CORVET TYPE FLOWER (HMCS WETASKIWIN / HMC AGASSIZ)

HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) was a Canadian corvette from the Second World War. The keel for this unit was laid in April 1940, the launch took place in July of the same year, and entry into service took place in December 1940. The total length of the ship was 62.5 meters and a width of about 10 meters. Standard displacement reached approx. 940 tons and maximum speed - approx. 16 knots. The ship's armament included: a single 102 mm BL 4inch Mark IX cannon, four 12.7 and 7.7 mm machine guns, a dump and two depth charge launchers. HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) was one of the Flower class gunboats. The ships of this type were designed as units intended primarily for the protection of Allied Atlantic convoys, and their main task was ZOP (anti-submarine combat) activities. Their design was simplified as much as possible, as it was supposed to be suitable for mass production of units even in small shipyards, without adequate experience. Units of this type had an archaic, for the years of World War II, but simple to build, a power plant based on a reciprocating steam engine, and not - which was rather standard then - a steam turbine. During the war, units of this type were modernized - mainly by adding new hydroacoustic devices. One of the units of this class was the HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) which was built in the shipyard Burrard Dry Dock Limited in North Vancouver. After entering the service HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) spent a short time in the Pacific to later (from March 1941) operate in the Atlantic Ocean. In this great body of water, she took part in escorting and convoy service, taking an intensive part in the Battle of the Atlantic. The unit took part, inter alia, in the activities of ZOP, including the escorting of the HX233, HX305 or ON115 convoys. The unit luckily survived the war and in 1946 it was decommissioned and almost immediately sold to Venezuela, where it served until 1962 under the name ARV Victoria (V1).