A total of 53 were lost during the war due to accidents or enemy action.

This event, known as the Bombay Explosion, killed over 800 people and sank thirteen ships.

The first to be built was Fort St. James, which was laid down on 23 April 1941 and launched on 15 October.

In doing this they sustained a considerably greater casualty rate than almost every branch of the armed services and suffered great hardship.

[7] The lost are remembered in the Royal Canadian Naval Ships Memorial Monument in Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, Ontario.