HMCS CH-14

HMCS CH-14 was an H class submarine used by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1919. She was originally built for the Royal Navy as HMS H-14 in 1915. CH-14 was scrapped in 1927.

Royal Navy Service
HMS H-14 was ordered in December 1914 and completed at the Fore River Yard in Quincy, Massachusetts in December 1915 in the then-neutral United States. When the US government discovered the construction, they impounded H-14 and her completed sister ships, only releasing them following their own declaration of war two years later. H-14 was launched in 1917. She saw service with the Royal Navy in Bermuda.

On 15 April 1918, H-14 departed Bermuda for the Azores in a group that consisted of some 40 Allied ships led by USS Salem (CL-3). Shortly after leaving port, H-14 collided with the oiler USS Arethusa (AO-7), necessitating a return to Bermuda. H-14 was towed back to Bermuda by USS Conestoga (AT-54) on 18 April.

In February 1919 the Royal Navy presented H-14 and her sister ship, HMS H-15 to the Royal Canadian Navy where they were renamed HMCS CH-14 and CH-15, respectively.

Royal Canadian Navy Service
CH-14 was commissioned in Halifax in June 1919. The CH class was used to replace the CC class submarines. Like the CC class subs, the H class did not last long and was paid off on 30 June 1922. She was scrapped in 1927.

The RCN did not acquire any more submarines until after World War II.

On the 12th and 13th May 1945, U-190 and U-889 formally surrendered at sea to ships of the RCN, war having ended days earlier. Both were large IX C Type, built at Bremen in 1942 (U-190) and 1944 (U-889). They were almost immediately commissioned into the RCN for testing and evaluations.