HMS Crusader ( H60 ) HMS " Crusader " was a C - class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s . She saw service in the Home and Mediterranean Fleet s and spent six months during the Spanish Civil War in late 1936 in Spanish waters , enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict . " Crusader " was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN ) in 1938 and renamed HMCS " Ottawa " . She was initially deployed on the Canadian Pacific Coast before World War II , but was transferred to the Atlantic three months after the war began . She served as a convoy escort during the battle of the Atlantic until sunk by the on 14 September 1942 . Together with a British destroyer , she sank an Italian submarine in the North Atlantic in November 1941 . Design and construction . " Crusader " 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 . " Crusader " 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 , " Crusader " 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 . The ship was ordered on 15 July 1930 from Portsmouth Dockyard under the 1929 Naval Programme . " Crusader " was laid down on 12 September 1930 , launched on 30 September 1931 , as the second ship to carry the name , and completed on 2 May 1932 . Service history . " Crusader " was initially assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of Home Fleet and remained with this flotilla for the next four years . She received her first refit at Portsmouth from 30 July to 4 September 1934 . Following the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in August 1935 , " Crusader " was sent with the rest of her flotilla to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet the following month . From October to March 1936 she was deployed in the Red Sea to monitor Italian warship movements . Upon her return in April , the ship was refitted at Portsmouth from 27 April to 30 May . During the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in August – September 1936 , the ship evacuated British nationals from Spanish ports on the Bay of Biscay . Crusader was assigned as the plane guard for the aircraft carrier from January 1937 to March 1938 , aside from a brief refit between 30 March and 27 April 1937 . The ship began a major refit at Sheerness on 28 April 1938 to bring her up to Canadian specifications that included the installation of Type 124 ASDIC . Transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy . The ship was purchased for C $ 817 , 500 by the Royal Canadian Navy and she was commissioned on 15 June as HMCS " Ottawa " . The ship was assigned to the Canadian Pacific Coast and arrived at Esquimalt on 7 November 1938 . She remained there until she was ordered to Halifax , Nova Scotia on 15 November 1939 where she escorted local convoys , including the convoy carrying half of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to the UK on 10 December . " Ottawa " s stern was damaged in a collision with the tugboat " Bansurf " in April 1940 , and repairs took two months to complete . On 27 August 1940 , " Ottawa " was sailed to Greenock , Scotland , and assigned to the 10th Escort Group of the Western Approaches Command upon her arrival on 4 September for convoy escort duties . In October , the ship ' s rear torpedo tube mount was exchanged for a 12 - pounder AA gun . On 24 – 26 September , she rescued survivors of two British merchant ships ; 55 from that had been sunk by and 60 from that had been sunk by . " Ottawa " assisted the British destroyer in sinking the on 7 November . By mid - November , " Ottawa " had been fitted with a Type 286M short - range surface - search radar , adapted from the Royal Air Force ' s ASV radar . This early model , however , could only scan directly forward and had to be aimed by turning the entire ship . On 23 November , she rescued 29 survivors of the grain carrier which had been sunk by . " Ottawa " returned to Canada in June 1941 and was assigned to the RCN ' s Newfoundland Escort Force which covered convoys in the Mid - Atlantic . She was transferred to Escort Group C4 in May 1942 . In early September , the ship ' s captain refused to allow her director - control tower and rangefinder to be removed in exchange for a Type 271 target indication radar . On 14 September , while escorting Convoy ON 127 east of St . John ' s , Newfoundland , " Ottawa " was torpedoed by U - 91 . Ten minutes later , unable to manoeuvre , she was hit by a second torpedo . She sank ten minutes later ; 114 crewmen lost their lives , including the commanding officer , while nearby vessels rescued 69 survivors . The armament changes undergone by the ship during the war are not entirely clear . Photographic evidence shows that four Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns were added , one pair to her searchlight platform and the other pair on the bridge wings , although " Ottawa " retained her 2 - pounder guns even after the Oerlikons were added . ' Y ' gun was also removed to allow her depth charge stowage to be increased to at least 60 depth charges .