HMS Cygnet (H83)

St Laurent, 20 August 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Cygnet
Namesake:	Cygnet
Ordered:	9 July 1930
Builder:	Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow
Yard number:	667
Laid down:	1 December 1930
Launched:	29 September 1931
Completed:	1 April 1932
Decommissioned:	30 September 1936
Identification:	Pennant number: H83
Fate:	Sold to the Royal Canadian Navy, 1 February 1937
Canada
Name:	St. Laurent
Namesake:	St. Lawrence River
Acquired:	1 February 1937
Commissioned:	17 February 1937
Decommissioned:	10 October 1945
Identification:	Pennant number: H83
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1939-45 Normandy 1944
Fate:	Scrapped in 1947
General characteristics
Class and type:	C-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,375 long tons (1,397 t) (standard) 1,865 long tons (1,895 t) (deep)
Length:	329 ft (100.3 m) o/a
Beam:	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught:	12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Installed power:	36,000 shp (27,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × shafts 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range:	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	145
Armament:	4 × 1 - QF 4.7-inch Mk IX guns 1 × 1 - QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun 2 × 1 - QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns 2 × 4 - 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charges, 3 chutes

HMS Cygnet was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Home Fleet, although she was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935–36. Cygnet was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in late 1937 and renamed HMCS St. Laurent. She was stationed on the west coast of Canada when World War II began in September 1939, and had to be transferred to the Atlantic coast for convoy escort duties. She served as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic and participated in the sinking of two German submarines. The ship was on anti-submarine patrols during the invasion of Normandy, and was employed as a troop transport after VE Day for returning Canadian servicemen. St. Laurent was decommissioned in late 1945 and scrapped in 1947.

Cygnet displaced 1,375 long tons (1,397 t) at standard load and 1,865 long tons (1,895 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 329 feet (100.3 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 36,000 shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Cygnet carried a maximum of 473 long tons (481 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 145 officers and men.