View source for HMCS Kamloops

{{Short description|Flower-class corvette}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMCS Kamloops 1942 MC-2445.jpg
|Ship caption=HMCS ''Kamloops'' as a training ship, circa 1942.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name=''Kamloops''
|Ship namesake= [[Kamloops|Kamloops, British Columbia]]
|Ship ordered=14 February 1940
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Victoria Machinery Depot|Victoria Machinery Depot Co. Ltd.]], [[Victoria, British Columbia]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=29 April 1940
|Ship launched=7 August 1940
|Ship sponsor=
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|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=17 March 1941
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=  27 June 1945
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: K176
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours= Atlantic 1941/43-45;<ref name=Britain>{{cite web|title= Battle Honours | url=http://www.britainsnavy.co.uk/Battle%20Honours/A%20Battle%20Honour%20Date.htm#1900|work=Britain's Navy|access-date=10 August 2013}}</ref> Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942<ref name=veterans>{{cite web|title=Royal Canadian Warships - The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence - Second World War|url=http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|work=Veterans Affairs Canada|access-date=10 August 2013|archive-date=27 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927080617/http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/battlegulf/canwarship|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sold on 19 October 1945 for scrapping
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass2|Flower|corvette}} (original)<ref name=lenton>{{cite book|last=Lenton |first=H.T. |last2=Colledge |first2=J.J |year=1968 |title=British and Dominion Warships of World War II |publisher=Doubleday & Company |pages=201, 212 }}</ref>
|Ship displacement={{convert|925|LT|t ST|lk=in}}
|Ship length={{convert|205|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}[[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|11.5|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*single shaft
*2 × fire tube Scotch boilers
*1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine
*{{convert|2750|ihp|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship range={{convert|3500|nmi|km|0}} at {{convert|12|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=85
|Ship sensors=*1 × SW1C or 2C radar
*1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × [[BL 4 inch Mk IX naval gun|BL {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} Mk.IX]] single gun
*2 × [[Vickers .50 machine gun|.50 cal machine gun (twin)]]
*2 × [[Lewis gun|Lewis .303 cal machine gun]] (twin)
*2 × Mk.II depth charge throwers
*2 × depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMCS ''Kamloops''''' was a {{sclass2|Flower|corvette}} that served in the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. She served primarily in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] as an ocean escort. She was named for [[Kamloops|Kamloops, British Columbia]].

==Background==
{{main|Flower-class corvette}}
Flower-class corvettes like ''Kamloops'' serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ossian |first=Robert |url=http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/ship_types.htm |title=Complete List of Sailing Vessels |website=The Pirate King |access-date=13 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Fitzsimons |editor-first=Bernard |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare |location=London |publisher=Phoebus |year=1978 |volume=11 |pages=1137–1142 }}</ref><ref name=Jane>{{cite book |title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II |location=New Jersey |publisher=Random House |year=1996 |isbn=0-517-67963-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/janesfightingshi00fran/page/68 68] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/janesfightingshi00fran/page/68 }}</ref>  The "corvette" designation was created by the French as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877.<ref>{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Nicholas |last2=Lawrence |first2=Richard |title=The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I59v6rkg8egC&pg=PA39 |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=2005 |pages=39–63 |isbn=0-8117-3275-4}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chesneau |first=Roger |last2=Gardiner |first2=Robert |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJBMBvyQ83EC&pg=PA62 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |date=June 1980 |page=62 |isbn=0-87021-913-8}}</ref> The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.<ref name=Milner>{{cite book |title=North Atlantic Run |last=Milner |first=Marc |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1985 |pages=117–119, 142–145, 158, 175–176, 226, 235, 285–291 |isbn=0-87021-450-0}}</ref>

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.<ref name=Macpherson2>{{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Milner |first2=Marc |year=1993 |title=Corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy 1939-1945|publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines |isbn=1-55125-052-7}}</ref>

==Construction==
Originally named ''Jasper'' for [[Jasper, Alberta]], she was ordered on 14 February 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program.<ref name=Macpherson2/> She was laid down on 29 April 1940 by [[Victoria Machinery Depot|Victoria Machinery Depot Co. Ltd.]] at [[Victoria, British Columbia]] and launched 7 August later that year.<ref name=uboat>{{cite web | url = http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/819.html | work = Uboat.net | title = HMCS ''Kamloops'' (K 176) | access-date = 28 July 2013}}</ref> Before commissioning, her name was changed to ''Kamloops'' due to a name conflict with [[Royal Navy]] vessel and she was commissioned as such into the Royal Canadian Navy on 17 March 1941 at Victoria.<ref name=Macpherson2/><ref name=Cannav>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/centennial/0/0-c_eng.asp?category=70 |title=Canadian Navy: Canadian Naval Centennial – Background Information |publisher=Navy.forces.gc.ca |date=7 March 2011 |access-date=27 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319161336/http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/centennial/0/0-c_eng.asp?category=70 |archive-date=19 March 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> ''Kamloops'' had two major refits during her career. The first took place at [[Liverpool, Nova Scotia]] beginning in February 1943 and took three months to complete. The second refit began mid-December 1943 and was completed in April 1944. The refit took place at [[Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island|Charlottetown]] during which her [[fo'c'sle]] was extended.<ref name=Macpherson>{{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Burgess |first2=John |year=1981 |title=The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910-1981 : a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships |publisher=Collins |location=Toronto|pages=77 |isbn=0-00216-856-1}}</ref>

==War duty==
[[File:Diffused lighting camouflage HMCS Kamloops funnel 1943.jpg|thumb|HMCS ''Kamloops'' with [[diffused lighting camouflage]] fittings on struts around the funnel]]

''Kamloops'' arrived in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]] in June 1941. She was assigned to Halifax Force and spent the rest of the year as a local escort.<ref name=Macpherson/> In September 1941, she took part in the Canadian Navy's secret trials of [[diffused lighting camouflage]], a technology for concealing ships from submarines at night.<ref name=NavalMuseumQuebec>{{cite web | url=http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/navres/10/10-n_eng.asp?category=183&title=1587 | title=Naval Museum of Quebec | publisher=Royal Canadian Navy | work=Diffused Lighting and its use in the Chaleur Bay | access-date=19 January 2012 | df=dmy-all }}{{dead link|date=January 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In January 1942 she began use as an anti-submarine training ship in Halifax and [[Pictou, Nova Scotia|Pictou]], which lasted until January 1943 before heading off for refit.<ref name=Macpherson/>

After the refit, ''Kamloops'' joined [[Western Local Escort Force]] (WLEF) in March 1943 for a brief period before transferring  [[Mid-Ocean Escort Force]] (MOEF) escort group C-2 in June. She remained with this group until the end of the war. During her service with C-2, ''Kamloops'' took part in the severe convoy battle for [[Convoys ONS 18/ON 202|ONS 18/ON 202]], which lost six merchant ships and three escorts.<ref name=Macpherson/>

At the end of the war, ''Kamloops'' was [[paid off]] on 27 June 1945 at [[Sorel, Quebec]]. She was sold for scrap later that year on 19 October and [[Ship breaking|broken up]] at [[Amherstburg]], Ontario.<ref name=uboat/><ref name=Macpherson/><ref name=miramar>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6111907|shipname=Kamloops|access-date=13 July 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww2/flower/ |title= Flower Class|author=Hazegray |work= Canadian Navy of Yesterday and Today |access-date=10 August 2013}}
*{{Cite news|url=http://www.readyayeready.com/ships/shipview.php?id=1193&ship=KAMLOOPS |title= HMCS Kamloops|author=Ready, Aye, Ready |access-date=10 August 2013}}

{{Flower class corvette|original}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamloops, HMCS (K176)}}
[[Category:Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:1940 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Victoria, British Columbia]]