Allied Warships

HMCS Prince Henry (F 70)

Armed Merchant Cruiser of the Prince class

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeArmed Merchant Cruiser
ClassPrince 
PennantF 70 
Built byCammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down17 Jan 1930 
Launched 
Commissioned4 Dec 1940 
End service15 Apr 1945 
History

Conversion to armed merchant cruiser completed on 4 December 1940.
Rebuilt as Landing Ship Infantry LSI(M). Refit started on 6 March 1943 and recommissioned as such on 6 January 1944.
As LSI(M) she was armed with 2 4" AA guns (1x2), 1 40mm AA, 6 20mm AA (6x1).
She carried 2 LCM's, 1 LCS(M) and 5 LCA's or LCP(L)'s and 444 troops.

Decommissioned 15 April 1945.
Sold to the Ministry of Transport and renamed Empire Parkeston.
Scrapped in 1962.

 

Commands listed for HMCS Prince Henry (F 70)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1A/Capt. Ronald Ian Agnew, OBE, RCN4 Dec 194019 Dec 1941
2A/Capt. John Crispo Ingles Edwards, RCN20 Dec 194131 Dec 1942
3A/Capt. Frank Llewellyn Houghton, RCN1 Jan 194318 Mar 1943
4A/Cdr. Edward William Finch-Noyes, RCN19 Mar 194322 Mar 1943
5T/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Kenneth Young, RCNR23 Mar 194323 May 1943
6T/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Douglas Kelly, RCNR24 May 194329 Nov 1943
7Cdr. Kenneth Frederick Adams, RCN30 Nov 194311 Dec 1943
8Capt. Valentine Stuart Godfrey, RCN12 Dec 19436 Apr 1945

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Notable events involving Prince Henry include:


24 Feb 1941
HMS Caradoc (Capt. J.S. Bethell, RN) and HMCS Prince Henry (A/Capt. R.I. Agnew, OBE, RCN) conducted exercises off Kingston, Jamaica. (1)

1 Mar 1941
Around noon, HMS Diomede (Capt. J.W. Farquhar, RN), fuelled from the tanker San Adolfo (7365 GRT, 1935) off Manta, Ecuador.

Diomede's relief on the west coast of South America, the canadian armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince Henry (A/Capt. R.I. Agnew, OBE, RCN) is also present. (2)

1 Sep 1941
In the early evening, the light cruiser HMS Despatch (Commodore 2nd cl. C.E. Douglas-Pennant, DSC, RN) and the armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince Henry (Capt. R.I. Agnew, OBE, RCN) made rendezvous to the west of the Galapagos Islands in approximate position 00°06'S, 94°56'W.

They were to patrol the area in close company to search for a suspected enemy raider that had been operating in the area. (3)

8 Sep 1941
HMCS Prince Henry (Capt. R.I. Agnew, OBE, RCN) rejoined HMS Despatch (Commodore 2nd cl. C.E. Douglas-Pennant, DSC, RN).

They however soon parted company again, HMS Despatch then set course to patrol in the Galapagos Islands area while HMCS Prince Henry set course to the Panama Canal. (4)

13 Apr 1942
HMCS Prince Henry (A/Capt. J.C.I. Edwards, RCN) picks up survivors from the American merchant Delvalle that was torpedoed and sunk the previous day by German U-boat U-154 south of Haiti in position 16°51'N, 72°25'W.

Sources

  1. ADM 53/113816
  2. ADM 53/114119
  3. ADM 53/114077
  4. ADM 53/114078 + ADM 199/402

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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