HMCS Athabaskan (G07)
HMCS Athabaskan, date unknown.
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| History | |
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 Canada
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| Name: | Athabaskan |
| Namesake: | The First Nations peoples who share the Athabaskan language |
| Ordered: | 5 April 1940 |
| Builder: | Vickers-Armstrong, High Walker Yard, Newcastle-on-Tyne; England |
| Laid down: | 31 October 1940 |
| Launched: | 15 November 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 3 February 1943 |
| Out of service: | 29 April 1944 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: G07 |
| Motto: | "We fight as one" |
| Honours and awards: |
Arctic 1943-44, English Channel 1944 |
| Fate: | Sunk by German torpedo boats in the English Channel, 29 April 1944 (north of Île Vierge and off the coast of Brittany) |
| Badge: | On a field argent, a North American Indian mounted bareback upon an Indian pony, holding a red bow and arrow in the "ready" position |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Tribal-class destroyer |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 377 ft (115 m) length overall |
| Beam: | 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) |
| Draught: | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Installed power: | 44,000 shp (33,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 36 kn (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range: | 5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 524 short tons (475 t) fuel oil |
| Complement: | 190 (219 as leader) |
| Armament: | 6 - 4.7 in LA -QF guns (3×2), 2 - 4 in HA guns (1×2), 4 - 2-pounder AA guns (1×4), 12 - 20mm AA guns (6×2), 4 × 21-inch torpedo tubes (1×4), 1 - depth charge rack, 2 - depth charge throwers. |
HMCS Athabaskan was the first of three destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy to bear this name. It was a destroyer of the Tribal class, that served in the Second World War. She was named for the First Nations peoples who make up the Athabaskan language group. She was torpedoed in the English Channel and sunk in 1944.
Athabaskan was ordered 5 April 1940 as part of the 1940-1941 building programme. She was laid down in the United Kingdom on 31 October 1940 by Vickers Armstrong of Newcastle upon Tyne and constructed in consort with Parsons engine works. She was launched on 18 November 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 3 February 1943.
HMCS Athabaskan had a relatively short service of about 14 months between her commissioning and sinking. The ship also experienced several major mishaps and battle damage that required her being taken out of service for repairs for a total of about five months. When these repair periods are taken into account, Athabaskan was available for actual service at sea for a total of only nine months prior to her sinking.
After a short work-up subsequent to commissioning on 3 February 1943, Athabaskan sailed on 29 March 1943 to patrol the Iceland-Faeroes Passage for blockade runners, but heavy seas damaged her hull, which took five weeks to repair at South Shields. Shortly after returning to service, in early June 1943 she took part in Operation Gearbox III, the relief of the garrison at Spitsbergen.
On 18 June 1943, Athabaskan sustained damage during a collision with the boom defence vessel Bargate at Scapa Flow, resulting in a month under repair at Devonport. In July and August 1943, she was based in Plymouth, carrying out anti-submarine patrols in the Bay of Biscay.
Athabaskan was heavily damaged by a Henschel Hs 293 glider bomb during an anti-submarine chase off Cape Ortegal, in the Bay of Biscay, on 27 August 1943.HMS Egret was sunk in the same incident. The glider bomb passed entirely through Athabaskan before detonating on the outside of the ship.
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Wikipedia