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User:McMuff/HMCS French

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History
FateTaken over by Royal Canadian Navy 1939
Canada
NameFrench
Acquired1939
Commissioned18 September 1939
Decommissioned1945
RenamedLe Francais
Identificationpennant number: Z23
Honours and
awards
Gulf of St. Lawrence 1942[1]
FateAbandoned 1953
General characteristics
Displacement337 long tons (342 t)
Length140 ft (42.7 m)
Beam24 ft (7.3 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion2 Winton diesel engines, 2 shafts
Speed11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement40
Armament1 × 4-inch gun

A former RCMP vessel, she was commissioned at Halifax on 18 Sep 1939, for local patrol work. By the spring of 1942, French was based at Mulgrave, N.S., as an examination vessel, and in Dec 1942 was transferred to Saint John N.B. Force. In May 1943, she joined Sydney Force and returned to examination service work in the Gut of Canso, based once more at Mulgrave. For her actions as an Escort Vessel, she was awarded the Battle Honour 'GULF OF ST LAWRENCE 1942'. In Jan 1944, she rejoined Halifax Local Defence Force, but after completing a major refit at Lunenburg in Jul 1944 she returned again to Mulgrave. Sold to commercial interests after the war, French was operating out of Halifax as Le Francais as recently as 1953. On 15 Aug 1953 she was badly damaged in a hurricane off Cape May, N.J., and abandoned to the underwriters.

  1. ^ "Royal Canadian Warships that Participated in the Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence". Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 28 July 2019.