HMCS ''Malaspina'' was a Canadian government fisheries patrol vessel pressed into service with 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 ...

in 1917 and again in 1939 and which therefore saw service 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 ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The vessel was constructed in 1913 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, and patrolled the fisheries along the

West Coast of Canada The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada along the Pacific Ocean is in the pr ...

. A

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

of CGS ''Galiano'', ''Malaspina'' was also taken over by the Royal Canadian Navy, and both ships mixed civil duties with naval patrol and examination work, including

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

training and trials, for much of the war. ''Malaspina'' survived the war and returned to fisheries protection work in 1920. In 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, ''Malaspina'' was again commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy, serving as a patrol and

examination vessel An examination vessel is a vessel used to inspect ships and boats entering a port during wartime. An examination vessel would typically be responsible for examining and verifying all merchant ships and small craft entering or departing a port. T ...

and subsequently as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

before being

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

in 1945 and sold in 1946. The ship became part of the Powell River Breakwater in the Powell River in British Columbia sometime in 1946, sank sometime in 1949, and was raised 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 1951.

Design and description

''Malaspina'' was designed as coastal patrol vessel. The vessel had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 392, was

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of . The ship was divided into twenty watertight compartments by both transverse and longitudinal bulkheads. The vessel 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, then having given up heat ...

driving one

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

creating . This gave ''Malaspina'' a maximum speed of . In Royal Canadian Navy service, the ship was armed with one

QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. Many variant ...

gun mounted forward and had a

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

of 33.

Construction and career

The vessel's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was laid down by Dublin Dockyard in

, Ireland and the vessel was launched on 6 July 1913. ''Malaspina'' was completed in August 1913. The date on which ''Malaspina'' became a government ship differs between the sources, with Macpherson & Barrie claiming the vessel joined in 1913 and Maginley & Collin, 1914. Upon joining the government fleet, ''Malaspina'' became a fisheries patrol vessel on the West Coast of Canada. After the First World War broke out, ''Malaspina'' and sister ship ''Galiano'' alternated between naval and civic duties along the Pacific coast, being retained as part of the government fleet. This included performing examination duties at

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...

, British Columbia. On 1 December 1917, ''Malaspina'' was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, detailed with the duty of intercepting contraband in the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

. Following the First World War, ''Malaspina'' was

on 31 March 1920. The Royal Canadian Navy and returned to the

Department of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

's Marine Service as a patrol vessel. ''Malaspina'' remained in this service until 6 September 1939 when, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the vessel rejoined the Royal Canadian Navy. ''Malaspina'' was deployed on patrol and ship examination duties along the West Coast before joining as a

. ''Malaspina'' was paid off on 31 March 1945 and sold the following year. The ship became part of the Powell River Breakwater in the Powell River in British Columbia sometime in 1946, sank sometime in 1949, and was raised and

in 1951. The ship was broken up by Wagner, Stein & Green at their site in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

in the third quarter of 1951.

Citations

Sources

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External links

Converted civilian vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy at hazegray.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaspina, HMCS Patrol vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy 1913 ships Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Canadian Government Ship Dominion Government Ships