HMCS KOOTENAY (1st) (H75)
HMCS KOOTENAY (1st)
The History of HMCS KOOTENAY (1st)
She was completed in 1933 as HMS Decoy, and at the outbreak of the war was with the 21st Destroyer Flotilla, East Indies Fleet. The flotilla was transferred later that month to the Mediterranean and in January, 1940, to the South Atlantic. Decoy was reassigned in May, 1940, to the Mediterranean Fleet, and on November 13 was damaged by bombs at Alexandra, requiring ten weeks' repairs at Malta. While in the Mediterranean she took part in the evacuation of Greece and Crete, and in the supply run to Tobruk. Then assigned to the Eastern Fleet in January, 1942, she returned to Britain that September for a major refit at Jarrow-on-Tyne. There, on April 12, 1943, she was transferred to the RCN as Kootenay, and after working up at Tobermory, was assigned to EG C-5, MOEF. In May, 1944, she became a member of EG 11 and was present on D-Day. In succeeding months she carried out patrols in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay, and while thus engaged took part in the sinking of U 678, July 6, south of Brighton; U 621, August 18, off La Rochelle; and U 984, August 20, west of Brest. She sailed for Shelburne, N.S., in mid-September, 1944, for a major refit, returning to the U.K. in the spring of 1945. Following workups at Tobermory she operated out of Plymouth until the end of May, then returned to Canada, where she made six round trips as a troop transport between Newfoundland and Quebec City. She was paid off into reserve at Sydney on October 26, 1945, and in 1946 sold for scrapping.
HMCS KOOTENAY (1st) Statistical Data
- Pendant: H75
- Type: Destroyer
- Class: RIVER Class British
- Displacement: 1375 tonnes
- Length: 329 ft
- Width: 33 ft
- Draught: 10.2 ft
- Speed: 31 kts
- Compliment: 10 Officers and 171 Crew
- Arms: 3-4.7", 4-21" Torpedo Tubes (1 xIV), 7-20mm, Hedgehog
- Builder: John I. Thornycroft & Co. Ltd., Southampton, U.K.
- Keel Laid: 25-Jun-31
- Date Launched: 07-Jun-32
- Date Commissioned: 12-Apr-43
- Paid off: 26-Oct-45
Remarks
Ex HMS DECOY