HMCS Moncton 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...

.

Construction

She was ordered on 24 January 1940 from St. John Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

Saint John Shipbuilding

Saint John Shipbuilding was a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Saint John, New Brunswick. It operated from 1923-2003.-History:Numerous shipyards were located on the shores of Courtney Bay in the east end of Saint John Harbour where extensive mud flats dried at low tide.In 1918 it was...

, Saint John

Saint John, New Brunswick

City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

 and laid down on 17 December 1940. She was launched on 11 August 1941 and commissioned into the RCN on 24 April 1942. She is named after Moncton, New Brunswick.

Moncton was the last of the RCN's original 64 Flower-class orders to be completed and her construction had been significantly delayed due to heavy demands on her builder for priority repair work on war-damaged ships.

Wartime service

Following her commissioning, Moncton sailed to Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 and was assigned to Atlantic Coast Command (AT) but unallocated as she was fitting out and performing sea trials for the remainder of April. In May she began work-ups with her new crew out of Halifax and she joined the RCN's Atlantic Fleet on 12 May 1942. Another highlight for Moncton in 1942 was conducting training with (an as yet anonymous) British submarine off Halifax.

From June 1942 to June 1943, Moncton was tasked to Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) for convoy escort operations. During her assignment to WLEF, Moncton participated in the escort of the following convoys
In June 1943, WLEF was divided into separate escort groups and Moncton was tasked to EG W5 (HQ in Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

) during June-July. Moncton collided with merchant Jamaica Producer on 28 July 1943. From August-September 1943 Moncton underwent repairs at Dartmouth Marine Slips, Dartmouth

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Dartmouth founded in 1750, is a community and planning area of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes after the large number of lakes located in the city.On April 1, 1996, the provincial...

. She returned to EG W5 and operated in convoy escort operations from October-December.

Moncton was transferred to the RCN's Pacific Fleet in January 1944 and departed for Esquimalt

Esquimalt, British Columbia

The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquimalt Harbour and Royal Roads, to the northwest by the...

, via Guantanamo Bay, Cristóbal

Cristóbal, Colón

Cristóbal is a port in the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. It is located on the western edge of Manzanillo Island and is part of the Panamanian city and province of Colón...

, Balboa

Balboa, Panama

Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.- History :The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador credited with discovering the Pacific Ocean...

 and San Pedro

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...

.

Upon her arrival, she was tasked to the Esquimalt Force (unallocated) and underwent an extensive refit at Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 from 5 May - 7 July, 1944 where her forecastle

Forecastle

Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

 was extended and she was brought into line with the modified Flower-class design. From July 1944 to December 1945 she was tasked to Pacific Coast Command (unallocated).

Following V-J Day, she was placed in reserve status at Esquimalt and decommissioned from the RCN on 12 December 1945, the last of the first batch of Flower class corvettes to serve the Navy as an active warship.

Convoy list

This is a list of the convoys that Moncton escorted:

• Convoy SC.87 (Jun 1942: Sydney CB - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.103 (Jun 1942: Liverpool - Boston)
• Convoy SC.90 (Jul 1942: Sydney CB - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.109 (Jul 1942: Liverpool - Halifax)
  
• Convoy SC.93 (Jul 1942: Sydney CB - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.114 (Jul 1942: Liverpool - Dispersed)
  
• Convoy BX.32 (Aug 1942: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy BX.32B (Aug 1942: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy BX.35 (Aug 1942: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy HX.203 (Aug 1942: Halifax - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.121 (12 Aug 1942: Liverpool - Dispersed)
  
• Convoy BX.35B (Aug 1942: Boston - Halifax)
• Convoy ON.127 (Sep 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy SC.99 (Sep 1942: Halifax - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.128 (Sep 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy SC.103 (Sep 1942: NYC - Liverpool)
• Convoy ON.135 (Oct 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy ON.137 (Oct 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy ON.142 (Oct 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
• Convoy SC.108 (Nov 1942: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy HX.214 (Nov 1942: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.145 (Nov 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
• Convoy ON.150 (Dec 1942: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy SC.112 (Dec 1942: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy HX.218 (Dec 1942: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy HX.221 (Dec 1942: NYC - Liverpool)
• Convoy HX.222 (Jan 1943: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.158 (Jan 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy ON.160 (Jan 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
• Convoy HX.226 (Feb 1943: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.167 (Feb 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy SC.120 (Feb 1943: NYC - Liverpool)
• Convoy ON.174 (Mar 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy SC.124 (Mar 1943: NYC - Liverpool)
• Convoy BX.44 (Apr 1943: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy BX.46 (Apr 1943: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy XB.48 (Apr 1943: Halifax - Boston)
  
• Convoy XB.44 (Apr 1943: Halifax - Boston)
  
• Convoy XB.46 (Apr 1943: Halifax - Boston)
  
• Convoy BX.44 (Apr 1943: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy BX.46 (Apr 1943: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy XB.44 (Apr 1943: Halifax - Boston)
  
• Convoy XB.46 (Apr 1943: Halifax - Boston)
• Convoy BX.48 (May 1943: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy XB.55 (May 1943: Halifax - Boston)
  
• Convoy BX.48 (May 1943: Boston - Halifax)
  
• Convoy ONS.7 (May 1943: Liverpool - Halifax)
  
• Convoy SC.130 (May 1943: Halifax - Liverpool)
• Convoy ON.190 (Jun 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy ONS.10 (Jun 1943: Liverpool - Halifax)
  
• Convoy SC.133 (Jun 1943: Halifax - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy XB.60 (Jun 1943: Halifax - Cape Cod Canal)
• Convoy ON.193 (Jul 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
  
• Convoy HX.248 (Jul 1943: NYC - Liverpool)
• Convoy ON.210 (Nov 1943: Liverpool - NYC)
• Convoy HX.269 (Dec 1943: NYC - Liverpool)
  
• Convoy ON.214 (Dec 1943: Liverpool - NYC)

The information for the convoys was obtained from two of the links below:

www.convoyweb.org.uk/ and www.warsailors.com

Commanding officers

Moncton had 6 commanding officers during her service in the RCN:

• Lt. Cdr. Albert Robert Ernmest Coleman, RCNR (24 April 1942 – 11 October 1942)
• Lt. Aubrey Winston Ford, RCNR (12 October 1942 – 3 February 1944)
• Lt. Cdr. A.T. Morrell, RCNR (4 March 1944 – 3 April 1944)
• Lt. Cdr. Ronald Joel Roberts, RCNR (4 April 1944 – 26 January 1945)
• Lt. William McCombe, RCNR (27 January 1945 – 26 June 1945)
• Lt. Cdr. Cecil Gault Trotter, RCNR (27 June 1945 – 12 December 1945)

Crew commendations

• Lt. D. Logie, RCNVR, mentioned in dispatches for his leadership as acting executive officer while in charge of damage control party following collision with Jamaica Producer.

• D.R. D'Aubin, RCNVR, an engine room artificer (fourth class) awarded the British Empire Medal
  British Empire Medal
  The Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service, usually known as the British Empire Medal , is a British medal awarded for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown...
  
   (BEM) for his leadership among the engine room personnel who were successful in raising steam to reach port following collision with Jamaica Producer.

Civilian service

Moncton was sold by Crown Assets in 1955 into mercantile service and was re-flagged under the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 as the whaling ship Willem Vinke. She was scrapped in 1966 at Santander, Cantabria

Santander, Cantabria

The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, in 1966.