Navy | The Royal Canadian Navy |
Type | Armed Merchant Cruiser |
Class | Prince |
Pennant | F 89 |
Built by | Cammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, U.K.) |
Ordered | |
Laid down | 12 Feb 1930 |
Launched | |
Commissioned | 28 Dec 1940 |
End service | 11 Jun 1945 |
History | Conversion to armed merchant cruiser completed on 28 December 1940. Decommissioned 11 June 1945. |
Commands listed for HMCS Prince David (F 89)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
Commander | From | To | |
1 | T/Cdr. William Barclay Armit, RCNR | 28 Dec 1940 | 24 Mar 1941 |
2 | Cdr. Kenneth Frederick Adams, RCN | 25 Mar 1941 | 1 Dec 1941 |
3 | A/Capt. Valentine Stuart Godfrey, RCN | 2 Dec 1941 | 18 Mar 1942 |
4 | T/Lt. Thomas Douglas Kelly, RCNR | 19 Mar 1942 | 16 Apr 1942 |
5 | A/Capt. Valentine Stuart Godfrey, RCN | 17 Apr 1942 | 17 Apr 1943 |
6 | T/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Douglas Kelly, RCNR | 18 Apr 1943 | 11 Jun 1945 |
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Notable events involving Prince David include:
16 Apr 1941
HMS Caradoc (Capt. J.S. Bethell, RN) arrived at Barbedos.
She departed to patrol east of Martinue later the same day to relieve HMCS Prince David (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN) which she did around 0545Q/17. (1)
11 May 1941
HMS Caradoc (Capt. J.S. Bethell, RN) and HMCS Prince David (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN) both departed Port of Spain, Trinidad to establish a patrol about 200 nautical miles to the east of Martinique. The object of the patrol was to intercept an enemy raider or a laden Vichy-French merchant vessel proceeding from the French West Indies to France of French North Africa. (2)
21 May 1941
HMS Diomede (Capt. J.W. Farquhar, RN) intercepted the Vichy-French tanker Shéhérazade (13467 GRT, built 1935) about 800 nautical miles east-south-east of Bermuda in position 29°37'N, 49°16'W.
The Canadian armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince David (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN) which had also been ordered to search for the tanker arrived at the spot about two hours later. (3)
8 Jul 1941
HMS Despatch (Commodore 2nd cl. C.E. Douglas-Pennant, DSC, RN) and HMCS Prince David (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN) both arrived at St. Lucia from patrol. (4)
27 Aug 1941
HMS Rodney (Capt. J.W. Rivett-Carnac, DSC, RN) departed Bermuda as a possible German warship (thought to be a Hipper-class cruiser) was reported in the North Atlantic, in position 34°30'N, 51°47'W, steering 140° at 25 knots, by the Canadian armed merchant cruiser HMCS Prince David (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN). HMS Rodney was ordered to proceed to position 25°00'N, 40°00'W to try to intercept. (5)
15 Sep 1941
Around 1430P/10, HMS Newcastle (Capt. E.A. Aylmer, DSC, RN), parted company in position 34°58'N, 46°30'W, with the troopship Durban Castle (17388 GRT, built 1938) and the armed merchant cruisers Queen of Bermuda (Capt. A.T.G.C. Peachey, RN) and HMCS Prince David (Cdr. K.F. Adams, RCN).
HMCS Prince David had joined them at 1100P/10.
HMS Newcastle then set course for Bermuda while the other ships continued their passage towards the U.K. (6)
Sources
- ADM 53/113818 + ADM 199/402
- ADM 53/113819 + ADM 199/402
- ADM 53/114121
- ADM 53/114076 + ADM 199/402
- ADM 53/115030 + ADM 199/402
- ADM 53/114789 + ADM 53/114922 + ADM 199/402
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.