HMCS Woodstock

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

HMCS Woodstock (K238) / Flower-class corvette

Commissioned on 1 May 1942 at Montreal, Quebec, Woodstock and was one of the first corvettes built with a long forecastle. She arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 23 May and, after working up at Pictou, Nova Scotia, joined Western Local Escort Force. Assigned to Operation TORCH, the Allied landing of North Africa, she arrived on 23 September at Londonderry, Northern Ireland with convoy HX.207 and proceeded to the Humber, United Kingdom for six weeks’ refit, including extra anti-aircraft armament.

While serving as escort to United Kingdom-Mediterranean convoys, she sank motor-boat MTB 105 on 1 January 1943, 250 miles northwest of the Azores, after the merchant ship carrying it had been sunk. She returned to Canada in March, and, after repairs at Halifax, joined Escort Group C-1 in April for one round trip to the United Kingdom. In June, she was transferred to Escort Group 5, Western Support Force at St. John’s, Newfoundland, but later that month was reassigned to Escort Group C-4 at Londonderry. She escorted only one convoy as a member of that group before commencing refit late in June at Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Completed at Halifax in mid-September, the ship then rejoined the Escort Group C-4. In April 1944, while at Londonderry, she was allocated to Western Approaches Command for invasion of France duties, and was so employed for the next three months. She left Londonderry for the last time on 3 August 1944 for two months’ refit at Liverpool.

Woodstock left Halifax on 18 October for the west coast, arriving at Esquimalt, British Columbia, a month later to join Esquimalt Force. On 27 January 1945, she was paid off there for conversion to a loop-layer, but upon re-commissioning on 17 May was employed as a weather ship until finally paid off on 18 March 1946. Sold in 1948 for conversion as a whaler, she entered service in 1952 as Olympic Winner under the Honduran flag. She passed into Japanese ownership in 1956, was renamed Otori Maru No. 20 and, in 1957, renamed Akitsu Maru. She was broken up at Etajima, Japan in 1975.

• Builder: Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., Collingwood, Ontario
• Date commissioned: 1 May 1942
• Date paid off: 18 March 1946
• 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, six 20-mm guns (6 x I), one Hedgehog mortar and depth charges

Battle honours

• Atlantic 1942-1944
• North Africa 1942-1943
• Normandy 1944
• English Channel 1944