HMCS ST. FRANCIS (I93)
HMCS ST. FRANCIS
The History of HMCS ST. FRANCIS
As USS Bancroft, her career almost exactly paralleled that of her sister, USS McCook, and she was turned over to the RCN at Halifax on the same day, becoming HMCS St. Francis. She spent the remainder of the year based at Halifax, and on November 5 searched for the Admiral Scheer following the latter's attack on convoy HX.84. She left Halifax January 15, 1941, for the Clyde, where she was assigned to EG 4 of Western Approaches Command, Greenock. On the formation of Newfoundland Command in June, 1941, she was based at St. John's and continuously employed as a mid-ocean escort until early December, 1942, when she began a major refit at Halifax. On completion of her refit in April, 1943, she returned to MOEF, but by November was again urgently in need of repairs, which were carried out at Shelburne, N.S. In February, 1944, she was allocated to HMCS Cornwallis as a training ship. She was paid off at Sydney on June 11, 1945, and sold for scrap. In tow for Philadelphia, St. Francis sank off Rhode Island on July 14, 1945, after colliding with the American SS Winding Gulf.
HMCS ST. FRANCIS Statistical Data
- Pendant: I93
- Type: Destroyer
- Class: TOWN
- Displacement: 1190 tonnes
- Length: 314.3 ft
- Width: 30.8 ft
- Draught: 9.3 ft
- Speed: 28 kts
- Compliment: 10 Officers and 143 Crew
- Arms: 4-4", 12-21" Torpedo Tubes (4 x III)
- Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. Ltd.. Quincy, Mass.
- Keel Laid: 04-Nov-18
- Date Launched: 21-Mar-19
- Date Commissioned: 24-Sep-40
- Paid off: 11-Jun-45
Remarks
Ex USS BANCROFT