HMCS Lasalle

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

HMCS Lasalle (K519)

The River Class frigate Lasalle entered in service on June 29, 1944 in Québec City, Quebec, and sailed to Bermuda, on August 31, to carry out its work-up exercises. On her way, she stopped briefly in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the dockyard completed the fit of some equipment. Early October 1944 she became a member of the newly formed Escort Group 27. Lasalle spent the remainder of the war in the Halifax area on anti-submarine patrol and support duty.

On January 12, 1945, as Escort Group 27 entered Halifax Harbour under a dense fog, Lasalle was grounded on Georges Island, a small island located in the middle of the harbour. The island’s fog signal was not operational and was one factor in the incident.

Following Victory-in-Europe Day, Lasalle was ordered to Esquimalt, British Columbia, where she was to be refitted for participation in the final campaign against Japan. She sailed from Halifax on June 7, 1945, passed through the Panama Canal on June 14 and arrived at her new base on June 30. Before the refit could be carried out Japan surrendered and the war was over. Lasalle made a number of trips to the offshore dumping area, depositing surplus and obsolete ammunition.

Lasalle was paid off on December 17 in Esquimalt. She was dismantled in 1947 and her hull expended as a breakwater in 1948 at Kelsey Bay, British Columbia.

  • Builder: Davie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec
  • Laid down: June 4, 1943
  • Launched: November 12, 1943
  • Date commissioned: June 29, 1944
  • Date paid off: December 17, 1945
  • Displacement: 1,445 tons
  • Dimensions: 91.9 m x 11.1 m x 2.7 m
  • Speed: 19 knots
  • Crew: 141
  • Armament: two 4-inch (102-mm) (1 double mount), one 12-pound (5.45 kg) gun, eight 20-mm guns (4 double mounts), one Hedgehog mortar, depth charges

Battle honours

  • Gulf of St. Lawrence 1944
  • Atlantic 1945

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