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HMCS Chambly

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HMCS Chambly 1941 H-1355.jpg
HMCS Chambly in as-built condition, circa 1941. Note that the ship is still fitted with minesweeping gear, and that no armament has yet been installed in the "bandstand" aft of the engine room.
History
Canada
NameChambly
NamesakeChambly, Quebec
Ordered20 January 1940
BuilderCanadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, Quebec
Laid down20 February 1940
Launched29 July 1940
Commissioned18 December 1940
Decommissioned20 June 1945
Identificationpennant number: K116
Honours and
awards		Atlantic 1941-45[1]
FateSold for civilian use as Sonia Vinke in 1952 and scrapped in 1966.
General characteristics
Class and typeFlower-class corvette (original)[2]
Displacement925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons)
Length205 ft (62.48 m)o/a
Beam33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught11.5 ft (3.51 m)
Propulsion
  • single shaft
  • 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers
  • 1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
  • 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement85
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × SW1C or 2C radar
  • 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament

HMCS Chambly was a Flower-class corvette serving in the Royal Canadian Navy. She was ordered from Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal, laid down on 20 February 1940, launched on 29 July, and commissioned on 18 December 1940, named after the city of Chambly, Quebec. Chambly escorted trade convoys between Halifax Harbour and the Western Approaches through the battle of the Atlantic and, together with HMCS Moose Jaw, achieved the RCN's first U-boat kill of the war.

Discover more about HMCS Chambly related topics

Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvette

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.

Corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war.

Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The Royal Canadian Navy is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submarines, 12 coastal defence vessels, eight patrol class training vessels, two offshore patrol vessels, and several auxiliary vessels. The RCN consists of 8,570 Regular Force and 4,111 Primary Reserve sailors, supported by 3,800 civilians. Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is the current commander of the Royal Canadian Navy and chief of the Naval Staff.

Canadian Vickers

Canadian Vickers

Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. Canadair absorbed the Canadian Vickers aircraft operations in November 1944.

Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is the second most populous city in Canada and the most populous city in the province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early city of Ville-Marie is built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which obtained its name from the same origin as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. The city is 196 km (122 mi) east of the national capital Ottawa, and 258 km (160 mi) southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City.

Chambly, Quebec

Chambly, Quebec

Chambly is an off-island suburb of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located in the Montérégie region, inland from the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

Halifax Harbour

Halifax Harbour

Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbours in the world. Before Confederation it was one of the most important commercial ports on the Atlantic seaboard. In 1917, it was the site of the world's largest man-made accidental explosion, when the SS Mont-Blanc blew up in the Halifax Explosion of December 6.

Western Approaches

Western Approaches

The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The coast of the mainland forms the eastern side and the western boundary is the 30 degree meridian, which passes through Iceland. The area is particularly important to the United Kingdom, because many of its larger shipping ports lie within it.

Battle of the Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic

The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.

U-boat

U-boat

U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic-warfare role and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and other parts of the British Empire, and from the United States, to the United Kingdom and to the Soviet Union and the Allied territories in the Mediterranean. German submarines also targeted Brazilian merchant ships during both World Wars and, twice over, precipitated Brazil's decision to give up its neutral stance and declare war on Germany.

Background

Main article: Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvettes like Chambly serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.[3][4][5] The "corvette" designation was created by the French as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877.[6] During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design.[7] The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.[8]

Corvettes commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were named after communities for the most part, to better represent the people who took part in building them. This idea was put forth by Admiral Percy W. Nelles. Sponsors were commonly associated with the community for which the ship was named. Royal Navy corvettes were designed as open sea escorts, while Canadian corvettes were developed for coastal auxiliary roles which was exemplified by their minesweeping gear. Eventually the Canadian corvettes would be modified to allow them to perform better on the open seas.[9]

Discover more about Background related topics

Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvette

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924.

Percy W. Nelles

Percy W. Nelles

Admiral Percy Walker Nelles, was a flag officer in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 January 1934 to 15 January 1944. He oversaw the massive wartime expansion of the RCN and the transformation of Canada into a major player in the Battle of the Atlantic. During his tenure U-boats raided the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canadian Northwest Atlantic command was created, and the RCN provided up to 40% of all escort forces in the North Atlantic. His handling of the RCN's war effort had its opponents however, and he was removed from his post as Chief of the Naval Staff in January 1944. He was sent to London as Overseas Naval Attaché, coordinating RCN operations for Operation Overlord. He retired in January 1945 as a full admiral.

War service

Chambly was one of the first three Royal Canadian Navy corvettes available for Atlantic service when the St. Lawrence River froze in late 1940. Her commanding officer, Commander James D. Prentice, RCN, was designated Senior Officer, Canadian corvettes, and was responsible for organizing operational training of the remaining corvettes as they were completed and commissioned through 1942. Commander Prentice's training exercises often took the form of a support group able to reinforce the escort of convoys coming under attack.

In May 1941 she took part in the Canadian Navy's secret trials of diffused lighting camouflage, a technology for concealing ships from submarines at night.[10]

On 23 June 1941, Chambly participated in defense of convoy HX 133, during the first battle of the Newfoundland Escort Force. A similar training exercise in September produced the first Canadian U-boat sinking when U-501 was destroyed during the battle for convoy SC 42. Chambly received the prototype Canadian 1.5-meter wavelength radar installation on 12 May 1941, and performed the testing resulting in widespread availability of production SW1C sets to escorts in 1942.[8]

Commander Prentice in Chambly became the senior officer of Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) group C1 in August 1942 and remained in that position until assigned to Admiral Leonard W. Murray's staff when Chambly commenced yard overhaul in November. Following overhaul, Chambly participated in the battles for convoy KMS 11G and convoy MKS 10 with MOEF group C2 before assignment to Support Group 9. With Support Group 9, she narrowly avoided destruction when an acoustic torpedo exploded in the propeller wash of her wake during the battle for convoys ONS 18/ON 202.[8] After another yard overhaul in early 1944, Chambly escorted 16 trans-Atlantic convoys without loss before the end of the war.[11]

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted

Convoy Escort Group Dates Notes
SC 99 MOEF group C1 9–19 September 1942[12] 59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 133 MOEF group C1 26 September-5 October 1942[13] 35 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 211 MOEF group C1 13–20 October 1942[14] 29 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 143 MOEF group C1 2–11 November 1942[13] 26 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
KMS 11G MOEF group C2 14–24 March 1943[15] Firth of Clyde to Mediterranean Sea; 1 ship sunk by aircraft
MKS 10 MOEF group C2 27 March-5 April 1943[16] Mediterranean to Liverpool; 1 ship torpedoed & sunk
HX 237 MOEF group C2 7–16 May 1943[14] 46 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 186 25 May-2 June 1943[13] 44 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 243 12–20 June 1943[14] 76 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 191 2–7 July 1943[13] 60 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 248 21–28 July 1943[14] 89 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 196 9–16 August 1943[13] 78 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
Convoys ONS 18/ON 202 Support Group 9 19–25 September 1943[13] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland; 10 ships torpedoed (9 sank)
SC 143 2–11 October 1943[12] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland: 1 ship torpedoed & sunk
ONS 21 23 October-2 November 1943[13] 33 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 291 15–27 May 1944[14] 99 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 239 4–15 June 1944[13] 97 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 296 24 June-2 July 1944[14] 91 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 244 11–18 July 1944[13] 56 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 301 30 July-8 August 1944[14] 130 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 249 19–28 August 1944[13] 153 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 306 6–17 September 1944[14] 120 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 33 30 September-10 October 1944[13] 51 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 314 20–29 October 1944[14] 63 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 265 10–19 November 1944[13] 55 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 322 29 November-7 December 1944[14] 38 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 273 19–30 December 1944[13] 64 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 330 7–17 January 1945[14] 45 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 41 30 January-15 February 1945[13] 34 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 339 23 February-3 March 1945[14] 79 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 44 12–27 March 1945[13] 21 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland

Discover more about War service related topics

James D. Prentice

James D. Prentice

Captain James Douglas 'Chummy' Prentice was a Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy officer who served with distinction in the Battle of the Atlantic. In addition to being credited with the destruction of four U-boats while at sea, he also played a significant role ashore in training the often inexperienced recruits required by the Royal Canadian Navy to fulfill its expanded wartime role.

Diffused lighting camouflage

Diffused lighting camouflage

Diffused lighting camouflage was a form of active camouflage using counter-illumination to enable a ship to match its background, the night sky, that was tested by the Royal Canadian Navy on corvettes during World War II. The principle was discovered by a Canadian professor, Edmund Godfrey Burr, in 1940. It attracted interest because it could help to hide ships from submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic, and the research project began early in 1941. The Royal Navy and the US Navy carried out further equipment development and trials between 1941 and 1943.

German submarine U-501

German submarine U-501

German submarine U-501 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 12 February 1940 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg, launched on 25 January 1941 and commissioned on 30 April 1941 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Hugo Förster. The boat served with 2nd U-boat Flotilla until she was sunk on 10 September 1941.

Convoy SC 42

Convoy SC 42

Convoy SC 42 was the 42nd of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. SC 42 was attacked over a three night period in September 1941, losing 16 ships sunk and 4 damaged. This was the worst Allied loss following the attack on convoy SC 7 the previous year. Two attacking U-boats were destroyed.

Mid-Ocean Escort Force

Mid-Ocean Escort Force

Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British, and Canadian escorts to these convoys reflected preferences of the United States upon their declaration of war, and the organisation persisted through the winter of 1942–43 despite withdrawal of United States ships from the escort groups. By the summer of 1943, United States Atlantic escorts were focused on the faster CU convoys and the UG convoys between Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean Sea; and only British and Canadian escorts remained on the HX, SC and ON convoys.

Leonard W. Murray

Leonard W. Murray

Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray, CB, CBE was an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy who played a central role in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was the only Canadian to command an Allied theatre of operations during World War II.

Acoustic torpedo

Acoustic torpedo

An acoustic torpedo is a torpedo that aims itself by listening for characteristic sounds of its target or by searching for it using sonar. Acoustic torpedoes are usually designed for medium-range use, and often fired from a submarine.

Convoys ONS 18/ON 202

Convoys ONS 18/ON 202

ONS 18 and ON 202 were North Atlantic convoys of the ONS/ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack in September 1943, the first battle in the Kriegsmarine's autumn offensive, following the withdrawal from the North Atlantic route after Black May.

Newfoundland (island)

Newfoundland (island)

Newfoundland is a large island off the east coast of the North American mainland and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It has 29 percent of the province's land area. The island is separated from the Labrador Peninsula by the Strait of Belle Isle and from Cape Breton Island by the Cabot Strait. It blocks the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, creating the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. Newfoundland's nearest neighbour is the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

HX convoys

HX convoys

The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom. They absorbed the BHX convoys from Bermuda en route. Later, after the United States entered the war, HX convoys began at New York.

Firth of Clyde

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles. The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula, which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. Within the Firth of Clyde is another major island – the Isle of Bute. Given its strategic location at the entrance to the middle and upper Clyde, Bute played a vital naval military role during World War II.

Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant in Western Asia. The Mediterranean has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.

Post war service

Chambly was decommissioned at the end of hostilities on 20 June 1945. After being refitted in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, she was sold in 1946; the buyer planned to convert her into a whaling ship. The next available record from the Government of Canada states that she entered service as a Dutch civilian in 1954 as the Sonia Vinke.[17]

The ship was broken up by Recuperaciones Submarinas S.A beginning on 10 October 1966 in Santander, Spain.[2][18]

Source: "HMCS Chambly", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 25th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Chambly.

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Further Reading

HMCS Pictou

HMCS Sackville (K181)

HMCS Rimouski

HMCS Saguenay (D79)

HMCS Moose Jaw

HMCS Moncton (K139)

Mid-Ocean Escort Force

HMCS Mayflower

HMCS Trillium

HMCS Rosthern

HMCS Dauphin

HMS Dianthus (K95)

HMCS Wetaskiwin

HMCS Galt

HMCS Agassiz

HMCS Eyebright

HMCS Battleford

HMCS Chilliwack
References
  1. ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J (1968). British and Dominion Warships of World War II. Doubleday & Company. pp. 201, 212.
  3. ^ Ossian, Robert. "Complete List of Sailing Vessels". The Pirate King. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  4. ^ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare. Vol. 11. London: Phoebus. pp. 1137–1142.
  5. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. New Jersey: Random House. 1996. p. 68. ISBN 0-517-67963-9.
  6. ^ Blake, Nicholas; Lawrence, Richard (2005). The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy. Stackpole Books. pp. 39–63. ISBN 0-8117-3275-4.
  7. ^ Chesneau, Roger; Gardiner, Robert (June 1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. Naval Institute Press. p. 62. ISBN 0-87021-913-8.
  8. ^ a b c Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. pp. 117–119, 142–145, 158, 175–176, 226, 235, 285–291. ISBN 0-87021-450-0.
  9. ^ Macpherson, Ken; Milner, Marc (1993). Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945. St. Catherines: Vanwell Publishing. p. 117. ISBN 1-55125-052-7.
  10. ^ "Naval Museum of Quebec". Diffused Lighting and its use in the Chaleur Bay. Royal Canadian Navy. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Convoy Web". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  12. ^ a b "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  15. ^ "KMS convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  16. ^ "MKS convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  17. ^ "HMCS Chambly (K116)". Government of Canada. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Chambly (5334171)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
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