![]() HMCS Shediac, 16 December 1944.
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History | |
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Name: | Shediac |
Namesake: | Shediac, New Brunswick |
Ordered: | 22 January 1940 |
Builder: | Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec |
Laid down: | 5 October 1940 |
Launched: | 29 April 1941 |
Commissioned: | 8 July 1941 |
Decommissioned: | 28 August 1945 |
Identification: | Pennant number: K110 |
Honours and awards: |
Atlantic 1941-44 |
Fate: | sold for civilian use in 1954 and scrapped in 1966. |
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: |
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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: |
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Armament: |
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HMCS Shediac was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort. She was named after the town of Shediac, New Brunswick.
Flower-class corvettes like Shediac 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 for classes 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.
Shediac was ordered 22 January 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program. She was laid down by Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. at Lauzon, Quebec on 5 October 1940 and launched on 29 April 1941. She was commissioned on 8 July 1941 at Quebec City.