HMCS LANARK (K669/321)

HMCS LANARK

The History of HMCS LANARK

HMCS Lanark was a River-class frigate that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and later as a Prestonian-class ocean escort. She was named for Lanark, Ontario, after the preferred name of Perth was taken by another vessel.

Ordered in June 1942 as part of the 1942-1943 building program, she was constructed by Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal, Quebec. Laid down on 25 September 1943 and launched on 10 December 1943, she was commissioned on 6 July 1944.

HMCS Lanark arrived at Halifax on 28 July and completed work-ups in Bermuda in September before joining the newly formed Escort Group C-7 at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in October. For the remainder of the European war she performed convoy escort duties in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Returning to Canada in early June 1945, a tropicalization refit began in mid-July at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, in preparation for possible Pacific service, but this was cancelled on 31 August following Japan's surrender. She was paid off on 24 October 1945 at Sydney, Nova Scotia, and placed in reserve at Shelburne.

Sold to Marine Industries Ltd. in 1946, Lanark was later repurchased by the Royal Canadian Navy and converted in 1954-55 to a Prestonian-class ocean escort. The conversion produced a flush deck aft, a larger bridge, a taller funnel, an ice-strengthened hull, and the installation of two Squid anti-submarine mortars.

Recommissioned on 15 April 1956 with pennant number 321, Lanark served primarily as a training ship with the Seventh Canadian Escort Squadron on the east coast. On 12 January 1960, she recovered the reserve training ship HMCS Porte Saint Louis off Scatari Island after it snapped its tow in heavy seas. In May 1960 she conducted a tour of the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway, and in March 1961 she took part in a combined exercise with the United States Navy off Nova Scotia.

Lanark was paid off for the last time on 19 March 1965 and broken up at La Spezia, Italy, in 1966.

HMCS LANARK Statistical Data

Pendant: K669/321
Type: Frigate
Class: RIVER Class 43-44 Programme
Displacement: 1445 tonnes
Length: 301.5 ft
Width: 36.6 ft
Draught: 9 ft
Speed: 19 kts
Compliment: 8 Officers and 133 Crew
Arms: 2-4" (1 x II), 4-20mm, Hedgehog
Builder: Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal. Que.
Keel Laid: 25-Sep-43
Date Launched: 10-Dec-43
Date Commissioned: 06-Jul-44
Paid off: 24-Oct-45

Remarks

Recommissioned as a Prestonian Class on 15-Apr-56. Pendant Number 321. Finally Paid Off 19-Mar-65.

Photos

Post-war HMCS LANARK (Prestonian Class)

HMCS Lanark, Prestonian Class frigate. (RCN Photo)

HMCS Lanark, Halifax. (RCN Photo)

Keywords: HMCS LANARK, Royal Canadian Navy Ship, Frigate, RIVER Class 43-44 Programme Class