View source for HMCS Vimy

{{Short description|Battle class navy trawler}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
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|Ship image=File:HMCS St Julien under construction Toronto 1917 CN-3947(St.Julien).jpg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption=''Vimy'' (right) and [[HMCS St. Julien|''St Julien'']] (left) under construction in Toronto, 1917
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}} {{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1921}}
|Ship name= ''Vimy''
|Ship namesake= [[Battle of Vimy Ridge]]
|Ship ordered=2 February 1917
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|Ship builder= [[Polson Iron Works Limited]], [[Toronto]]
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|Ship launched=17 July 1917
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|Ship commissioned= 13 November 1917
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|Ship decommissioned= 30 November 1918
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|Ship renamed= Re-designated ''Lightship No. 5''
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|Ship fate= Possibly broken up around 1958
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass2|Battle|trawler|0}} [[naval trawler]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|320|LT|t}}
|Ship length={{convert|130|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=1 x [[triple expansion]], {{convert|480|ihp|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|10|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
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|Ship armament=1 × [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]]
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'''HMCS ''Vimy''''' was one of twelve {{sclass2|Battle|trawler|0}} [[naval trawler]]s constructed for and used by the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] (RCN) during the [[World War I|First World War]]. Following the war the ship was transferred to the Canadian [[Department of Marine and Fisheries (Canada)|Department of Marine and Fisheries]] and converted into a [[lightvessel]]. Re-designated ''Lightship No. 5'', the vessel remained in Canadian government service until being possibly [[Ship breaking|broken up]] for scrap in 1958.

==Design and description==
The RCN's Battle-class trawlers formed part of the Canadian naval response to [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] warnings to Canada about the growing German [[U-boat]] [[Atlantic U-boat Campaign (World War I)|threat to merchant shipping]] in the western Atlantic.<ref name=tucker253>Tucker, p. 253</ref> Intended to augment anti-submarine patrols off Canada's east coast, these ships were modelled on contemporary British [[North Sea]] trawlers, since the standard types of Canadian fishing vessels were considered unsuitable for patrol work.<ref>Tucker, pp. 254, 257</ref>

Twelve vessels were ordered on 2 February 1917 from two shipyards, [[Polson Iron Works Limited|Polson Iron Works]] of [[Toronto]] and [[Canadian Vickers]] of [[Montreal]].<ref name=johnston417>Johnston et al., p. 417</ref> Those vessels built at Polson Iron Works [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|320|LT|t|lk=in}} and were {{convert|130|ft|m}} [[Length overall|long overall]] with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|23|ft|5|in|m}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|13|ft|5|in|m}}.<ref name=mac27>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 27</ref> They were propelled by a steam-powered [[triple expansion]] engine driving one shaft creating {{convert|480|ihp|lk=in}} giving the vessels a maximum speed of {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name=johnston417/><ref name=maginley67>Maginley and Collin, p. 67</ref>

All twelve trawlers were equipped with a [[Quick-firing gun|QF]] [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]] mounted forward.<ref name=mac27/>{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} This was considered to be the smallest gun that stood a chance of putting a surfaced U-boat out of action, and they also carried a small number of [[depth charge]]s.<ref name=tucker253/><ref name=tucker257>Tucker, p. 257</ref> The trawlers were named after battles of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] during the First World War that Canadians had been involved in. They cost between $155,000 and $160,000 per vessel.<ref name=johnston417/>{{efn|name=inflation}}{{efn|name=cost}}

==Service history==
Named after the [[Battle of Vimy Ridge]], the trawler was built by Polson Iron Works at Toronto, [[Ontario]], and was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 16 June 1917.<ref name=mac31>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 30</ref> Intended for use during the 1917 shipping season, the construction of the vessels was delayed by the entry of the United States into the war. With higher wages found south of the border, a shortage of skilled labour developed in the shipyards, coupled with a shortage of construction material.<ref>Johnston et al., pp. 481–484</ref> ''Vimy'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 13 November 1917.<ref name=mac31/> ''Vimy'' sailed to the east coast where for the 1918 shipping season, all the Battle-class trawlers were assigned to patrol and escort duties based out of [[Sydney, Nova Scotia]]. The Battle class was used for patrol and escort duties off the Atlantic coast of Canada until the end of the war.<ref>Johnston et al., pp. 543, 645</ref>

The trawler was [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] on 30 November 1918. The ship was transferred to the Department of Marine and Fisheries in 1922 and converted into a [[Lightvessel|lightship]], like [[sister ship]]s {{HMCS|Messines||2}}, {{HMCS|St. Eloi||2}}, and {{HMCS|St. Julien||2}}.<ref name=mac31/><ref name=maginley113>Maginley and Collin, p. 113</ref> This involved placing an electric light at the [[foremast]] head and installing a [[foghorn]] atop a latticework tower.<ref name=maginley113/> The ship was re-designated ''Lightship No. 5'' and the vessel was possibly broken up for scrap in 1958.<ref name=mac31/><ref>Colledge, p. 667</ref>

==References==

===Notes===
{{notes
| notes =
{{efn
| name = cost
| Tucker places the cost at $191,000 (adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|191000|1918}}}})<ref name=tucker257/>
}}
{{efn
| name = inflation
| Adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|155,000|1918}}}} to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|160,000|1918}}}}
}}
{{efn
| name = gun nomenclature
| "Cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
}}
}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=William |last2=Rawling |first2=William G.P. |last3=Gimblett |first3=Richard H. |last4=MacFarlane |first4=John |name-list-style=amp |date=2010 |title=The Seabound Coast: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1867–1939 |volume=1 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55488-908-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |name-list-style=amp |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002  |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Maginley |first=Charles D. |last2=Collin |first2=Bernard |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |title=The Ships of Canada's Marine Service |publisher=Vanwell Publishing Limited |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-070-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Gilbert Norman |date=1962 |title=The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History – Volume 1: Origins and Early Years |publisher=King's Printer |location=Ottawa |oclc=840569671}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/battle/ Battle-class trawlers]

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{{Battle-class trawler}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vimy}}
[[Category:Battle-class trawlers]]
[[Category:World War I naval ships of Canada]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Toronto]]