HMCS Petrolia
Ship Number
1241
Vessel Type
Castle Class Corvette
Built
Belfast
Slip Number
2
Launch Date
February 24, 1944
Launched By
Mrs Hood
Delivered
July 14, 1944
Owner
Royal Canadian Navy
Weight
1100 grt
BP Length
225 feet
Breadth
36-6 feet
No. of Screws
Single
Speed (approx)
16 knots
Propulsion
Triple expansion
Official No.
Registered
Fate
Scrapped
HMCS Petrolia

Pennant No. K498
 
Original name HMS Sherborne Castle
 
Launched February of 1944, H.M.C.S. Petrolia underwent her sea trials at Tobermory, Scotland. She was then posted to Escort Group C-4 under Western Approaches Command at Londonderry, Northern Ireland where she undertook her escort duties of protecting convoys between St. John's Newfoundland and Londonderry.  She had a length of 252 feet and a beam of 36 feet with a range of 8240 nautical miles at 12 knots. Her armament was designed strictly for fighting submarines and aircraft and consisted of one four inch gun forward, six 20 m.m. Oerlikons, a three barrelled squid mortar and depth charges.
By war's end H.M.C.S. Petrolia had escorted a total of 14 convoys during which time she engaged a number of "contacts", ensuring the safety of the ships it was her duty to protect. Her commanding officer once remarked that the ship's motto was, "We seek oil. Diesel from German U-boats preferred."
 
Paid off at Liverpool, N.S. on March 8, 1946, she was sold not long afterward to a New York buyer and renamed Maid of Athens. In 1947 she was transferred to Indian registry and renamed Bharat Laxmi, serving as such until broken up at Bombay in 1965.