HMCS Agassiz (K129)

HMCS Agassiz, taken sometime in 1944 or 1945.
History
Canada
Name:	Agassiz
Namesake:	Agassiz, British Columbia
Operator:	Royal Canadian Navy
Ordered:	14 February 1940
Builder:	Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd., North Vancouver
Laid down:	29 April 1940
Launched:	15 August 1940
Commissioned:	23 January 1941
Decommissioned:	14 June 1945
Identification:	Pennant number: K129
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1941-45; Gulf of St. Lawrence 1944
Fate:	sold in 1945 for scrapping.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Flower-class corvette (original)
Displacement:	925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons)
Length:	205 ft (62.48 m)o/a
Beam:	33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught:	11.5 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)
Speed:	16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range:	3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement:	85
Sensors and processing systems:	1 × SW1C or 2C radar 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament:	1 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.IX single gun 2 × .50 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Lewis .303 cal machine gun (twin) 2 × Mk.II depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge rails with 40 depth charges originally fitted with minesweeping gear, later removed

HMCS Agassiz was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Canadian Navy. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic as an ocean escort for convoys during the Second World War. She was named after the community of Agassiz, British Columbia.

Flower-class corvettes like Agassiz 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.

Agassiz was ordered on 14 February 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower class building program. She was laid down on 29 April 1940 by Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd. in North Vancouver, British Columbia and was launched on 15 August 1940.Agassiz was commissioned on 23 January 1941 in Vancouver, British Columbia.