HMCS Fredericton (K245)

HMCS Fredericton in November 1943
History
Canada
Name	Fredericton
Namesake	Fredericton, New Brunswick
Operator	Royal Canadian Navy
Builder	Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel
Cost	$600,000 CAN
Laid down	22 March 1941
Launched	2 September 1941
Commissioned	8 December 1941
Decommissioned	14 July 1945
Identification	Pennant number: K245
Honours and awards	Atlantic 1942–45[1]
Fate	Special: See text for Disposition
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette (original)[2]
Displacement	1,015 long tons (1,031 t)
Length	208 ft 4 in (63.50 m)o/a
Beam	33 ft 1 in (10.08 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Installed power	2,750 ihp (2,050 kW) 1 × water-tube boiler
Propulsion	1 shaft 1 × 4-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engine
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	85 (6 officers)
Sensors and processing systems	1 × SW1C or 2C radar 1 × Type 123A (ASDIC) or Type 127DV sonar
Armament	1 × BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IX gun 1 × 2-pounder (pom-pom) 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm (0.8 in) cannon 4 × Mk II depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge rails with 40 depth charges
Notes	1940–1941 Revised Program[3]

HMCS Fredericton was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Canadian Navy. She was ordered from Marine Industries Ltd. in Sorel, Quebec and laid down on 22 March 1941. She was launched on 2 September 1941 and commissioned on 8 December 1941. She was named after the community of Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Fredericton's design was slightly revised from the earlier Flower-class ships. Corvettes built before 1941 behaved poorly in heavy seas, so her length and weight were increased. She was also outfitted with a water-tube boiler which was more powerful and stable than earlier models. Her armament was limited to a 4-inch (100 mm) gun forward and a 2-pound (0.9 kg) pom-pom gun aft gun as well as depth charge throwers which suited her escort duties and anti-submarine capabilities. Later on she was outfitted with the improved Hedgehog anti-submarine device. She was manned by a crew of 85 which included six officers. Her unofficial emblem was a badge emblazoned with a flying tiger dropping a depth charge on a U-boat.

Fredericton served during the Battle of the Atlantic from 1941 to 1945. During 1942 she escorted oil tankers from the Caribbean to New York City. From 1943 to 1945 she escorted convoys in the Western Atlantic and then later on across the Atlantic to Northern Ireland. She was decommissioned on 14 July 1945. Some question as to her final disposition lies with a possible error in Lloyd's Register. Either she was sold for scrap in 1946 or ended up as a Panamanian-flagged Japanese whaler which was used until 1979.