HMCS Giffard

There has been only 1 vessel named Giffard in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Giffard (K402)

Named for a Quebec village now part of Québec City, the Flower class corvette Giffard was originally laid down as HMS Buddleia for the Royal Navy, but was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and commissioned on November 10, 1943, at Aberdeen, Scotland. After working up at Tobermory, Scotland, Giffard joined Escort Group C-1 at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and on February 15, 1944, sailed to join her first convoy, ON.224.

On May 7, she rescued 49 survivors of the torpedoed frigate HMCS Valleyfield, and the following week, resumed her duties as an ocean escort. On November 27, 1944, she left Halifax for Liverpool, Nova Scotia to undergo a major refit, which was completed in March 1945 and followed by work-ups in Bermuda. Arriving in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on April 15, she was employed locally until her departure on May 13 with convoy HX.335 for the United Kingdom.

Giffard left Greenock, Scotland, in June on her final westward voyage, was paid off July 5, 1945, and laid up at Sorel, Quebec, to await disposal. She was broken up in 1952 in Hamilton, Ontario.

• Builder: Alexander Hall & Co. Ltd., Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Laid down: November 30, 1942
• Launched: June 19, 1943
• Date commissioned: November 10, 1943
• Date paid off: July 5, 1945
• Displacement: 970 tons
• Dimensions: 63.5 m x 10.1 m x 2.9 m
• Speed: 16 knots
• Crew: 85
• Armament: one 4-inch (102-mm) gun, four 20-mm guns (2 single mounts, 1 double mount), one Hedgehog mortar, and depth charges.

Battle honours

• Atlantic 1944