HMCS Regina

There have been 2 vessels named HMCS Regina in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Regina (1st of name) (K234)

The Flower Class corvette HMCS Regina arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on January 6, and was commissioned on January 22, 1942. She served with Western Local Escort Force until September, when she was reassigned to Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa. In November after a refit, she was employed as escort to United Kingdom-Mediterranean convoys. On February 8, 1943, she sank the Italian submarine Avorio in the western Mediterranean. After another refit in Canada, HMCS Regina joined Escort Group C-1 in February 1944. At the beginning of March, she left Argentia, Newfoundland, for the United Kingdom, but fouled her screw while fuelling and was towed into Horta, Azores, by the rescue ship Dundee, escorted by the corvette HMCS Valleyfield. Arriving in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, toward the end of March, HMCS Regina was assigned to Western Approaches Command for invasion duties. She was employed as an escort to English Channel and coastal convoys until August 8, 1944, when she was torpedoed and sunk off Trevose Head, Cornwall, by U-667. Thirty of her ship’s company was lost.

HMCS Regina (2nd of name) (334)

The Halifax Class frigate HMCS Regina was commissioned on September 30, 1994, at Esquimalt, British Columbia. On May 10, 1995, she departed for exercises with Southeast Asian naval units. In 1996, HMCS Regina again headed for the western Pacific, this time to exercise with ships of the Japanese, Russian, Korean and Philippine navies. In the course of this deployment, she made a call at Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, the first North American warship to do so since the end of the Vietnam War. In 1997, she sailed to join an American carrier battle group in the enforcement of trade sanctions against Iraq. In the summer of 1999, she was back in the Arabian Gulf on the same mission, this time with the USS Constellation Battle Group. She was once again deployed in 2003, this time as part of Operation APOLLO in support of coalition military operations in Afghanistan. In 2005, she was awarded the Saskatchewan Centennial Commemorative Medal from the Lieutenant Governor as recognition for her outstanding contribution made towards the promotion of the City of Regina and the province of Saskatchewan, both in Canada and abroad. In 2006, she participated in the Pacific rim countries naval Exercise RIMPAC, followed by a goodwill tour of Northeast Asia called Westploy. In 2007, she departed for Panama to join in a joint multinational exercise designed to strengthen the naval interoperability of nations that have security interests in the Panama Canal. HMCS Regina continues to conduct operations in support of Canada’s domestic and international policies.

Motto: “Floreat Regina” (Let Regina Flourish)

Battle honours

• Atlantic 1942-1944
• Mediterranean 1943
• Normandy 1944
• English Channel 1944