History
United Kingdom
Name	Crescent
Ordered	30 January 1930
Builder	Vickers-Armstrongs,Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down	1 December 1930
Launched	29 September 1931
Completed	15 April 1932
Commissioned	21 April 1932
Fate	Sold toRoyal Canadian Navy, 20 October 1936
Canada
Name	Fraser
Namesake	Fraser River
Acquired	20 October 1936
Commissioned	17 February 1937
Identification	Pennant number H48
Honours & awards	Atlantic 1939-40
Fate	Sunk in a collision withHMS Calcutta, 25 June 1940
General characteristics as built
Class & type	C-classdestroyer
Displacement	1,375 long tons (1,397 t) (standard) 1,865 long tons (1,895 t) (deep)
Length	329 ft (100.3 m)o/a
Beam	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught	12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Installed power	36,000 shp (27,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts 2 ×Parsons gearedsteam turbines 3 × Admiralty 3-drumboilers
Speed	36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	145
Armament	4 × 1 -QF 4.7-inch Mk IX guns 1 × 1 -QF 3-inch 20 cwtanti-aircraft gun 2 × 1 -QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns 2 × 4 -21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes 6 ×depth charges, 3 chutes

HMSCrescent was aC-classdestroyer which was built for theRoyal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to theHome Fleet, although she was temporarily deployed in theRed Sea andIndian Ocean during theAbyssinia Crisis of 1935–36.Crescent was sold to theRoyal Canadian Navy in late 1936 and renamed HMCSFraser. She was stationed on the west coast of Canada until the beginning ofWorld War II when she was transferred to theAtlantic coast for convoy escort duties. The ship was transferred to the United Kingdom (UK) in May 1940 and helped to evacuate refugees from France upon her arrival in early June.Fraser was sunk on 25 June 1940 in a collision with theanti-aircraft cruiserHMS Calcutta while returning from one such mission.

Crescent displaced 1,375 long tons (1,397 t) atstandard load and 1,865 long tons (1,895 t) atdeep load. The ship had anoverall length of 329 feet (100.3 m), abeam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and adraught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). She was powered byParsons gearedsteam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 36,000shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drumwater-tube boilers.Crescent carried a maximum of 473 long tons (481 t) offuel oil that gave her a range of 5,500nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 145 officers and men.^[1]

The ship mounted four 45-calibre4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Foranti-aircraft (AA) defence,Crescent had a singleQF 3-inch 20 cwt^{[Note 1]} AA gun between herfunnels, and two 40-millimetre (1.6 in)QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns mounted on the aft end of herforecastle deck. The 3-inch (76 mm) AA gun was removed in 1936 and the 2-pounders were relocated to between the funnels. She was fitted with two above-water quadrupletorpedo tube mounts for21-inch torpedoes.^[2] Three depth-charge chutes were fitted, each with a capacity of twodepth charges. After World War II began this was increased to 33 depth charges, delivered by one or two rails and two throwers.^[3]

Crescent was ordered on 30 January 1930 as part of the 1929 Naval Programme and laid down on 1 December 1930 atVickers-Armstrongs,Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched on 29 September 1931 and completed on 15 April 1932.^[4]

After the ship commissioned on 21 April 1932, she was assigned to the2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet.Crescent collided with hersisterHMS Comet atChatham on 21 July and was under repair until 27 August.Crescent was refitted at Chatham between 30 March and 6 May 1933, before deploying to theWest Indies between January and March 1934. She was given another refit at Chatham from 27 July to 3 September 1934.Crescent was detached from the Home Fleet during the Abyssinian Crisis, and deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea from September 1935 to April 1936. When the ship returned, she was refitted at Sheerness between 23 April to 13 June and placed briefly in reserve.^[5]

Together with her sisterHMS Cygnet,Crescent was sold to Canada on 20 October 1936 for a total price of £400,000. She was refitted again to meet Canadian standards, including the installation ofASDIC (sonar), and taken over by them on 1 February 1937. The ship was renamed as HMCSFraser and commissioned into the RCN at Chatham on 17 February.Fraser was assigned to the Canadian Pacific Coast and arrived atEsquimalt on 3 May 1937. She remained there until she was ordered to the East Coast on 31 August 1939.^[6]

When World War II began on 3 September,Fraser was transiting thePanama Canal and arrived atHalifax on 15 September. She and her sisters were employed as local escorts to ocean convoys sailing from Halifax. In November the Royal Navy'sNorth America and West Indies Station took operational control of the Canadian destroyers.^[6] The ship escorted the convoy bringing most of the1st Canadian Infantry Division to Britain part way across theNorth Atlantic in mid-December.^[7] In March 1940 she was ordered to join the Jamaica Force for Caribbean patrols^[6] before being reassigned to Western Approaches Command two months later.^[1] On 26 May she leftBermuda for Britain and arrived atPlymouth on 3 June where she was pressed into service evacuatingAllied troops from various French ports on the Atlantic coast.^[6] Sometime in 1940, the ship's aft set of torpedo tubes was removed and replaced by a 4-inch (102 mm) AA gun.^[1]

On 25 June 1940,Fraser, her sisterHMCS Restigouche, and the cruiserCalcutta were returning fromSt. Jean de Luz after rescuing refugees trapped by theGerman Army (Operation Aerial), whenFraser was rammed byCalcutta in theGironde estuary. Struck forward of thebridge by the cruiser's bow,Fraser was cut in half and sank immediately. All but 45 of the ship's crew were rescued byRestigouche and other nearby ships. Many of the survivors fromFraser transferred that later summer toHMCS Margaree, and were lost when that vessel sank on 22 October 1940 as a result of a collision with the freighterMVPort Fairy.^[8]

• Douglas, W. A. B.; Sarty, Roger; Michael Whitby; Robert H. Caldwell; William Johnston; William G. P. Rawling (2002).No Higher Purpose. The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939–1943. Vol. 2, pt. 1. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell.ISBN 1-55125-061-6.
• English, John (1993).Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society.ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2009).British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998).British & Commonwealth Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988).Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

• Canadian Navy Heritage Project: HMCSFraser

45°45′N1°30′W / 45.750°N 1.500°W /45.750; -1.500

• Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
• 1931 ships
• C and D-class destroyers
• Canadian River-class destroyers converted from C and D-class destroyers
• Canadian River-class destroyers
• Maritime incidents in June 1940
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• Maritime incidents in France

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