HMCS Hochelaga
 HMCS Hochelaga, with a 12-pounder visible forward.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
  Canada | |
| Name | HMCS Hochelaga |
| Builder | Hawthorn & Company, Leith, Scotland |
| Launched | 1900 |
| Acquired | 1914 |
| Commissioned | 13 August 1915 |
| Decommissioned | 31 March 1920 |
| Renamed | HaChayal Ha'Ivri, 1946 |
| Fate | Seized by Royal Navy, 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 628 tons |
| Length | 193 ft (59 m) |
| Beam | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draught | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Armament | 1 12-pounder |
HMCS Hochelaga was a commissioned patrol vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that served in the First World War and postwar until 1920. Hochelaga is a historic name associated with Canada, the voyages of Jacques Cartier, and the city of Motnreal.
Service life
Originally the yacht Waturus, she was acquired by the RCN in 1914. After performing coastguard duties for a number of years, she was sold and became a Pictou-Charlottetown ferry. Sold again in 1942, she was eventually renamed HaChayal Ha'Ivri ("Jewish Soldier") and used in a 1946 attempt to carry Jewish immigrants to Palestine, now known as Israel, at the time controlled by the British. Departing Antwerp on 14 July 1946 and carrying some 550 passengers, she was seized off Haifa by the British destroyer HMS Saumarez.
References
- Converted civilian vessels
- Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Ship Technical Information
- Canadian Navy Heritage Project: Photo Archive
- Ships of the Aliyah Bet