HMCS Levis (K115)

For other ships of the same name, see HMCS Levis.

HMCS Lévis sinking after being torpedoed, 19 September 1941
Career (Canada)	Royal Canadian Navy
Namesake:	Lévis, Quebec
Builder:	Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon
Laid down:	11 March 1940
Launched:	4 September 1940
Commissioned:	16 May 1941
Decommissioned:	19 September 1941
Identification:	Pennant number: K115
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1941
Fate:	Torpedoed and sunk 19 September 1941 by U-74 while escorting convoy SC-44 east of Cape Farewell at 60-07N, 38-37W. 18 crew killed and 91 rescued.
General characteristics
Class & type:	Flower-class corvette
Displacement:	925 long tons (940 t; 1,036 short tons)
Length:	205 ft (62.48 m)o/a
Beam:	33 ft (10.06 m)
Draught:	11.5 ft (3.51 m)
Propulsion:	single shaft 2 x fire tube Scotch boilers 1 x 4-cycle triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 2,750 ihp (2,050 kW)
Speed:	16 knots (29.6 km/h)
Range:	3,500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement:	85
Sensors and processing systems:	1 x SW1C or 2C radar 1 x Type 123A or Type 127DV sonar
Armament:	1 x BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk.IX gun 2 x .50 cal machine gun (twin) 2 x Lewis .303 cal machine gun (twin) 2 x Mk.II depth charge throwers 2 x depth charge rails with 40 depth charges

HMCS Lévis was a Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvette which took part in convoy escort duties during World War II.

She was laid down at Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd., Lauzon on 11 March 1940 and launched on 4 September of that year. She was commissioned into the RCN on 16 May 1941.

Her first and only commanding officer was Lieutenant Charles Walter Gilding RCNR.

Upon joining the fleet, Lévis was assigned to convoy escort duty in the Northwest Atlantic. Levis was part of the 19th Escort Group escorting convoy SC-44 when she was torpedoed at 0205 local time on 19 September 1941 by U-74 under the command of Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat east of Cape Farewell at position 60°07′N 38°37′W.

The explosion of the torpedo on the port side killed all but 2 of the ratings on the stokers' messdeck. Compartments up to the No. 2 bulkhead were flooded. The surviving crew abandoned ship to Mayflower except for a damage control party of 10 officers and ratings. Mayflower took Lévis under tow for approximately 12 hours, however No. 2 bulkhead was buckled and not watertight and the ship sank at 1710 local time later that day. 91 crew were rescued and 18 were killed as a result of the torpedo attack. Lévis was the first Flower-class corvette to be sunk.

External links

• Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Ship Technical Information
• Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Photo Archive