HMS Griffin ( H31 ) HMS " Griffin " ( H31 ) was a G - class destroyer , built for the Royal Navy in the mid - 1930s . During World War II , the ship participated in the Norwegian Campaign of April – May 1940 and the Battle of Dakar in September before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November . The ship generally escorted the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet as they protected convoys against attacks from the Italian Fleet . " Griffin " participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and the evacuations of Greece and Crete in April – May 1941 . In June the ship participated in the Syria - Lebanon Campaign and was escorting convoys and the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942 . " Griffin " did not see any action during the Japanese Indian Ocean raid in April , but was escorting convoys for most of her time in the Indian Ocean . In June , the ship returned to the Mediterranean to escort another convoy to Malta in Operation Vigorous . Beginning in November 1942 , she was converted to an escort destroyer in the United Kingdom and was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on 1 March 1943 . The ship , now renamed HMCS " Ottawa " , was assigned to escort convoys in the North Atlantic until she was transferred in May 1944 to protect the forces involved with the Normandy Landings . Working with other destroyers , " Ottawa " sank three German submarines off the French coast before she returned to Canada for a lengthy refit . After the end of the European war in May 1945 the ship was used to bring Canadian troops until she was paid off in October 1945 . " Ottawa " was sold for scrap in August 1946 . Description . " Griffin " 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 . " Griffin " carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship ' s complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime , but in increased to 146 in wartime . The ship mounted four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch ( 120 mm ) Mark IX guns in single mounts . For anti - aircraft defence " Griffin " had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0 . 5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun . She was fitted with two above - water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for torpedoes . One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted ; 20 depth charges were originally carried , but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began . Beginning in mid - 1940 , the ship ' s anti - aircraft armament was increased although when exactly the modifications were made is not known . The rear set of torpedo tubes was replaced by a ( 12 - pounder ) AA gun and the quadruple . 50 - calibre Vickers mounts were replaced by Oerlikon autocannon . Two more Oerlikon guns were also added in the forward superstructure . Service history . " Griffin " was laid down by Vickers - Armstrongs Naval Construction Works at Barrow - in - Furness on 20 September 1934 , launched on 15 August 1935 , and completed on 6 March 1936 . Excluding government - furnished equipment like the armament , the ship cost £248 , 518 . " Griffin " joined her sisters and was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning . She escorted the ocean liner SS " Strathnaver " between Malta and Alexandria during the Munich Crisis in September 1938 . She then escorted the light cruiser on her voyage to Aden . The ship collided with the target destroyer on 2 February 1939 and her repairs were completed five days later . World War II , 1939 – 1942 . On 3 September 1939 , " Griffin " was in Alexandria and still assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla . She was then transferred in October for duty in home waters and was rejoined her flotilla at Harwich in November , where they patrolled the North Sea and escorted local convoys . The ship rescued survivors from her sister after that ship struck a mine off Harwich on 21 November . She was damaged the same month and was under repair until 6 December . In preparation for the Norwegian Campaign , " Griffin " was transferred to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in April 1940 . The ship escorted the capital ship s of the Home Fleet as they sortied into the North Sea on 7 April and continued that duty for the next several weeks . On 24 April , " Griffin " and the destroyer captured the German trawler " Schiff 26 " , bound for Narvik with a cargo that included mines and torpedoes . The ship evacuated British and French troops from Namsos , and rescued survivors from the destroyer after she was sunk by Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber s on 3 May . The Stukas also attacked " Griffin " , without success . " Griffin " was then transferred to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla of the North Atlantic Command at Gibraltar . She escorted the capital ships of Force H during the Battle of Dakar on 23 September , but was not engaged . On 20 October , with the destroyers and , she sank the off Melilla . " Griffin " escorted the battleship and the cruisers and during Operation Coat in early November as they joined the Mediterranean Fleet . " Griffin " herself was transferred to the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in Alexandria . She participated in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November during Operation Collar . During Operation Excess , her sister , , struck a mine off Pantellaria on 10 January 1941 and " Griffin " rescued most of the survivors . In February 1941 she was transferred to the Red Sea where she escorted the aircraft carrier during the latter ' s operations in support of the military offensive in Italian Somaliland ( " Operation Canvas " ) . " Griffon " escorted the capital ships of the Mediterranean Fleet during the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28 / 29 March . With her sister , she attacked some of the Italian destroyers , but lost them when they passed through their own smokescreen . On 15 April , " Griffin " , the Australian destroyer , and the gunboat bombarded Axis positions near Sollum . The ship participated in the evacuation of British and Australian troops from the Greece at the end of April . On 8 May she again escorted the capital ships of the Mediterranean Fleet as they covered a convoy from Alexandria to Malta . During the evacuation of Crete at the end of May , " Griffin " evacuated 720 men from Souda Bay . During Operation Exporter , the ship escorted the Australian light cruiser as she bombarded Vichy French positions in Lebanon on 2 July . " Griffin " escorted convoys to and from Tobruk from July to November . On 25 November she was escorting the battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet when the battleship was torpedoed by . The ship escorted the light cruiser when she bombarded Derna in early December and was transferred to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla during the month . " Griffin " escorts convoys to Malta in January and February 1942 . until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean in late February . " Griffin " was assigned to Force A of the fleet during the Indian Ocean raid by the Japanese in early April 1942 . The ship returned to the Mediterranean to participate in Operation Vigorous , another convoy from Alexandria to Malta , in June . She returned to the Indian Ocean afterwards and escorted convoys there until ordered home to begin conversion to an escort destroyer in September . Refit and transfer to Canada , 1942 – 1946 . Work on the conversion began on 2 November in Southampton and included the removal of two 4 . 7 - inch guns and the 12 - pounder AA gun , and their replacement with a Hedgehog anti - submarine mortar forward and additional depth charges aft . Type 286 and 271 radar sets were fitted , as well as additional 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns . While still refitting , on 1 March 1943 , " Griffin " was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy , and commissioned on 20 March , four days before her conversion was finished . The ship was renamed " Ottawa " on 10 April to commemorate the destroyer sunk earlier . After working up at Tobermory , she sailed for Canada , and was gifted to the Canadians on 15 June . HMCS " Ottawa " ( H31 ) became the senior ship of Escort Group C5 which worked between St . John ' s , Newfoundland , and Derry , Northern Ireland until May 1944 when she became the senior ship of the 11th Escort Group . The 11th consisted of the destroyers , , , and and were tasked to protect the invasion forces for D - Day . On 6 July 1944 , " Ottawa " , " Kootenay " , and the British frigate , , sank off Beachy Head , Sussex . " Ottawa " and " Chaudière " sank on 16 August near La Rochelle and two days later they sank west of Brest . " Ottawa " was refitted in St . John ' s between 12 October 1944 and 26 February 1945 . On 11 March she collided with the minesweeper off Halifax and was under repair until 30 April . After the end of the war in May the ship ferried Canadian troops back to Canada until she was paid off on 31 October . " Ottawa " was sold to the International Iron and Metal Company in August 1946 and subsequently broken up .