HMCS Crescent

Crescent in 1945
History
United Kingdom
NameCrescent
BuilderJohn Brown & Company, Clydebank[1]
Yard number607
Laid down16 September 1943
Launched20 July 1944
IdentificationPennant number: R16
Fatetransferred to Canada in January 1945
Canada
NameCrescent
Acquiredloaned 1945, purchased 1951[2]
Commissioned10 September 1945
Decommissioned1 April 1970
IdentificationPennant number: DDE 226
MottoIn virture cresco (I grow in virture)[3]
FateScrapped 1971
BadgeNavy blue, a crescent argent defamed with a maple leaf gules for Canada[3]
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeC-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,900 long tons (1,930 t) standard
  • 2,535 long tons (2,576 t) full load
Length362.75 ft (110.57 m)
Beam35.6 ft (10.9 m)
Draught10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers,
  • Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines,
  • 40,000 shp (30 MW), 2 shafts
Speed
  • 36 kn (67 km/h; 41 mph)
  • 32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph) (full load)
Range
  • 4,675 nautical miles (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
  • 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement186
Sensors and
processing systems
Mark 63 fire-control system
Armament

HMCS Crescent was a C-class destroyer that was built for the Royal Navy but was transferred before completion and saw active service with the Royal Canadian Navy. She was one of 32 destroyers of that class built between 1943 and 1945 as part of the War Emergency Programme.

After discussions about Canada's current fleet, the United Kingdom agreed to lend the Royal Canadian Navy a flotilla of C-class destroyers in January 1945. The ships had yet to be constructed and the surrender of Japan ended the war before any of the eight could be finished. In the end, only two were transferred, Crescent and Crusader, both named after ships which had been previously transferred to Canada and renamed. This time, they kept their names as the transfer was only made permanent in 1951.[2][4]

  1. ^ "HMCS Crescent". Clydebuilt Ships Database. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b Macpherson and Barrie, p. 242
  3. ^ a b Arbuckle, p. 33
  4. ^ Colledge, p. 95