HMCS NEW GLASGOW (K320/315)
HMCS NEW GLASGOW
The History of HMCS NEW GLASGOW
HMCS New Glasgow (K320) was a River class frigate that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1943-1945 and as a Prestonian class frigate from 1955-1965.
Built by Yarrows Ltd., Esquimalt, she was commissioned into the RCN at the Esquimalt naval base on 23 December 1943 with the pennant K320.
New Glasgow's gunners loading a QF 4-inch Mk XIX gun off British Columbia in 1944. New Glasgow transited from Esquimalt to Halifax, Nova Scotia via the Panama Canal, arriving at HMC Dockyard, Halifax on 17 February 1944 under command of Lt. Cdr. G.S. Hall, RCNR. She was transferred to the RCN's Atlantic Fleet and undertook convoy escort operations in the Battle of the Atlantic for the next 12 months.
On 20 March 1945, New Glasgow was responsible for the loss of the last U-boat by an RCN warship during World War II. On that day she was operating off Londonderry Port, Northern Ireland when the snorkel of a U-boat was observed near the ship's bow. Before depth charges could be dropped, the vessels collided, with each side claiming to have rammed the other.
Both vessels were badly damaged. The U-boat, later revealed to be U-1003 quickly dove while New Glasgow limped to Londonderry Port with a broken propeller and other hull damage. Meanwhile, the Allies tasked a 14-ship naval task force comprising Escort Groups C-4, 25 and 26 to find the U-boat, without success. Two days later, on 23 March 1945, the U-boat was scuttled in the Northern Channel a few miles north of Inishtrahull Beacon (Malin Head), Ireland. The commander and 16 crew members died as a result of the incident. The 31 surviving crew members were rescued by Escort Group 25.
New Glasgow was decommissioned by the RCN and placed in reserve on 4 November 1945. She underwent conversion to a Prestonian class frigate in 1953-1955 and was recommissioned with pennant FFE 315 on 2 September 1955. It was in this livery that the New Glasgow stood in for a Royal Navy vessel, the HMS Rockhampton, in the 1955 Hollywood film The Sea Chase, starring John Wayne.
She was paid off by the RCN on 7 June 1965.
HMCS NEW GLASGOW Statistical Data
- Pendant: K320/315
- Type: Frigate
- Class: RIVER Class 42-43 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: 1-4" (1 x II), 1-12 pdr.
- Builder: Yarrows Ltd.. Esquimalt, B.C.
- Keel Laid: 01-Apr-43
- Date Launched: 05-May-43
- Date Commissioned: 23-Dec-43
- Paid off: 05-Nov-45
Remarks
Recommissioned as a Prestonian Class on 2-Sep-55. Pendant Number 315. Finally Paid Off 7-Jun-65.