HMCS Dauphin


HMCS Dauphin was a that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named for Dauphin, Manitoba.

Background

Flower-class corvettes like Dauphin 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 as a class 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.

Construction

Dauphin was ordered 20 January 1940 as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class shipbuilding program. She was laid down 6 July 1940 by Canadian Vickers Ltd. at Montreal, Quebec and launched on 24 October later that year. She was commissioned on 17 May 1941 at Montreal. From April to September 1943, Dauphin was refitted at Pictou. During this time her fo'c'sle was extended. In August 1944 she underwent another refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

Wartime service

In late June 1941 Dauphin joined Sydney Force. In September of that year she transferred to Newfoundland Command. However she was sent for further workups at Tobermory and returned to service as an ocean escort in mid-October.
From October 1941 to August 1944 she was an ocean escort. After December 1942 she was assigned to escort group EG A-3, which was re-designated C-5 in June 1943. Dauphin was involved in three major convoy battles during that time; SC 100 in September 1942, ON 166 in February 1943 and SC 121 in March 1943. She was removed from convoy duty from April to September 1943 due to a refit. In January 1945 she was reassigned to the Western Local Escort Force escort group W-7. Dauphin remained with the group until the end of the war.

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted

ConvoyEscort GroupDatesNotes
SC 361–4 July 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
HX 13813 July 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
HX 13917–18 July 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
SC 3822–25 July 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
HX 1436-7 Aug 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
HX 1428 Aug 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
HX 14411-12 Aug 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
SC 435-20 Sept 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
SC 536-20 Nov 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 3826-30 Nov 1941Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 6018-24 Dec 1941Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 533-9 Jan 1942Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 672-12 Feb 1942Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 6618-26 Feb 1942Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 7310–23 March 1942Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 8028 March-10 April 1942Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 89MOEF group C228 June-9 July 1942Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 113MOEF group C218–26 July 1942Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 201MOEF group C25-9 Aug 1942Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 119MOEF group C210-15 Aug 1942Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 97MOEF group C226 Aug-6 Sept 1942Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 129MOEF group C211-20 Sept 1942Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 210MOEF group C34-7 Oct 1942Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
HX 211MOEF group C113-20 Oct 1942Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 147MOEF group C418-28 Nov 1942Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 111MOEF group A31-14 Dec 1942Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 156MOEF group A324 Dec 1942-8 Jan 1943Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 223MOEF group A319-28 Jan 1943Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
SC 117MOEF group B329 Jan-2 Feb 1943Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
Convoy ON 166MOEF group A312-21 Feb 1943Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
Convoy SC 121MOEF group A33–12 March 1943Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 175MOEF group A325 March-8 April 1943Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 26224 Oct-2 Nov 1943Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 21114-24 Nov 1943Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 2681-10 Dec 1943Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 21725 Dec 1943-5 Jan 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 27411-21 Jan 1944Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 22231 Jan-10 Feb 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
ONS 3114–25 March 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 2852–11 April 1944Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 23320 April-3 May 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 29010–19 May 1944Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 23827 May-3 June 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 29515–23 June 1944Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 2433–12 July 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 300MOEF group C524 July-2 Aug 1944Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; largest HX convoy of the war
ON 248S11-21 Aug 1944Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 165Western Local Escort Force 16-20 Jan 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
ON 278WLEF24-31 Jan 1945Newfoundland to Halifax
HX 336WLEF2-5 Feb 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
ON 280WLEF6-7 Feb 1945Newfoundland to Halifax
SC 167WLEF2-16 Feb 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
ONS 42WLEF28 Feb-4 March 1945Newfoundland to Halifax
SC 170WLEF17–20 March 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
ON 290WLEF24–29 March March 1945Newfoundland to Halifax
HX 348WLEF3–6 April 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
HX 350WLEF15–18 April 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
ON 296WLEF24–30 April 1945Newfoundland to Halifax
HX 354WLEF3–6 May 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
SC 176WLEF16–20 May 1945Halifax to Newfoundland
ONS 50WLEF25–29 May 1945Newfoundland to Halifax

Post-war service

Following the end of hostilities, Dauphin was paid off on 20 June 1945 at Sorel, Quebec. She was sold for conversion to a merchant ship and in 1949 entered service as Cortes under a Honduran flag. In 1955 she was renamed San Antonio and was registered under an Ecuadorean flag. The ship was deleted in 1992.