View source for HMCS Festubert

{{Short description|Royal Canadian Navy vessel}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
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|Ship image= File:HMCS Festubert CN-5079.jpg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption=HMCS ''Festubert'' underway
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|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name= ''Festubert''
|Ship namesake= [[Battle of Festubert]]
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|Ship builder= [[Polson Iron Works Limited|Polson Iron Works]], [[Toronto]]
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|Ship launched=2 August 1917
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|Ship commissioned= 13 November 1917
|Ship recommissioned= 1 May 1923
|Ship decommissioned= 1934
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|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned= 1939
|Ship decommissioned= 17 April 1945
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|Ship fate= Sold 1946, scuttled 30 June 1971
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass2|Battle|trawler|0}} [[naval trawler]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|320|LT|t}}
|Ship length={{convert|130|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=1 x [[triple expansion]], {{convert|480|ihp|abbr=on}}
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|Ship armament=1 × [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]]
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'''HMCS ''Festubert''''' was one of twelve {{sclass2|Battle|trawler|0}} [[naval trawler]]s constructed for and used by the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] (RCN) during the [[World War I|First World War]]. Following the war, ''Festubert'' remained in Canadian service as a [[training ship]] until 1934. Reactivated for the [[World War II|Second World War]], the ship was used as a [[gate vessel]] in the defence of [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] and re-designated '''''Gate Vessel 17'''''. Following the war, the trawler was sold for commercial use and renamed '''''Inverleigh'''''. ''Inverleigh'' was [[Scuttling|scuttled]] off [[Burgeo]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] on 30 June 1971.

==Design and description==
The RCN's Battle-class trawlers formed part of the Canadian naval response to [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] warnings to Canada about the growing German [[U-boat]] [[Atlantic U-boat Campaign (World War I)|threat to merchant shipping]] in the western Atlantic.<ref name=tucker253>Tucker, p. 253</ref> Intended to augment anti-submarine patrols off Canada's east coast, these ships were modelled on contemporary British [[North Sea]] trawlers, since the standard types of Canadian fishing vessels were considered unsuitable for patrol work.<ref>Tucker, pp. 254, 257</ref>

Twelve vessels were ordered on 2 February 1917 from two shipyards, [[Polson Iron Works Limited|Polson Iron Works]] of [[Toronto]] and [[Canadian Vickers]] of [[Montreal]].<ref name=johnston417>Johnston et al., p. 417</ref> Those vessels built at Polson Iron Works [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|320|LT|t|lk=in}} and were {{convert|130|ft|m}} [[Length overall|long overall]] with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|23|ft|5|in|m}} and a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|13|ft|5|in|m}}.<ref name=mac27>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 27</ref> They were propelled by a steam-powered [[triple expansion]] engine driving one shaft creating {{convert|480|ihp|lk=in}} giving the vessels a maximum speed of {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name=johnston417/><ref name=maginley67>Maginley and Collin, p. 67</ref>

All twelve trawlers were equipped with a [[Quick-firing gun|QF]] [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun]] mounted forward.<ref name=mac27/>{{efn|name=gun nomenclature}} This was considered to be the smallest gun that stood a chance of putting a surfaced U-boat out of action, and they also carried a small number of [[depth charge]]s.<ref name=tucker253/><ref name=tucker257>Tucker, p. 257</ref> The trawlers were named after battles of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] during the First World War that Canadians had been involved in. They cost between $155,000 and $160,000 per vessel.<ref name=johnston417/>{{efn|name=inflation}}{{efn|name=cost}}

==Service history==
Built by Polson Iron Works at Toronto, ''Festubert'', named for the [[Battle of Festubert]], was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 2 August 1917.<ref name=mac28>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 28</ref> Intended for use during the 1917 shipping season, the construction of the vessels was delayed by the entry of the United States into the war. With higher wages found south of the border, a shortage of skilled labour developed in the shipyards, coupled with a shortage of construction material.<ref>Johnston et al., pp. 481–484</ref> The trawler was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 13 November 1917.<ref name=mac28/> ''Festubert'' sailed to Halifax following her commissioning for defence of the Atlantic coast of Canada.<ref>Johnston et al., p. 484</ref> For the defence of shipping in Canadian waters in 1918, the entire Battle class was assigned to work out of [[Sydney, Nova Scotia]].<ref>Johnston et al., p. 543</ref> Following the sinking of the merchant vessel ''Luz Blanca'' off Halifax, ''Festubert'' was among the vessels tasked with hunting for the German submarine {{ship|SM|U-156||2}}, which had been operating off the coast of [[Nova Scotia]].<ref>Johnston et al., pp. 635, 643–644, 665</ref>

The ship remained in Canadian service following the end of the war until being [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] in 1920. After being recommissioned on 1 May 1923 as a training ship on the east coast, having been re-designated a [[minesweeper]] in 1922.<ref name=mac28/><ref>Johnston et al., pp. 800–801, 891</ref> With [[sister ship]] {{HMCS|Ypres||2}}, ''Festubert'' trained with the [[destroyer]]s on the east coast until 1934 she was again paid off and was placed in reserve.<ref name=mac28/><ref>Johnston et al., pp. 848, 940</ref> ''Festubert'' was reactivated in 1939 for service as a gate vessel at Halifax. Re-designated ''Gate Vessel 17'' in September,<ref>Colledge, p. 234</ref> the ship collected five survivors after ''Ypres'' was rammed and sunk by the British [[battleship]] {{HMS|Revenge|06|6}} on 12 May 1940.<ref name=mac28/><ref>Darlington and McKee, p. 16</ref> The ship was sold for commercial service in 1946, emerging as ''Inverleigh'' in 1947.<ref name=mac28/><ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=6106657|shipname=Festubert |accessdate=30 August 2016}}</ref> On 30 June 1971 ''Inverleigh'' was scuttled off Burgeo, Newfoundland.<ref name=mac28/>

==References==

===Notes===
{{notes
| notes =
{{efn
| name = cost
| Tucker places the cost at $191,000 (adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|191000|1918}}}})<ref name=tucker257/>
}}
{{efn
| name = inflation
| Adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|155,000|1918}}}} to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|160,000|1918}}}}
}}
{{efn
| name = gun nomenclature
| "Cwt" is the abbreviation for [[hundredweight]], 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
}}
}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Darlington |first=Robert A. |last2=McKee |first2=Fraser |name-list-style=amp |date=1996 |title=The Canadian Naval Chronicle 1939–1945: The Successes and Losses of the Canadian Navy in World War II |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-032-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnston |first=William |last2=Rawling |first2=William G.P. |last3=Gimblett |first3=Richard H. |last4=MacFarlane |first4=John |name-list-style=amp |date=2010 |title=The Seabound Coast: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1867–1939 |volume=1 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55488-908-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Macpherson |first=Ken |last2=Barrie |first2=Ron |name-list-style=amp |date=2002 |title=The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 |edition=Third |publisher=Vanwell Publishing |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-072-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Maginley |first=Charles D. |last2=Collin |first2=Bernard |name-list-style=amp |date=2001 |title=The Ships of Canada's Marine Service |publisher=Vanwell Publishing Limited |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |isbn=1-55125-070-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Gilbert Norman |date=1962 |title=The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History – Volume 1: Origins and Early Years |publisher=King's Printer |location=Ottawa |oclc=840569671}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/battle/ Battle-class trawlers]

{{Battle-class trawler}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Festubert}}
[[Category:Battle-class trawlers]]
[[Category:World War I naval ships of Canada]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Toronto]]