HMCS Prestonian (FFE 307)
HMCS Prestonian at launch
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| History | |
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 Canada
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| Name: | Prestonian |
| Namesake: | Preston, Ontario |
| Ordered: | 1 February 1943 |
| Builder: | Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec |
| Laid down: | 20 July 1943 |
| Launched: | 22 June 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 13 September 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 9 November 1945 |
| Identification: | pennant number: K 662 |
| Recommissioned: | 22 August 1953 |
| Decommissioned: | 24 April 1956 |
| Reclassified: | Prestonian-class frigate 1953 |
| Identification: | pennant number: FFE 307 |
| Fate: | loaned to Norway 1956, sold outright 1959. |
| Badge: | Gules, four tridents, argent, one pointing to the chief, one to the base, one to the dexter and one to the sinister and over all a roundel barry wavy argent two dexter hands conjoined proper |
 Norway
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| Name: | Troll |
| Namesake: | The Norse mythological creature Troll |
| Acquired: | loaned 24 April 1956; purchased 1959 |
| Commissioned: | 1956 |
| Decommissioned: | 1972 |
| Renamed: | Horten (1965) |
| Reclassified: | submarine depot ship (1965) |
| Identification: | F314 as Troll |
| Fate: | sold 1972 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | River-class frigate |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | |
| Beam: | 36.5 ft (11.13 m) |
| Draught: | 9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW) |
| Speed: |
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| Range: | 646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
| Complement: | 157 |
| Armament: |
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HMCS Prestonian was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and as a Prestonian-class frigate from 1953–1956. She saw action primarily as a convoy escort. She was named for Preston, Ontario, however due to possible confusion with HMS Preston, her name was altered. In 1956 she began service with the Royal Norwegian Navy as Troll.
Prestonian was ordered on 1 February 1943 as part of the 1943–1944 River-class building program. She was laid down as Beauharnois on 20 July 1943 by Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd. at Lauzon, Quebec and launched 22 June 1944. Her name was changed to Prestonian and she was commissioned on 13 September 1944 at Quebec City.
The River-class frigate was designed by William Reed of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees. Originally called a "twin-screw corvette", its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower-class corvette. The first orders were placed by the Royal Navy in 1940 and the vessels were named for rivers in the United Kingdom, giving name to the class. In Canada they were named for towns and cities though they kept the same designation. The name "frigate" was suggested by Vice-Admiral Percy Nelles of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year.
Improvements over the corvette design included improved accommodation which was markedly better. The twin engines gave only three more knots of speed but extended the range of the ship to nearly double that of a corvette at 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km) at 12 knots. Among other lessons applied to the design was an armament package better designed to combat U-boats including a twin 4-inch mount forward and 12-pounder aft. 15 Canadian frigates were initially fitted with a single 4-inch gun forward but with the exception of the HMCS Valleyfield, they were all eventually upgraded to the double mount. For underwater targets, the River-class frigate was equipped with a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar and depth charge rails aft and four side-mounted throwers.
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Wikipedia