HMCS Saskatoon

There have been 2 vessels named HMCS Saskatoon in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Saskatoon (1st of name) (K158)

Commissioned at Montréal, Quebec, on June 9, 1941, the Flower Class corvette HMCS Saskatoon arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 22. She joined Halifax Force after working up and in August made a trip to the Bahamas, returning at the end of September. She remained on local escort duty until March 1942 and then joined Western Local Escort Force on its formation. She served with this force on the “triangle run” (New York, Boston, Halifax) until the end of the war, becoming a member of Escort Group W-8 when it was established in June 1943 and transferring to W-6 in April 1944.

During her career she had major refits at Halifax from August 11 to November 17, 1942; and at Pictou, Nova Scotia, from mid-December 1943 to April 1, 1944. Following the latter, which included the extension of her forecastle, she worked up for 3 weeks at Pictou and another 3 in Bermuda. She was paid off on June 25, 1945 at Sorel, Quebec, and soon afterward sold for conversion to a merchant vessel. She began her new career as Rio Norte, then the Egyptian-registered Mabruk, and was later taken up by the Egyptian Navy as Misr. She was sunk by collision at Suez, Egypt, on May 17, 1953.

HMCS Saskatoon (2nd of name) (709)

In May 1992, a contract was let to Halifax Shipyards Ltd, Halifax, Nova Scotia, to build 12 Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDV) of the Kingston Class. They were designed to commercial standards and intended to conduct coastal patrols, minesweeping, law enforcement, pollution surveillance and response as well as search and rescue duties. The ships can be fitted with modular payloads to carry out the assigned duties.

Launched on March 30, 1998, HMCS Saskatoon departed Halifax on August 31, 1998, and headed for Esquimalt, British Columbia, via the Panama Canal. She reached the west coast on October 19 and was commissioned on December 5.

Crewed almost entirely by naval reservists, HMCS Saskatoon has served as a training platform for naval reservists from across Canada but has worked in co-operation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Coast Guard and Canada Customs in joint task force operations and exercises. Other taskings conducted by HMCS Saskatoon in support of Canadian Government policy include fisheries and sovereignty patrols.

Motto:Fortis Ceu Leo Fidus” (Brave as a Faithful Lion) 

Battle honours

Atlantic 1942-1945

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