HMCS Moose Jaw was a 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...

  which took part in convoy escort duties 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...

, and together with achieved the RCN's first U-boat kill of the war.

She was laid down at Collingwood Shipyards Ltd., Collingwood

Collingwood, Ontario

Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay.-History:...

 on 12 August 1940 and launched on 9 April 1941. She was commissioned into the RCN two months later on 19 June.

Wartime service

• On 10 September 1941, Moose Jaw along with sank by depth charges and ramming in the Denmark Strait
  Denmark Strait
  The Denmark Strait or Greenland Strait |Sound]]) is an oceanic strait between Greenland and Iceland...
  
   south of Tasiilaq
  Tasiilaq
  Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...
  
  , Greenland
  Greenland
  Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
  
  .

• On 11 September 1941 Moose Jaw and rescued 41 survivors from the British merchant ship Berury, which had been torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine east of Cape Farewell
  Cape Farewell, Greenland
  Cape Farewell , is a headland on the southern shore of Egger Island, Greenland. Located at it is the southernmost extent of Greenland, projecting out into the North Atlantic Ocean and the Labrador Sea on the same latitude as Stockholm and the Scottish Shetland Islands. Egger and the associated...
  
  , Greenland.

• On 9 January 1942 Moose Jaw ran aground off the south entrance of St. John's
  St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
  St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
  
   Harbour, Newfoundland
  Dominion of Newfoundland
  The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
  
  . She underwent temporary repairs at St. John's until 5 March 1942, then left for 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...
  
  , New Brunswick
  New Brunswick
  New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
  
   for permanent repairs, which lasted until 25 June 1942.

• On 28 February 1945 Moose Jaw rescued six survivors from the British merchant ship Norfolk Coast, which was torpedoed and sunk by south-west of Strumble Head
  Strumble Head
  Strumble Head is a rocky headland in north Pembrokeshire, Wales.It gives its name to Strumble Head Lighthouse and Strumble VOR, a way point in many trans-atlantic flights....
  
  .

Moose Jaw was decommissioned from the RCN on 8 July 1945 and scrapped in September 1949 in Canada.

Quote

"Because the U-boats were operating against a slow-moving target it was to their advantage to break wireless silence in order to call in a gaggle of their friends and mount what they called a wolf-pack attack. Their system of attack was to concentrate ahead of the convoy at nightfall and allow the convoy to come to them while they saved the charge in their batteries. In one very serious battle, that connected with the convoy SC 42, it happened that two of my Newfoundland vessels had a week to spare and they were allowed to go on a training jaunt along the possible convoy routes in the vicinity of the East coast of Greenland, where U-boats were liable to be found, and by good luck, were in a position to reinforce the escort group involved. They joined the Convoy just at late dusk, coming down from ahead. In fact they came from outside the position of the U-boats waiting to attack. The U-boats had no eyes for anything but the Convoy ahead and did not expect attack from behind them. In this way the “Chambly” and “Moose Jaw” killed the RCN’s first U-boat” - Leonard W. Murray

Leonard W. Murray

Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray, CB, CBE was a officer of the Royal Canadian Navy who played a significant role in the Battle of the Atlantic. He commanded the Newfoundland Escort Force from 1941–1943, and from 1943 to the end of the war was Commander-in-Chief, Canadian Northwest Atlantic...

, Commander-in-Chief, Canadian Northwest Atlantic, 1943-1945

External links

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