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Allied Warships

HMCS Chilliwack (K 131)

Corvette of the Flower class

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeCorvette
ClassFlower 
PennantK 131 
Built byBurrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd. (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) 
Ordered14 Feb, 1940 
Laid down3 Jul, 1940 
Launched14 Sep, 1940 
Commissioned8 Apr, 1941 
End service14 Jul, 1945 
Loss position
 
HistoryFo'c's'le extended at Dartmouth (Nova Scotia, Canada) on 10 October 1943.

Chilliwack along with HMCS Hamilton and several other Canadian corvettes escorting Convoy HX 280, depth charged to the surface U-744, which was scuttled by her crew. A number of submariners were rescued by Chilliwack before U-744 sunk.

Decommissioned 14 July 1945.
Sold 5 October 1945.
Broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1946.

Commanding Officers:
Lt. Leslie Lewendon Foxall, RCNR
Promoted to A/Lt.Cdr. on 1 July 1942
31 March 1941 - 25 May 1943

A/Lt.Cdr. Clifton Rexford Coughlin, RCNVR
26 May 1943 - 11 April 1944

Lt. Douglas Rannie Watson, RCNR
Promoted to A/Lt.Cdr. on 1 January 1945
12 April 1944 - 14 July 1945 


Noteable events involving Chilliwack include:

27 Dec, 1942
The German submarine U-356 was sunk in the North Atlantic north of the Azores, in position 43º30'N, 25º40'W, by depth charges from the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent (A/Cdr. G.S. Windeyer, RCN) and the Canadian corvettes HMCS Chilliwack (A/Lt.Cdr. L.L. Foxall, RCNR), HMCS Battleford (Lt. F.A. Beck, RCNVR) and HMCS Napanee (Lt. S. Henderson, RCNR). (see map)

23 Feb, 1943
HMCS Chilliwack (A/Lt.Cdr. L.L. Foxall, RCNR) picks up 53 survivors from the American merchant Hastings that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-186 in the North Atlantic in position 46º30'N, 36º23'W.

6 Mar, 1944
After unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port the German submarine U-744 was sunk at 1830hrs on 6 March 1944 in the North Atlantic, in position 52º01'N, 22º37'W, after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. R. Dyer, RN). U-744 was attacked for over 30 hours by depth charges from HMS Icarus, the Canadian frigate HMCS St. Catharines (Cdr. P.W. Burnett, DSC, RN), Canadian corvettes HMCS Fennel (Lt. W.P. Moffat, RCNVR), HMCS Chilliwack (A/Lt.Cdr. C.R. Coughlin, RCNVR), Canadian destroyers HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN), HMCS Gatineau (A/Lt.Cdr. H.V.W. Groos, RCN) and the British corvette HMS Kenilworth Castle (Lt. J.J.Allon, RNR). (see map)


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