HMCS Dauphin was a that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named for Dauphin, Manitoba.
Background
Flower-class corvettes like Dauphin serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. 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. 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. The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.
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.
Construction Dauphin was ordered 20 January 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class shipbuilding program. She was laid down 6 July 1940 by Canadian Vickers Ltd. at Montreal, Quebec and launched on 24 October later that year. She was commissioned on 17 May 1941 at Montreal. From April to September 1943, Dauphin was refitted at Pictou. During this time her fo'c'sle was extended. In August 1944 she underwent another refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Wartime service In late June 1941 Dauphin joined Sydney Force. In September of that year she transferred to Newfoundland Command. However she was sent for further workups at Tobermory and returned to service as an ocean escort in mid-October.
From October 1941 to August 1944 she was an ocean escort. After December 1942 she was assigned to escort group EG A-3, which was re-designated C-5 in June 1943. Dauphin was involved in three major convoy battles during that time; SC 100 in September 1942, ON 166 in February 1943 and SC 121 in March 1943.
U-boats repeatedly attacked SC 121 from 6 to 10 March. On the night of 9–10 March torpedoed the tramp steamers , which sank, and Colmore, which was damaged and abandoned. Dauphin tried to reach a lifeboat containing 37 men from the two ships. She got within 250 yards of the boat when her steering gear failed, forcing her to stop. It took Dauphin four hours to repair her steering gear and return to the boat. By then it had capsized and she rescued only three survivors who were clinging to the keel.
Daulhin was removed from convoy duty from April to September 1943 for a refit. In January 1945 she was reassigned to the Western Local Escort Force escort group W-7. She remained with the group until the end of the war.
Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted
ConvoyEscort GroupDatesNotesSC 361–4 July 1941Newfoundland to IcelandHX 13813 July 1941Newfoundland to IcelandHX 13917–18 July 1941Newfoundland to IcelandSC 3822–25 July 1941Newfoundland to IcelandHX 1436-7 Aug 1941Newfoundland to IcelandHX 1428 Aug 1941Newfoundland to IcelandHX 14411-12 Aug 1941Newfoundland to IcelandSC 435-20 Sept 1941Newfoundland to IcelandSC 536-20 Nov 1941Newfoundland to IcelandON 3826-30 Nov 1941Iceland to NewfoundlandSC 6018-24 Dec 1941Newfoundland to IcelandON 533-9 Jan 1942Iceland to NewfoundlandSC 672-12 Feb 1942Newfoundland to IcelandON 6618-26 Feb 1942Iceland to NewfoundlandSC 7310–23 March 1942Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 8028 March – 10 April 1942Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandSC 89MOEF group C228 June – 9 July 1942Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 113MOEF group C218–26 July 1942Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 201MOEF group C25-9 Aug 1942Newfoundland to IcelandON 119MOEF group C210-15 Aug 1942Iceland to NewfoundlandSC 97MOEF group C226 Aug – 6 Sept 1942Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 129MOEF group C211-20 Sept 1942Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 210MOEF group C34-7 Oct 1942Newfoundland to Northern IrelandHX 211MOEF group C113-20 Oct 1942Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 147MOEF group C418-28 Nov 1942Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandSC 111MOEF group A31-14 Dec 1942Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 156MOEF group A324 Dec 1942 – 8 Jan 1943Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 223MOEF group A319-28 Jan 1943Newfoundland to Northern IrelandSC 117MOEF group B329 Jan – 2 Feb 1943Newfoundland to Northern IrelandConvoy ON 166MOEF group A312-21 Feb 1943Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandConvoy SC 121MOEF group A33–12 March 1943Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 175MOEF group A325 March – 8 April 1943Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 26224 Oct – 2 Nov 1943Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 21114-24 Nov 1943Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 2681-10 Dec 1943Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 21725 Dec 1943 – 5 Jan 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 27411-21 Jan 1944Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 22231 Jan – 10 Feb 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandONS 3114–25 March 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 2852–11 April 1944Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 23320 April – 3 May 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 29010–19 May 1944Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 23827 May – 3 June 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 29515–23 June 1944Newfoundland to Northern IrelandON 2433–12 July 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandHX 300MOEF group C524 July – 2 Aug 1944Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; largest HX convoy of the warON 248S11-21 Aug 1944Northern Ireland to NewfoundlandSC 165Western Local Escort Force (WLEF)16-20 Jan 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandON 278WLEF24-31 Jan 1945Newfoundland to HalifaxHX 336WLEF2-5 Feb 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandON 280WLEF6-7 Feb 1945Newfoundland to HalifaxSC 167WLEF2-16 Feb 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandONS 42WLEF28 Feb – 4 March 1945Newfoundland to HalifaxSC 170WLEF17–20 March 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandON 290WLEF24–29 March March 1945Newfoundland to HalifaxHX 348WLEF3–6 April 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandHX 350WLEF15–18 April 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandON 296WLEF24–30 April 1945Newfoundland to HalifaxHX 354WLEF3–6 May 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandSC 176WLEF16–20 May 1945Halifax to NewfoundlandONS 50WLEF25–29 May 1945Newfoundland to Halifax
Post-war service Following the end of hostilities, Dauphin was paid off on 20 June 1945 at Sorel, Quebec. She was sold for conversion to a merchant ship and in 1949 entered service as Cortes under a Honduran flag. In 1955 she was renamed San Antonio and was registered under an Ecuadorean flag. The ship was deleted in 1992.
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