HMCS Royalmount

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

HMCS Royalmount (K677)

The River Class frigate HMCS Royalmount was commissioned at Montréal, Québec, on 23 August 1944. Originally the ship was to be named for “Mount Royal” in honour of the town in Québec but because a Canadian frigate was named Montréal it was considered too similar so HMCS Royalmount was selected. The citizenry of the town adopted the ship from the beginning and were extremely generous towards her. HMCS Royalmount arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 8 September. Throughout October and the first two weeks of November 1944, HMCS Royalmount carried out work-up exercises, designed to turn her into a fighting ship, off of Bermuda. Her exercises completed, she sailed for St. John’s, Newfoundland, arriving on 15 November, to join Escort Group C-1, and spent the remainder of the war with the group as a mid-ocean escort.

She left Liverpool, England, 21 April 1945, escorting her last convoy, on her homeward passage to refit at Sydney, Nova Scotia. Due to problems with her sonar, she detached for Halifax. It was intended to return her to her group after a diver had replaced the sonar dome but while she lay alongside in the Dockyard, the side of her forecastle was holed by the port anchor of sister-ship HMCS Coaticook, which had, in dense fog, attempted to dock. Once repairs were completed, she sailed to Sydney for a complete refit. The war in Europe was over but it was believed she would be needed to fight in the Pacific. After conclusion of hostilities there on 14 August 1945, she was refitted and put into reserve at Halifax.

She was paid off at Halifax on 17 November 1945 and placed in Bedford Basin. On 16 February 1946, while lying in her mooring, amid snow and squalls, the ocean tug Clifton, approached to come alongside. The frigate sheered off suddenly to port under pressure of a moderate northwest gale, thus bringing the vessels together. The tug’s starboard anchor dug a hole into HMCS Royalmount's side amid-ships. The damage required two days of repairs. In June 1947, the ship’s bell was presented to the town of Mount Royal in appreciation for its generosity and support of their namesake vessel. Later that year, a New York buyer purchased her for scrap.

  • Displacement: 1468.2 tonnes
  • Dimensions: 91.9 m x 11.1 m x 2.7 m
  • Speed: 19 knots
  • Crew: 141
  • Armament: two 4-inch (102-mm) (1 x II), one 12-pound (5.45 kg) gun, eight 20-mm guns (4 x II), one Hedgehog mortar and depth charges

Battle honours

Atlantic 1944-1945

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