 HMCS Alberni, circa 1943–1944
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Alberni |
| Namesake | Alberni, British Columbia |
| Ordered | 14 February 1940 |
| Builder | Yarrows Ltd., Esquimalt |
| Laid down | 29 April 1940 |
| Launched | 22 August 1940 |
| Commissioned | 4 February 1941 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K103 |
| Honours and awards | Atlantic 1941-44; Normandy 1944; North Sea 1944 |
| Fate | Torpedoed and sunk on 21 August 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Flower-class corvette |
| Displacement | 950 long tons (970 t) |
| Length | 205 ft 1 in (62.51 m) o/a |
| Beam | 33 ft 1 in (10.08 m) |
| Draught | 13 ft 5 in (4.09 m) |
| Propulsion |
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| 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 |
| Sensors and processing systems |
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| Armament |
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HMCS Alberni was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. The Flower-class corvettes were warships designed for anti-submarine warfare. The ship was constructed by Yarrows Ltd. in Esquimalt, British Columbia, laid down on 19 April 1940, launched on 22 August and commissioned on 4 February 1941. The corvette sailed east to join the RCN's fleet in the Atlantic via the Panama Canal, where upon arrival, the vessel began escorting trans-atlantic convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. Alberni took part in the key convoy battle of Convoy SC 42. In 1942, the corvette was transferred to Allied convoy assignments associated with Operation Torch in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1944, Alberni was among the Canadian naval vessels assigned to Operation Neptune, the naval component of the invasion of Normandy and escorted support ships to and from the United Kingdom on D-day.
On 21 August 1944, while performing an anti-submarine patrol east of the D-day landing site, Alberni was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-480. The ship sank quickly and 59 sailors were killed, with the remaining crew being rescued by Royal Navy motor torpedo boats. A maritime museum in Courtenay, British Columbia now honours the name of the ship and its dead.