HMCS Shearwater (K02)

HMCS "Shearwater" was a commissioned sloop and later submarine tender serving in the Royal Canadian Navy. She saw service with the RCN through World War I.

HMCS "Shearwater" was a sloop originally commissioned warship|HMS|Shearwater|1900 for the Royal Navy. She was built at HM Dockyard, Sheerness and was launched 10 February 1900.

By the 1910s she had become one of the last two remaining warships in the RN's Pacific Squadron based at Esquimalt, British Columbia. The RN's Pacific Squadron was phased out in 1914 with the start of World War I. The sloop HMS "Shearwater" and her sister sloop warship|HMS|Algerine were transferred by the British Admiralty to the Royal Canadian Navy. They were recommissioned on September 8, 1914; at this time, HMS "Shearwater" was recommissioned as HMCS "Shearwater".

War service

With the outbreak of World War I, two of HMCS "Shearwater's" 4-pounder guns were taken ashore and used with a shore battery position to defend the Seymour Narrows. The crew of "Shearwater" was sent to Halifax to man warship|HMCS|Niobe.

HMCS "Shearwater" was subsequently re-manned to become the submarine tender for the two submarines warship|HMCS|CC-1 and warship|HMCS|CC-2. This service saw HMCS "Shearwater" escort the two submarines to Halifax, transiting through the Panama Canal.

For the remainder of the war, she saw very limited duty as an RCN support vessel on the Atlantic coast. She was paid off from the RCN on 13 June 1919 and sold into mercantile hands and renamed "Vedas". Her register was closed in 1937.

pecifications

* Launched: 10/2/1900
* Commissioned: HMS "Shearwater", January 1901
* Decommissioned: HMS "Shearwater", September 8, 1914
* Recommissioned: HMCS "Shearwater" (transferred control into RCN), September 8, 1914
* Paid Off: June 13,1919, sold into mercantile service and renamed "Vedas" in 1924
* Displacement: 980 tons
* Length: 204 feet
* Width: 33 feet
* Draught: 11.5 feet
* Speed: 12 knots
* Crew: ?
* Armament: 4 X 4-pounder (naval guns capable of firing a 4-pound shot) and 4 X 3-pounder

Current use of the unit name "Shearwater"

The name "Shearwater" has been assigned to CFB Shearwater, a military aerodrome on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in operation since 1918 and originally known as Naval Air Station Halifax, HMCS "Shearwater", RCNAS Shearwater, and RCAF Station Shearwater.

References

* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/convert/ Converted civilian vessels]
* [http://www.navy.gc.ca/project_pride/ships/ship_e.asp?shipNumber=74 HMCS "Shearwater" - Canadian Navy Heritage Project]
* Macpherson, Keneth R. and Burgess, John. (1982)(Second Printing)The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910-1981. Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-216856-1