Service history
Constructed for Vincent Astor by Robert Jacob of City Island, New York as Nourmahal, the vessel was launched in 1921. Later in the 1920s he sold the vessel to John W. Hubbard who used the yacht for coastal cruises. The vessel was renamed Conseco.
To augment the local sea defences of East Coast ports in World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy sought large, steel-hulled yachts to requisition. However, a significant lack of capable vessels were owned by Canadians. Canada turned to its southern neighbour for suitable ships, finding several that met the navy's requirements. However, US neutrality laws prevented their sale to belligerents in the war. In order to circumvent these laws, the Royal Canadian Navy requisitioned the yachts of prominent Canadian yachtsmen and then sent them to the US to purchase the yachts that had been identified by the navy without the US government knowing they were working for the navy. The money to acquire the vessels was provided by the Canadian government through bank loans.
Philip S. Ross, a business executive from Montreal, Quebec was sent to acquire Conseco after his own yacht had been requisitioned. After acquiring the yacht, Ross has his own yacht returned, and Conseco arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia in late May 1940. After arriving at Halifax, the yacht was renamed Otter and sailed with fellow armed yacht Moose to Quebec City, Quebec to undergo conversion to an armed yacht. Conversion to an armed yacht involved removing most of the luxurious finery and installing naval hardware. Otter required more than just the installation of armament though. The vessel's fresh water tanks were corroded and needed replacing and all the generating machinery was shot and needed replacement.
Otter returned to Halifax after conversion on 2 October 1940 and was commissioned on 4 October. The ship was assigned to the Halifax Local Defence Force, alternating between training duties and anti-submarine patrols. The ship escorted convoys of merchant vessels from Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia to the meeting point with the ocean escorts for the transatlantic crossing.
However, wiring issues arose early in Otter's service. The ship suffered a fire while sailing for its conversion, caused by a short circuit. Then, while off Newfoundland Otter had a second fire in a heavy storm. The danger of fire was higher aboard Otter than other warships as the cabins aboard the vessel were constructed of wood, not steel. Then, on 26 March 1941, the ship was ordered to await the arrival of the submarine HMS Talisman off the Sambro Light Vessel. Otter was to escort the submarine into Halifax Harbour. At 0830 while off the lightship, a fire broke out aboard Otter in the engine room. All the engine room personnel on duty died in the fire. The fire spread rapidly to the captain's cabin and the wireless office. The engines failed and with them the electric pumps for the firefighting equipment. To fight the fire, the crew used hand extinguishers and sand, which were inadequate.
The captain ordered the magazine flooded and the code books destroyed. Once that was done, he gave the order to abandon ship. The crew faced 15-foot (4.6 m) waves. In the following evacuation, six members of the crew earned Mentioned in Dispatches for their conduct, including two posthumously. The surviving crew were in the water for two hours before rescue arrived. The Polish-flagged SS Wilsa and HMS Talisman picked up survivors. One lifeboat capsized in the heavy seas while approaching Wilsa, with only three of those onboard rescued. Two officers and seventeen ratings died in the incident.
HMCS Grilse was a commissioned patrol boat of the Royal Canadian Navy during the First World War. Launched in 1912 as the private yacht Winchester of the American industrialist Peter Rouss, the vessel was constructed along the lines of a contemporary Royal Navy torpedo boat destroyer. After the outbreak of war, vessels that could be used by belligerents was prohibited by the government of the then-neutral United States. Canadian millionaire J. K. L. Ross purchased Winchester and returned to Canada with the yacht, where he transferred ownership of the vessel to the Royal Canadian Navy. Renamed Grilse, a pseudonym for Atlantic salmon and converted to a patrol boat, the vessel was deployed as part of Canada's east coast patrol combating the German submarine threat. After the war, she was sold back to private interests, re-converted to a yacht and renamed Trillora. Trillora foundered in 1938 at Long Island, New York during a hurricane.
HMCS Hochelaga was a commissioned patrol vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that served in World War I and postwar until 1920. Hochelaga is a historic name associated with Canada, the voyages of Jacques Cartier, and the city of Montreal. Initially constructed as the yacht Waturus in 1900 in Europe, the vessel was sold to an American in 1902. The ship was acquired in 1914 for use as a patrol vessel on the East Coast of Canada. Following World War I, the vessel became a ferry between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. After World War II the ship was renamed HaChayal Ha'Ivri and used for illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine. The vessel was scrapped in 1950.
HMCS Ambler was an armed yacht that was acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War as a patrol and training vessel. Constructed in 1922, Ambler was under private ownership until 1940 when the vessel was requisitioned for service in the Royal Canadian Navy. Initially used as a patrol vessel, Ambler was used as a training vessel until 1945. Following the war, Ambler was sold to private interests.
HMCS Beaver was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally named Aztec, the yacht was requisitioned for service in the United States Navy during the First World War under the same name. Returned to her owner in 1919, the yacht was laid up in 1931 following her owner's death. The vessel was purchased via a third party for service in the Royal Canadian Navy and after commissioning, Beaver was primarily used as a training ship with limited time as a patrol vessel. Following the war she was sold in 1946 and broken up for scrap in 1956.
HMCS Caribou was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Originally named Memory III, the vessel was renamed Elfreda while in private use as a personal yacht. After her commissioning and renaming to Caribou, she was used as a patrol and training vessel on the East coast of Canada. Following the war the ship was sold for commercial use until her registry was deleted in 1963.
HMCS Elk was an armed yacht serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Prior to Canadian service, the ship was named Arcadia. She was used initially as a patrol vessel, but later saw use as a training and guard ship for submarines on the East Coast of Canada. Following the war, Elk was sold for commercial use and returned to her original name. She was renamed Grand Manan III in 1946 and used as a short-haul passenger ferry before being broken up in 1968.
HMCS Raccoon was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Purchased by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940, the ship was originally known as the yacht Halonia. Used as a patrol vessel and convoy escort, the ship was sunk by the German submarine U-165 in the St. Lawrence River on 7 September 1942. Raccoon was escorting Convoy QS-33 at the time. The entire ship's crew was lost.
HMCS Clayoquot was a Bangor-class minesweeper that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She saw action mainly in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was sunk in 1944. The minesweeper was named after Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
HMCS Chedabucto was a Bangor-class minesweeper that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic. During the Battle of the St. Lawrence in 1943, Chedabucto was sunk in a collision with a cable ship.
HMCS Reindeer was an armed yacht that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served mainly in local waters, escorting convoys until becoming a training ship at Halifax, Nova Scotia at the end of 1942. The ship remained as such until being paid off to reserve in 1945 and was sold. Constructed as Josephine in 1926 in the United States and renamed Mascotte, the yacht was acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940. Following the war, the vessel was sold.
HMCS Transcona was a Bangor-class minesweeper built for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She was launched on 26 April 1941. After the war, she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the name French. The vessel served until 1961 before being sold for scrap and broken up later that year.
HMCS Grandmère was a Bangor-class minesweeper constructed for the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Entering service in 1941, the minesweeper took part in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the St. Lawrence before being taken out of service in 1945. The ship was sold for mercantile service following the war, first as the yacht Elda and then the cargo ship Jacks Bay. The ship was sold for scrap in 1968.
HMCS Truro was a Bangor-class minesweeper that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. The minesweeper entered service in 1942 and took part in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the St. Lawrence. Following the war, the vessel was transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and renamed Herchmer. In 1946, Herchmer was sold for mercantile conversion and reappeared as Gulf Mariner. The ship was abandoned in 1964 on the Fraser River shore after plans for conversion to a suction dredger failed. The abandoned hulk was broken up.
HMCS Sans Peur was an armed yacht that served with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during World War II on both coasts. The vessel was constructed as a yacht in 1933 for Ernest G. Stanley at the John I. Thornycroft & Company yard in Woolston, Southampton, United Kingdom and initially named Trenora. It was sold in the 1930s to George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland who renamed it Sans Peur. The yacht was taken over by the RCN in 1939 and used for anti-submarine patrols and training duties on the British Columbia Coast. In 1944, Sans Peur was brought east to Nova Scotia as a training ship.
HMCS Lynx was an armed yacht in service with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during World War II. The vessel was built at Newport News Shipbuilding as the yacht Dolphin in 1922. The yacht was sold in 1929, becoming Ramona. In 1940, the RCN acquired the vessel as part of the effort to bolster its patrol forces, armed and renamed the vessel Lynx. However, the vessel suffered a series of mechanical issues and was taken out of service in 1943 and sold for commercial service. Renamed Elena and then Samana Queen the ship was used in the banana boat trade, taking on its final name Rican Star in 1952. The vessel was converted to a fishing trawler in 1959 before sinking on 25 May 1960 off Hummocky Island, Queensland.
HMCS Husky was an armed yacht used for patrol and training purposes during World War II by the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship was constructed as the yacht Wild Duck in 1930 in Bay City, Michigan. Having several owners through the 1930s, the vessel was renamed Xania II. Acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940 for patrol, escort and training duties in Atlantic Canada, the ship was taken out of service at the end of the war and sold into commercial service. The vessel was purchased by the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana for use as an inspection ship. In 1967 the ship was sold again, renamed Aquarius No. 2 and used as a diving tender based in Honduras. In 1979 the vessel was acquired by American interests who brought the ship back to New Orleans and converted it to a floating restaurant.
HMCS Vison was an armed yacht of the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. The vessel was acquired in 1940 for use as a patrol boat and later, as a training ship. In 1946, following the end of the war, Vison was sold into private ownership. The vessel was constructed as Avalon in 1931 by Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware, United States on behalf of Ogden L. Mills, the Secretary of the United States Treasury. During its service during World War II, Vison participated in the Battle of the Atlantic and the Battle of the St. Lawrence escorting convoys and defending them against German U-boats.
HMCS Grizzly was an armed yacht acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II for coastal patrol and anti-submarine defence. Constructed in 1909 as Machigonne, a yacht for William L. Douglas, the vessel was purchased by the United States Navy in 1917 for use as a patrol ship on the United States East Coast during World War I and named USS Machigonne (SP-507). Following the end of the war, Machigonne was demobilised and returned to service as a yacht.
HMCS Wolf was an armed yacht of the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II that saw service on the British Columbia Coast of Canada. Constructed in 1915 as the yacht Wenowah, with the US entry into World War I, the vessel was taken into United States Navy service as USS Wenonah (SP-165) as a patrol ship. The vessel escorted convoys between the United States and Europe and between Gibraltar and Bizerte, Tunis and Genoa, Italy. After the war, Wenonah was loaned to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for three and a half years before being sold to private interests in 1928. In private ownership, the vessel was renamed at least twice, including Stranger and Blue Water.
HMCS Moose was an armed yacht of the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. The vessel, originally the yacht Cleopatra constructed in 1930 in Massachusetts, was acquired for port defence in 1940. Following the war, Moose was sold into private ownership and reconverted to a pleasure yacht. Still in service, the vessel has been named Fraternité, Ottelia, Shogun, Naroma, Eretria, Candida A and as of 2019, Uthingo.
Canada
