HMCS Algonquin (R17)

HMCS ''Algonquin'' was a V-class destroyer, laid down for the Royal Navy as HMS ''Valentine'' (R17) and transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on completion during the Second World War. She saw service in the Second World War escorting the aircraft carriers that bombed the in March 1944 and providing naval gunfire support to the Normandy landings. The destroyer was to participate in the Pacific Campaign but the war ended before her arrival in that theatre. ''Algonquin'' was converted in 1953 to a frigate and spent the majority of her remaining career in the Atlantic, being paid off in 1970.

Service history

Ordered as ''Kempenfelt'' by the Royal Navy, the destroyer's keel was laid down on 8 October 1942.Colledge, p. 425Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 63 The ship's name was changed to ''Valentine'' in 1942. The destroyer was launched on 2 September 1943. ''Valentine'' was renamed ''Algonquin'' and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 28 February 1944.

Following her commissioning, ''Algonquin'' was sent to Scapa Flow to work up with her sister .Schull, p. 230 They were then assigned to the British Home Fleet's 26th Destroyer Flotilla. Departing on 29 March 1944 from Scapa Flow, the flotilla joined the escort screen on 31 March for the force sent to cover the Russian convoy JW 58. On 3 April they join the fleet sent to bomb the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' in Operation Tungsten. On 26 April ''Algonquin'' escorted a strike force hunting for German ships near the Norwegian Lofoten Islands.Schull, p. 232 On 6 May, ''Algonquin'' deployed as part of a force comprising two aircraft carriers and five other destroyers. Aircraft from the carriers attacked two German convoys and sank two ships for the loss of two aircraft. ''Algonquin'' and the 26th Destroyer Flotilla began training for Operation Neptune, the naval component of the Normandy invasion. The flotilla departed Scapa Flow on 28 May for Portsmouth. ''Algonquin'' and sister ''Sioux'' provided gunfire support to the landings on Juno Beach.

Invasion of Normandy

On 6 June 1944, ''Algonquin'' left the Solent at 06:45am as part of the assault fleet for Juno Beach, the Canadian sector of the invasion. After arrival, ''Algonquin'' began performing her gunfire support mission, firing at her first target; a pair of guns located behind houses west of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer. Following their destruction, ''Algonquin'' shifted to destroying houses harbouring snipers along the Nan Red sector. By mid-morning, ''Algonquin'' fired only intermittently and the destroyer's gunfire was controlled from shore-based army observers. Around 10:00am, ''Algonquin'' was called upon to take out a battery of three guns inland from Courselles. The destroyer spent the rest of the time with the invasion fleet on D-day moving around and coming under air attack.Schull, p. 313

On 7 June, the ship shelled a series of houses that was being used by snipers. ''Algonquin'', with ''Sioux'' was used on Guards Patrol around the anchorage. On 10 June, the destroyer shuttled Vice-Admiral Percy W. Nelles to Normandy and followed this up on 18 June by ferrying General Harry Crerar, commander of Canadian invasion forces, and his staff to France. The following day, the ship performed a fire support mission for an attack by Royal Marines between Ouistreham and Cabourg. On 24 June, ''Algonquin'', with ''Sioux'', shelled a German battery near Franceville before departing for Scapa Flow.

Northern operations

After returning from invasion duties, ''Algonquin'' was made part of the destroyer force for the Home Fleet again.Schull, p. 371 From 9–11 August 1944, ''Algonquin'' and ''Sioux'' are among the escorts for a carrier force sent to attack German airfields at Gossen, Norway and disrupt German shipping in the Lepsoyren Channel and Harhanesfjord. The Home Fleet departed on 16 August to carry out attacks, named Operation Goodwood, on ''Tirpitz'' lying at Kaafjord, splitting into two groups.Rohwer, p. 350Schull, pp. 372–373 ''Algonquin'' and ''Sioux'' were part of the force under the command of Rear-Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor. The escort carrier was part of the task force, manned by a Canadian crew. The escort carrier was torpedoed by a U-boat on 22 August, suffering significant damage. ''Algonquin'' was dispatched to aid the damaged ship arriving on 23 August, taking 203 members of the crew off. The destroyer later transferred the ''Nabob'' personnel to another ship and returned to fleet off Norway.

On 11 September, ''Algonquin'' formed part of the screening force for another strike against German shipping off Norway. Upon returning from this mission, the destroyer escorted convoys to Murmansk and back. Only two ships were torpedoed, both on the trip back to the United Kingdom. ''Algonquin'' escorted a British force from 14–15 October sent to perform air-mining and attacks on Axis shipping routes along the coast of Norway near Frohavet. From 26–28 October, ''Algonquin'' is among the escort for the aircraft carrier during attacks on Norway as part of Operation Athletic.

During the night of 12/13 November, ''Algonquin'' deployed as part of Operation Counterblast, with the cruisers and and the destroyers , and were deployed based on "Ultra" intelligence and attacked the German convoy KS 357 between Listerfjord and Egersund.Rohwer, p. 371Schull, pp. 377–378 The freighters ''Greif'' and ''Cornouailles'' were sunk, as were the minesweepers ''M 427'' and ''M 416'' and the submarine chasers ''UJ 1221'', ''UJ 1223'' and ''UJ 1713''. ''Algonquin'' took part in the sinking of the three submarine chasers and one merchant vessel. On 22 November, ''Algonquin'' was part of the screen for airstrikes on Norway.Schull, p. 378 On 27 November ''Algonquin'' was among the escorts for ''Implacable'' during raids on German shipping along the coast of Norway. The destroyer returned to the region for more airstrikes on 6 December. From 7–14 December, the ship escorted a British carrier force in support of Operation "Urbane" for the convoy RA 62 off the coast of Norway.

On 30 December, ''Algonquin'' sailed with the Murmansk-bound convoy JW 63 from Loch Ewe, Scotland to Kola Inlet, Russia, arriving on 8 January 1945. The destroyer returned with RW 63, departing Kola Inlet on 11 January. RW 63 comprised 29 ships. During the return trip, the convoy was scattered by a storm in which gale winds reached which delayed its arrival at Loch Ewe until 21 January. The destroyer returned to Norwegian waters escorting more airstrikes in January 1945. In February, ''Algonquin'' and ''Sioux'' sailed to the Minch to meet , the second Canadian-manned escort carrier, after which ''Algonquin'' sailed for Canada on 5 February.

''Algonquin'' arrived in Canada in February 1945 for a tropicalization refit at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Work was complete by August when she departed to join the British Pacific Fleet, though she did not arrive by the war's end, being in the Eastern Mediterranean on VJ-day. Following a brief stop at Alexandria, Egypt she crossed the Indian and Pacific Oceans to her homeport at Esquimalt, British Columbia. The destroyer was paid off into reserve and laid up on 6 February 1946.

Cold War service

''Algonquin'' was modernized to a Type 15 frigate at Esquimalt and recommissioned on 25 February 1953 with the hull number 224. She was not selected for duty in the Korean War and was instead posted to CFB Halifax on the North Atlantic coast where she spent much of the next 14 years working with Canada's NATO allies. The First Canadian Escort Squadron came into being on 10 November 1953 as part of Atlantic Command with ''Algonquin'' as its flagship. The squadron was initially composed of ''Algonquin'' and the s , and . In September the First Canadian Escort Squadron took part in the NATO naval exercise "New Broom II" and in October "Morning Mist" before performing a two-month training cruise in the Mediterranean Sea, making several port visits. The squadron returned to Canada on 10 December 1954. In January 1958, ''Algonquin'' collided with while operating in the Atlantic with the First Canadian Escort Squadron.

''Algonquin'' returned to Esquimalt in 1967 and was paid off on 1 April 1970. She was sold for scrap and broken up in Taiwan in 1971.

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External links

Naval Museum of ManitobaHMCS ''Algonquin'' (Clydebuilt Ships Database)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Algonquin (R17)
U and V-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1943 ships
V-class destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy
World War II destroyers of Canada
Cold War destroyers of Canada
Type 15 frigates of the Royal Canadian Navy
Type 15 frigates of the Canadian Forces