HMCS Alberni

HMCS Alberni, circa 1943-1944
History
Canada
Name	Alberni
Namesake	Alberni, British Columbia
Ordered	14 February 1940
Builder	Yarrows Ltd., Esquimalt
Laid down	29 April 1940
Launched	22 August 1940
Commissioned	4 February 1941
Identification	Pennant number: K103
Honours and awards	Atlantic 1941-44; Normandy 1944; North Sea 1944
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk on 21 August 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Flower-class corvette
Displacement	950 long tons (970 t)
Length	205 ft 1 in (62.51 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft 1 in (10.08 m)
Draught	13 ft 5 in (4.09 m)
Propulsion	Single shaft 2 × fire tube Scotch boilers 1 × 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 2,800 ihp (2,100 kW)
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	85
Sensors and processing systems	1 × SW1C or 2C radar 1 × Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament	1 × BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mk.IX single gun 2 × single .50 cal machine guns 2 × single Lewis .303 cal machine guns 2 × Mk.II depth charge throwers 2 × depth charge rails with 40 depth charges Fitted with minesweeping gear

HMCS Alberni was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. The Flower-class corvettes were warships designed for anti-submarine warfare. The ship was constructed by Yarrows Ltd. in Esquimalt, British Columbia, laid down on 19 April 1940, launched on 22 August and commissioned on 4 February 1941. The corvette sailed east to join the RCN's fleet in the Atlantic via the Panama Canal, where upon arrival, the vessel began escorting trans-atlantic convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. Alberni took part in the key convoy battle of Convoy SC 42. In 1942, the corvette was transferred to Allied convoy assignments associated with Operation Torch in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1944, Alberni was among the Canadian naval vessels assigned to Operation Neptune, the naval component of the invasion of Normandy and escorted support ships to and from the United Kingdom on D-day.

On 21 August 1944, while performing an anti-submarine patrol east of the D-day landing site, Alberni was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-480. The ship sank quickly and 59 sailors were killed, with the remaining crew being rescued by Royal Navy motor torpedo boats. A maritime museum in Courtenay, British Columbia now honours the name of the ship and its dead.