HMCS St. Eloi

The RCN's Battle-class trawlers formed part of the Canadian naval response to Admiralty warnings to Canada about the growing German U-boat threat to merchant shipping in the western Atlantic.Tucker, p. 253 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.Tucker, pp. 254, 257

Twelve vessels were ordered on 2 February 1917 from two shipyards, Polson Iron Works of Toronto and Canadian Vickers of Montreal.Johnston et al., p. 417 Those vessels built at Polson Iron Works displaced {{convert|320|LT|t|lk=in}} and were {{convert|130|ft|m}} long overall with a beam of {{convert|23|ft|5|in|m}} and a draught of {{convert|13|ft|5|in|m}}.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 27 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}}.Maginley and Collin, p. 67

All twelve trawlers were equipped with a QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun mounted forward.{{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 charges.Tucker, p. 257 The trawlers were named after battles of the Western Front during the First World War that Canadians had been involved in. They cost between $155,000 and $160,000 per vessel.{{efn|name=inflation}}{{efn|name=cost}}

Named after the Action of the St. Eloi Craters, the trawler was built by Polson Iron Works at Toronto, Ontario, and was launched on 2 August 1917.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 30 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.Johnston et al., pp. 481–484 St. Eloi was commissioned on 13 November 1917.

St. Eloi sailed to the east coast where for the 1918 shipping season, all the Battle-class trawlers were assigned to patrol and escort duties based out of Sydney, Nova Scotia.Johnston et al., pp. 543, 645 Following the sinking of the merchant vessel Luz Blanca off Halifax, Nova Scotia, St. Eloi, {{HMCS|Armentières||2}} and {{HMCS|Festubert||2}} were tasked with hunting for the German submarine {{ship|SM|U-156||2}}, which had been operating off the coast of Nova Scotia.Johnston et al., pp. 635, 643–644, 665 The Battle class was used for patrol and escort duties off the Atlantic coast of Canada until the end of the war.Johnston et al., p. 645

The trawler remained in RCN service until being paid off in 1920. St. Eloi was turned over to the Department of Marine and Fisheries and, like sister ships {{HMCS|Messines||2}}, {{HMCS|St. Julien||2}}, and {{HMCS|Vimy||2}}, was converted to a lightvessel.Maginley and Collin, p. 113 This involved placing an electric light at the foremast head and installing a foghorn atop a latticework tower. The ship was re-designated Lightship No. 20 and remained as such until 1940. Returned to the RCN in 1940, St. Eloi became a gate vessel, designated Gate Vessel 12, and spent part of the war at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Handed over to the Department of Transport (the successor department of the Department of Marine and Fisheries) in June 1945, St. Eloi was ultimately disposed of in 1962.Colledge, p. 550

{{notes

| notes =

{{efn

| name = cost

| Tucker places the cost at $191,000 (adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} dollars, ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|CA|191000|1918}}}})

}}

{{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.

}}

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{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}}

• [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/battle/ Battle-class trawlers]

{{Battle-class trawler}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Eloi}}

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