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NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy |
DESTROYER ARCHIVE |
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Size | Image Description | Contributed By |
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84k | George Bancroft 3 October 1800 - 17 January 1891) was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845. Digital ID: cwpbh 02618, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. | Bill Gonyo | ||
54k | Underway circa 1940, location unknown. | Cal Emerson/Robert Hurst | ||
On Canadian Service |
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Commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy at Halifax on 24 September 1940, HMCS St Francis served as a local escort until January 1941 when she arrived on the Clyde for refit and subsequent work up at Tobermory, finally completing in early April 1941 to join 4th Escort Group. with which she served until mid-July 1941 when she went to Pictou for refit. During the intervening period she escorted a number of convoys, and rescued the crew of Starcross on 20 May. During the Pictou refit, the after boiler and funnel was removed to provide an increased bunker capacity of 470 tons, and she also had her bridge rebuilt. It is not clear if the choice of No.4 bolier was dictated by damage, as in HMCS Annapolis, or by the experience gained from that ship's alterations. The USN also removed No.4 boiler room in some ships for a similar reason, whereas the RN in their three Town conversions favoured the forward boilers. Joining NEF on completion of refit in October 1941, HMCS St Francis was widely employed in the North Atlantic, refitting at Londonderry from Mid-September to mid-November 1942 and at Halifax from 1 December 1942 to 16 April 1943. In April 1943 she joined C2 Group for a brief period, and then repaired at Halifax in July 1943 after which she joined 9th Escort group and then WEF. Taken in hand with defects at Shelburne in late October 1943, she was surveyed and assigned as static depot ship to the shore establishment HMCS Cornwallis in February 1944, in which capacity she remained until 1 April 1945 when she was turned over to the Crown War Assets Disposal Commission. Sold to Frankel Bros. for breaking up, she was wrecked in tow after a collision with Winding Gulf on 14 July 1945, while en route to the breaker's yard. Her consort on that occasion was HMCS Hamilton; some reports indicate that it may have been that ship which was lost, certainly one flush decker lies wrecked as a result of the incident. (Foreign service history thanks to Robert Hurst) | ||||
17k | Undated, location unknown. Courtesy of http://www.readyayeready.com. | Robert Hurst | ||
59k | HMCS St. Francis (ex-USS Bancroft, DD-256) early in her war service with mainmast reduced to a stump, shortened funnels, a modified bridge, radar Type 286 and the usual 12pdr aft and the loss of the after tubes. | Robert Hurst | ||
42k | HMCS St. Francis after completing her conversion to a Long Range Escort between July and October 1941. | Robert Hurst |
LCDR Harvey Shadle Haislip Jun 30 1919 - Sep 11 1921 ENS Charles Meredith Abson Sep 11 1921 - Jul 11 1922 (Decommissioned July 24 1922 - December 18 1939) LT Ernest St. Clair Von Kleeck Jr. Dec 18 1939 - May 31 1940 LT Walter Paul Schoeni May 31 1940 - Jul 6 1940 (Later RADM) LCDR Harry Fanker Miller Jul 6 1940 - Sep 24 1940 (Later RADM)
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