H.M.C.S. Prince Henry
F.70
1939
(Albatros ALK-126)
- Class: Armed Merchant Cruiser
- Displacement: 6,983 gross tons
- Dimensions: 385 x 57 x 19.5 ft.
- Machinery: 2-shaft steam geared turbines, S.H.P. 16,500 = 21.5 knots
- Armament: 4-6in (4x1), 2-12pdr AA (2x1)
- Complement: 417
- Builder: Cammell Laird & Co, Birkenhead
- Launched:
- Completed: 1930
- Commissioned: 4 Dec 1940
- Paid off: 15 Apr 1945
- Notes: One of three sisters, Prince David, Prince Henry, and Prince Robert ordered in 1929 from Cammell Laird by Canadian National Railways' subsidiary CN Steamships. Operated as small luxury liners, with accomodations for 300 passengers, on Canadian West Coast. During depression, PD and PH moved to the Canada-West Indies service.
Prince Henry sold 1937 to Clark Steamship Co and renamed North Star.
Requisitioned for war service 26 Nov 1939 and outfitted with ca.1896 6in guns without fire control equipment. Served in the Atlantic and then transferred to service in the eastern Pacific after Japanese invasion of Aleutians.
PD and PH converted to Landing Ship Infantry (Medium) or LSI(M) at Esquimalt and Vancouver, from spring to Dec 1943. Capacity for 550 soldiers and six LCA plus two LCM. Armament altered to 4-4in (2x2), 2-2pdr, and 8-20mm guns. Served at D-Day invasion of Normandy and the invasion of Southern France. Postwar sold to the Ministry of Transport and renamed Empire Parkeston for service in the English Channel carrying troops to and from Britain as part of the British Army of Occupation. Laid up in 1961 and scrapped the next year.
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