HMCS Eyebright was a that served in the Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

. She was ordered for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 from Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 and laid down on 20 February 1940. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 22 July 1940, transferred to the RCN

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

, and commissioned on 26 November 1940. She was named after the Euphrasia

Euphrasia

Euphrasia is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae , with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are semi-parasitic on grasses and other plants...

 genus of medicinal flowering plants.

Background

Flower-class corvettes like Eyebright serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 were different to earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The "corvette" designation was created by the French in the 19th century as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877. During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design. The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.

War duty

Eyebright escorted trade convoys between Halifax Harbour

Halifax Harbour

Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...

 and the Western Approaches

Western Approaches

The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...

 through the battle of the Atlantic. Eyebright participated in the battle for convoy SC 44 in September 1941. It was to be the only convoy she escorted to lose ships to submarine torpedoes. Eyebright served with Mid-Ocean Escort Force

Mid-Ocean Escort Force

Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...

 (MOEF) groups C1, C3 and C4 from 1942 through 1944. Eyebright escorted North American coastal convoys with the Western Local Escort Force

Western Local Escort Force

Western Local Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point near Newfoundland where ships of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force assumed responsibility for safely delivering the convoys...

 during 1945. At the end of hostilities, Eyebright escorted the last HX convoy of the war to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 where she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold for civilian use as Albert W. Vinke.

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted

Convoy	Escort Group	Dates	Notes
HX HX convoys The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom...  104		21 January-8 February 1941	21 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland Iceland Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
OB 332		13-23 June 1941	43 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
HX 136		30 June-13 July 1941	46 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
OB 345		16-24 July 1941	60 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
HX 142		5-12 August 1941	65 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON ON convoys The ON convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Battle of the Atlantic .-History:...  7		21-25 August 1941	38 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
HX 149		13-20 September 1941	57 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
SC SC convoys The SC convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys that ran during the battle of the Atlantic during World War II.They were east-bound slow convoys originating in Sydney, Cape Breton ; from there they sailed to ports in the UK, mainly Liverpool.For a time after the entry of the...  44		20-22 Sept 1941	Newfoundland to Iceland; 4 ships torpedoed & sunk
ON 19A		28 Sept-4 Oct 1941	Iceland shuttle
SC 49		13-21 Oct 1941	31 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 29		28 Oct-5 Nov 1941	31 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 66		23 January-4 February 1942	29 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 64		11-18 February 1942	37 ships escorted without loss from Iceland to Newfoundland
SC 72		10-16 March 1942	19 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Iceland
ON 78		22 March-3 April 1942	27 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...  to Newfoundland
SC 79		15-27 April 1942	53 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 93	MOEF group C3 Mid-Ocean Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...	9-17 May 1942	25 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 85	MOEF group C4 Mid-Ocean Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...	31 May-11 June 1942	60 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 123	MOEF group C1 Mid-Ocean Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...	22-31 August 1942	39 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 99	MOEF group C1	9-19 September 1942	59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 133	MOEF group C1	26 September-5 Oct 1942	35 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 211	MOEF group C1	13-20 October 1942	29 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 143	MOEF group C1	2-11 November 1942	26 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 110	MOEF group C1	24 November-5 December 1942	33 ships escorted without loss from Halifax to Newfoundland
HX 221	MOEF group C3 Mid-Ocean Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and the British Isles...	5-13 January 1943	36 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 163	MOEF group C3	25 January-8 February 1943	38 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 226	MOEF group C3	14-23 Feb 1943	43 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 172	MOEF group C3	10-21 March 1943	16 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 124	MOEF group C3	28 March-6 April 1943	33 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 180	MOEF group C3	25 April-7 May 1943	65 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 238	MOEF group C3	13-21 May 1943	45 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 187		2-10 June 1943	75 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 256		15-21 September 1943	59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS ON convoys The ON convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Battle of the Atlantic .-History:... 19		27 September-9 October 1943	49 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 261		17-25 October 1943	65 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 210		7-17 November 1943	42 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 147		23 November-3 December 1943	50 ships escorted without loss from Halifax to Newfoundland
ON 216		17-29 December 1943	40 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 150		3-14 January 1944	19 ships escorted without loss from Halifax to Newfoundland
ONS 28		29 January-11 February 1944	29 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 279		27-28 February 1944	59 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 227		9-17 March 1944	61 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 284		26 March-5 April 1944	80 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 232		14-23 April 1944	45 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 289		3-13 May 1944	130 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 237		20-29 May 1944	64 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 294		9-19 June 1944	113 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 242		29 June-5 July 1944	99 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 161		19 November-3 December 1944	49 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 38		14 December 1944-2 January 1945	26 ships escorted without loss from Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 358		25 May-6 June 1945	56 ships escorted without loss from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland; the last HX convoy of the war

External links

• Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Ship Technical Information
• Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Photo Archive