HMCS ''Lady Evelyn'' was a commissioned

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Originally built as a

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

, ''Deerhound'', she was acquired in 1907 by the Canadian government and renamed ''Lady Evelyn'' for use by the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. After the war, she was sold for civilian service and

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on i ...

in 1936.

Description

Originally constructed as a

, the ship was long between perpendiculars with a beam of and a draught of . The ship had a tonnage of . The ship was powered by a

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) Cylinder (engine), cylinder, then ha ...

driving two

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection ...

. The ship had a maximum speed of . In

service the ship was armed with one gun and one

QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun (Quick-Firing) (abbreviated as Q.F. 12-pdr. 2-cwt. was a common, versatile calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and used until the middle of the 20th century.

Service history

''Deerhound'' was built by John Jones and Sons in 1901 at their yard in

Tranmere, Merseyside Tranmere is a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively, it is within the Birkenhead and Tranmere (ward), Birkenhead and Tranmere ward (electoral subdivision), Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseys ...

with the

yard number The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.9 ...

180. The ship was constructed for the North Pier Steam Ship Company Limited of

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and completed in May 1901. In 1905 the North Pier Steam Ship Company sold the vessel to the West Cornwall Steam Ship Company. From 1905 to 1907 she operated between

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

and the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

, replacing the older ship, ''Lady of the Isles''. Canada's Postmaster General purchased ''Deerhound'' in 1907 at a cost of some $65,000 to act as a

mail tender A mail tender is a small steamboat used to carry mail. As a tender it only carries mail for short distances between ship and shore, ferrying it to and from a large mail steamer. The use of tenders for loading passengers and their luggage was wel ...

for transatlantic steamers. Renamed ''Lady Evelyn'', she met

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

s in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to transfer mail to and from trains at

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

, Quebec in order to speed its delivery. She replaced ''Rhoda'', an older and smaller ship that had previously performed these duties. In 1914 ''Lady Evelyn'' was involved in the rescue of survivors from when that ship sank following a collision off Rimouski. ''Lady Evelyn'' was one of a number of Canadian government ships taken over by the Royal Canadian Navy during the First World War. Commissioned in June 1917, she spent her career on the East Coast. The ship's ability as a patrol vessel was limited by her 9-knot maximum speed. However, the ship was still assigned to seaward patrols against German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s, even though the ship was not capable of operating in heavy seas. At the time of the December 1917

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with Explosive material, high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastat ...

, ''Lady Evelyn'' was patrolling off the harbour's approaches. On 18 August 1918 ''Lady Evelyn'' dropped

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s on a possible submarine contact after spotting a

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

. As attacks on shipping in Canadian waters increased, ''Lady Evelyn'' was used to escort

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s. Following the war, the ship was decommissioned in 1919. In 1921 ''Lady Evelyn'' was sold to the Gulf of St Lawrence Sg & Tdg Company of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. A year later, the Howe Sound Navigation Co. brought ''Lady Evelyn'' to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. In 1923 she was bought by the

Union Steamship Company of British Columbia The Union Steamship Company of British Columbia was a pioneer firm on coastal British Columbia. It was founded in November 1889 by John Darling, a director of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, and nine local businessmen. The company be ...

for service along the West Coast and remained with them until 1936. The ship was sold for scrap and broken up in Bedwell Bay in the fourth quarter of 1936.

Notes

Citations

Sources

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External links

Converted civilian vessels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Evelyn, HMCS Patrol vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy World War I naval ships of Canada 1901 ships Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy