, Que.
- Keel Laid: 17-Apr-40
- Date Launched: 12-Sep-40
- Date Commissioned: 15-May-41
- Paid off: 22-Jun-45
Remarks
Focsle Extended, Baltimore, MD, 9 Nov 43