HMCS Aurora

There has been only one vessel named Aurora in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Aurora

HMS Aurora was an Arethusa class light cruiser launched on September 9, 1913, at His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport, United Kingdom. She was named after the Roman goddess of the dawn. HMS Aurora saw service as part of the Grand Fleet (a fleet of the British Navy during the First World War) from 1914 to 1916. Her experienced crew and durability made her a natural choice as a Flagship during many offensive operations throughout the course of that period. In 1915, she was the first British ship in action at the Battle of the Dogger Bank in the North Sea. In August 1915, she took part in the sinking of German raider Meteor, and was on hand at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in November 1918. Between 1918 and 1920, HMS Aurora was paid off by the Admiralty in order to relieve financial pressures of the Home Fleet. Her manning was reduced to a custodian crew, and the relieved personnel were sent to other units.

HMS Aurora was presented to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1920, along with 2 destroyers, and commissioned on November 1. After the 3 ships arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 21, they set out on a training cruise via the Caribbean to Esquimalt, British Columbia, returning to Halifax via the same route on July 30, 1921.

A year later, drastic cuts in the naval budget made it necessary to pay off HMCS Aurora and she was paid off on July 1, 1922. Her weapons were placed ashore in training facilities and on other active ships. Her crew was reduced to non-manned, and much of her up-to-date equipment was salvaged for use in other Royal Canadian Navy warships. She lay at Halifax until 1927, when she was sold for scrap and broken up.

• Builder: HMNB Dockyard, Devonport, United Kingdom
• Launched: September 30, 1913
• Displacement: 3,512 tons
• Dimensions: 133 m x 11.9 m x 4.3 m
• Speed: 25 knots
• Crew: 318
• Armament: two 6-inch (152-mm) guns (2 single mounts), six 4-inch (102-mm) guns (6 single mounts), two 3-inch (76-mm) guns (2 single mounts) and eight 21-inch (533-mm) torpedo tubes (4 double mounts).