HMCS Port Arthur

There has been only one vessel named HMCS Port Arthur in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Port Arthur (K233)

Commissioned on 26 May 1942 at Montreal, Quebec, the Flower class corvette HMCS Port Arthur arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 10 June, and was allocated to Western Local Escort Force at the end of July. In September, she was appointed to Operation TORCH duties and arrived at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on 1 November from convoy SC.105, before spending the next four months escorting United Kingdom-Mediterranean convoys.

On 19 January 1943, while so employed, HMCS Port Arthur sank the Italian submarine Tritone off Bougie, Algeria. She arrived at Halifax on 23 March 1943 and, after brief repairs there, joined Western Support Force at St. John’s, Newfoundland. In early August, she began a major refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, with the job completed by 31 December. After working up at Halifax, she joined Escort Group W-9, Western Escort Force.

In April 1944, she was assigned to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties and left St. John’s on 24 April for Londonderry. During the summer, HMCS Port Arthur supported the invasion of Europe as a convoy escort, and joined Portsmouth Command in September. She returned to Canada in February 1945, and was still under refit at Liverpool on Victory in Europe-Day. She was paid off 11 July 1945 at Sorel, Quebec, and broken up at Port Colborne, Ontario, in 1947.

• Builder: Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.>, Port Arthur, Ontario
• Date laid down: 28 April 1941
• Date launched: 18 September 1941
• Displacement: 1031.3 tonnes
• Dimensions: 63.5 m x 10.1 m x 2.9 m
• Speed: 16 knots
• Crew: 85
• Armament: one 4-inch (102-mm) gun, one 2-pound (0.9 kg) gun, two 20-mm guns (2 x I), one Hedgehog mortar and depth charges.

Battle honours

• Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942
• Atlantic 1942-1944
• Mediterranean 1943
• Normandy 1944
• English Channel 1945