HMCS Florence

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

HMCS Florence / Armed Yacht

Originally launched in 1903 as Czarina, then renamed Emeline, this American-built yacht was bought and renamed by John Eaton. He brought her to Toronto in 1910. After the start of the First World War, he presented Florence to the RCN. She was commissioned on 19 July 1915. For most of the ensuing year she served as a guard ship at Saint John, NB, and as a patrol vessel in the Bay of Fundy. However, she proved to be unsuitable and was paid off in August 1916. Later that year Florence was sold to buyers in Martinique and is said to have been lost in the Caribbean in January 1917.

• Builder: Crescent Shipyard, Elizabeth, NJ
• Displacement: 261 tonnes
• Dimensions: 44 m x 7 m x 2.3 m
• Speed: 12 knots
• Armament: one 3-pdr.