HMCS Toronto (K538)

For other ships with the same name, see HMCS Toronto and HMCS Giffard.

HMCS Toronto
History
Canada
NameToronto
NamesakeToronto, Ontario
Ordered1 February 1943
BuilderDavie Shipbuilding, Lauzon
Yard number550
Laid down10 May 1943
Launched18 September 1943
Commissioned6 May 1944
Decommissioned27 November 1945
Identificationpennant number: K538
Recommissioned26 November 1953
Decommissioned14 April 1956
ReclassifiedPrestonian-class frigate
Identificationpennant number: FFE 319
Motto"Be worthy"
Honours and
awards		Gulf of St. Lawrence, 1944[1]
FateTransferred to Norway in 1956 as Garm
BadgeAzure, a mural crown argent, masoned sable, surmounted by a beaver proper holding in the dexter paw a fid spike or[2]
Norway
NameGarm
Namesakethe Ragnarök hound Garmr
Acquiredloaned 10 March 1956; purchased 1959
Commissioned1956
Decommissioned1977
RenamedValkyrien (1965)
Reclassifiedtorpedo boat depot ship (1965)
Identification(as Garm) F315
FateSold 1977
General characteristics
Class and typeRiver-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,445 long tons (1,468 t; 1,618 short tons)
  • 2,110 long tons (2,140 t; 2,360 short tons) (deep load)
Length
  • 283 ft (86.26 m) p/p
  • 301.25 ft (91.82 m) o/a
Beam36.5 ft (11.13 m)
Draught9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)
Propulsion2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed
  • 20 knots (37.0 km/h)
  • 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h) (turbine ships)
Range646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel;
Complement157
Armament

HMCS Toronto was a River-class frigate that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War and as a Prestonian-class frigate from 1953-1956. She was named for Toronto, Ontario. She was later acquired by the Royal Norwegian Navy and renamed Garm and then again in 1965 as HNoMS Valkyrien .

Toronto was ordered 1 February 1943 as Giffard (after Giffard, Quebec) as part of the 1943-1944 River-class building program.[3][4] She was laid down on 10 May 1943 by Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. at Lauzon and launched 18 September 1943.[4] Her name was changed to Toronto and she was commissioned into the RCN on 6 May 1944 with the pennant K538.[5]

  1. ^ "Battle Honours 2". Veterans Affairs Canada. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  2. ^ Arbuckle, p. 122
  3. ^ Macpherson, Ken; Burgess, John (1981). The ships of Canada's naval forces 1910-1981 : a complete pictorial history of Canadian warships. Toronto: Collins. ISBN 0-00216-856-1.
  4. ^ a b "HMCS Toronto (K 538)". uboat.net. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  5. ^ Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J. (1968). British and Dominion Warships of World War II. New York: Doubleday and Company Inc. p. 229.