HMCS Kenogami
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History | |
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Canada | |
Namesake: | Kénogami, Quebec |
Ordered: | 1 February 1940 |
Builder: | Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co., Port Arthur |
Laid down: | 20 April 1940 |
Launched: | 5 September 1940 |
Commissioned: | 29 June 1941 |
Out of service: | paid off 9 July 1945 |
Refit: | Completed 1 October 1944, Liverpool. |
Identification: | Pennant number: K125 |
Honours and awards: |
Atlantic 1941-45, Gulf of St. Lawrence |
Fate: | Scrapped in January 1950 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Flower-class corvette |
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) |
Installed power: |
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Propulsion: | Single shaft |
Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Range: | 3,500 nmi (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement: | 85 |
Sensors and processing systems: |
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Armament: |
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HMCS Kenogami was a Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette that served during the Second World War. The corvette served primarily in convoy escort duties during the Battle of the Atlantic. Following the war, the ship was sold for scrap and broken up.
Flower-class corvettes like Kenogami serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different to 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.
Kenogami was ordered 1 February 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program. She was laid down by Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. at Port Arthur on 20 April 1940 and was launched on 5 September 1940. She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) on 29 June 1941 at Montreal.
Kenogami underwent two major refits during her career. The first took place in June 1942 until August at Halifax. The second began in June 1944 at Liverpool, Nova Scotia and was completed in October of that year. During the second refit, her fo'c'sle was extended.