HMCS Malaspina

HMCS Malaspina was a Canadian government fisheries patrol vessel pressed into service with the Royal Canadian Navy in 1917 and again in 1939 and which therefore saw service during the First World War and Second World War. The vessel was constructed in 1913 in Dublin, Ireland and patrolled the fisheries along the West Coast of Canada.

HMCS Malaspina underway
History
Canada
Name: Malaspina
Builder: Dublin Dockyard, Dublin, Ireland
Laid down: 1913
Launched: 6 July 1913
Completed: August 1913
In service: 1913
Out of service: 1 December 1917
Fate: Transferred to Royal Canadian Navy 1917
Canada
Name: Malaspina
Commissioned: 1 December 1917
Decommissioned: 31 March 1920
Recommissioned: 6 September 1939
Decommissioned: 24 January 1945
Fate: Sold for scrap, 1946
General characteristics
Type: Patrol vessel
Tonnage: 392 GRT
Length: 162.4 ft (49.5 m) pp.
Beam: 27.1 ft (8.3 m)
Draught: 13.1 ft (4.0 m)
Propulsion: 1 screw, triple expansion steam engine, 1,350 ihp (1,007 kW)
Speed: 14.5 knots (27 km/h)
Complement: 33

A sister ship of CGS Galiano, Malaspina was also taken over by the Royal Canadian Navy, and both ships mixed civil duties with naval patrol and examination work, including minesweeping training and trials, for much of the war. Malaspina survived the war and returned to fisheries protection work in 1920. In 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, Malaspina was again commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy, serving as a patrol and examination vessel and subsequently as a training ship before being paid off in 1945 and sold for scrap in 1946.

Description

Malaspina was designed as coastal patrol vessel. The vessel had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 392, was 162.4 ft (49.5 m) long between perpendiculars with a beam of 27.1 ft (8.3 m) and a draught of 13.1 ft (4.0 m).[1][2] The ship was divided into twenty watertight compartments by both transverse and longitudinal bulkheads.[3] The vessel was powered by a triple expansion steam engine driving one screw creating 1,350 indicated horsepower (1,007 kW).[4] This gave Malaspina a maximum speed of 14.5 knots (27 km/h). In Royal Canadian Navy service, the ship was armed with one QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss gun mounted forward and had a complement of 33.[1]

Construction and career

The vessel's keel was laid down by Dublin Dockyard in Dublin, Ireland and the vessel was launched on 6 July 1913.[3] Malaspina was completed in August 1913.[2] The date on which Malaspina became a government ship differs between the sources, with Macpherson & Barrie claiming the vessel joined in 1913 and Maginley & Collin, 1914.[1][4] Upon joining the government fleet, Malaspina became a fisheries patrol vessel on the West Coast of Canada.[4] After the First World War broke out, Malaspina and sister ship Galiano alternated between naval and civic duties along the Pacific coast, being retained as part of the government fleet.[1] This included performing examination duties at Esquimalt, British Columbia.[5] On 1 December 1917, Malaspina was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, detailed with the duty of intercepting contraband in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.[1]

Following the First World War, Malaspina was paid off on 31 March 1920. The Royal Canadian Navy and returned to the Department of Transport's Marine Service as a patrol vessel.[1][4] Malaspina remained in this service until 6 September 1939 when, with the outbreak of the Second World War, the vessel rejoined the Royal Canadian Navy. Malaspina was deployed on patrol and ship examination duties along the West Coast before joining HMCS Royal Roads as a training ship. Malaspina was paid off on 31 March 1945 and sold for scrap the following year.[1] The ship was broken up by Wagner, Stein & Green at their site in Victoria, British Columbia in the third quarter of 1951.[2]

Citations
  1. Macpherson & Barrie 2002, p. 22.
  2. Miramar Ship Index.
  3. MENA.
  4. Maginley & Collin 2001, p. 90.
  5. Johnston et al. 2010, p. 315.

Sources
  • Johnston, William; Rawling, William G.P.; Gimblett, Richard H. & MacFarlane, John (2010). The Seabound Coast: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1867–1939. 1. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-1-55488-908-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Macpherson, Ken & Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Maginley, Charles D. & Collin, Bernard (2001). The Ships of Canada's Marine Services. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-55125-070-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Launches and Trial Trips". International Marine Engineering. New York—London: Marine Engineering, Inc. 36 (August): 33. 1913. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  • "Malaspina (1136044)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 15 February 2017.

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