HMS Crescent ( 1931 ) HMS " Crescent " was a C - class destroyer which was built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s . The ship was initially assigned to the Home Fleet , although she was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935 – 36 . " Crescent " was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy in late 1936 and renamed HMCS " Fraser " . She was stationed on the west coast of Canada until the beginning of World War II when she was transferred to the Atlantic 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 the anti - aircraft cruiser while returning from one such mission . Design and construction . " Crescent " displaced at standard load and at deep load . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines , driving two shafts , which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3 - drum water - tube boilers . " Crescent " carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship ' s complement was 145 officers and men . The ship mounted four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch Mk IX guns in single mounts , designated ' A ' , ' B ' , ' X ' , and ' Y ' from front to rear . For anti - aircraft ( AA ) defence , " Crescent " had a single QF 3 - inch 20 cwt AA gun between her funnels , and two QF 2 - pounder Mk II AA guns mounted on the aft end of her forecastle deck . The AA gun was removed in 1936 and the 2 - pounders were relocated to between the funnels . She was fitted with two above - water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21 - inch torpedoes . Three depth - charge chutes were fitted , each with a capacity of two depth charge s . After World War II began this was increased to 33 depth charges , delivered by one or two rails and two throwers . " Crescent " was ordered on 30 January 1930 as part of the 1929 Naval Programme and laid down on 1 December 1930 at Vickers - Armstrongs , Barrow - in - Furness . She was launched on 29 September 1931 and completed on 15 April 1932 . Operational history . After the ship commissioned on 21 April 1932 , she was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the of the Home Fleet . " Crescent " collided with her sister at Chatham 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 the West 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 . Transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy . Together with her sister , " 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 of ASDIC ( sonar ) , and taken over by them on 1 February 1937 . The ship was renamed as HMCS " Fraser " and commissioned into the RCN at Chatham on 17 February . " Fraser " was assigned to the Canadian Pacific Coast and arrived at Esquimalt on 3 May 1937 . She remained there until she was ordered to the East Coast on 31 August 1939 . When World War II began on 3 September , " Fraser " was transiting the Panama Canal and arrived at Halifax on 15 September . She and her sisters were employed as local escorts to ocean convoys sailing from Halifax . In November the Royal Navy ' s North America and West Indies Station took operational control of the Canadian destroyers . The ship escorted the convoy bringing most of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to Britain part way across the North Atlantic in mid - December . In March 1940 she was ordered to join the Jamaica Force for Caribbean patrols before being re - assigned to Western Approaches Command two months later . On 26 May she left Bermuda for Britain and arrived at Plymouth on 3 June where she was pressed into service evacuating Allied troops from various French ports on the Atlantic coast . Sometime in 1940 , the ship ' s aft set of torpedo tubes was removed and replaced by a AA gun . Loss . On 25 June 1940 , " Fraser " , her sister , and the cruiser " Calcutta " were returning from St . Jean de Luz after rescuing refugees trapped by the German Army ( Operation Ariel ) , when " Fraser " was rammed by " Calcutta " in the Gironde estuary . Struck forward of the bridge by the cruiser ' s bow , " Fraser " was cut in half and sank immediately . All but 45 of the ship ' s crew were rescued by " Restigouche " and other nearby ships . Many of the survivors from " Fraser " transferred that later summer to , and were lost when that vessel sank on 22 October 1940 as a result of a collision with the freighter MV " Port Fairy " .