HMCS Battleford

HMCS Battleford was a of the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic. After the war she was sold to the Venezuelan Navy and renamed Libertad.

Background
Flower-class corvettes like Battleford serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The "corvette" designation was created by the French as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877. During the hurried preparations for war in the late 1930s, Winston Churchill reactivated the corvette class, needing a name for smaller ships used in an escort capacity, in this case based on a whaling ship design. The generic name "flower" was used to designate the class of these ships, which – in the Royal Navy – were named after flowering plants.

Corvettes commissioned by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were named after communities for the most part, to better represent the people who took part in building them. This idea was put forth by Admiral Percy W. Nelles. Sponsors were commonly associated with the community for which the ship was named. Royal Navy corvettes were designed as open sea escorts, while Canadian corvettes were developed for coastal auxiliary roles which was exemplified by their minesweeping gear. Eventually the Canadian corvettes would be modified to allow them to perform better on the open seas.

Construction
Battleford was ordered 1 February 1940 from Collingwood Shipyards at Collingwood, Ontario as part of the 1939-1940 Flower-class building program. She was laid down on 30 September 1940, launched on 15 April 1941, and commissioned on 31 July 1941 at Montreal, Quebec. She is named after the town of Battleford, Saskatchewan.

In January 1942, Battleford went for her first refit at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, which took until the end of March to complete. She was sent to Cardiff in early May for further repairs however. In late April 1943 she had a two-month refit and in April 1944, she was sent to Sydney, Nova Scotia for a long refit which involved extending her fo'c'sle.

War service
Battleford escorted trade convoys between Halifax Harbour and the Western Approaches through the Battle of the Atlantic. After commissioning she was briefly part of Sydney Force before transferring to the Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF). Battleford participated in the battle for convoy SC 57 and escorted two other convoys before going in for a refit. After the refit she worked up at Tobermory before her assignment to Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) group C1 in July 1942, which had assumed the duties of the NEF. With group C1, she shared credit for sinking U-356 during the battle for convoy ON 154, and participated in the battles for convoy SC 94, convoy HX 222 and convoy KMS 10G. After leaving group C1 which she had been a part of up to May 1943, Battleford escorted North American coastal convoys with the Western Local Escort Force for the last two years of the war as part of escort group W-3.

Post war service in the Venezuelan Navy
Battleford was paid off at Sorel, Quebec on 18 July 1945. After the war she was one of seven corvettes of the RCN that were sold to the Venezuelan Navy.

The first delivered was HMCS Algoma (K127) which became Constitucion in June 1945, followed by HMCS Kamsack (K171), renamed as Carabobo, which was lost on delivery in December 1945. In 1946 they were followed by Battleford, renamed Libertad, and her sisters HMCS Amherst (K148) renamed Federacion, HMCS Dunvegan (K177) as Independencia, HMCS Oakville (K178) as Patria and HMCS Wetaskiwin (K175) as Victoria.

Libertad was lost on 12 April 1949.