Though the Admiralty would have preferred Loch-class frigates, the inability of many small shipyards to construct the larger ships required them to come up with a smaller vessel.

This powered one vertical triple expansion engine that drove one shaft, giving the ships a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).

[2] The ships carried 480 tons of oil giving them a range of 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[4] The Type 147B was tied to the Squid anti-submarine mortar and would automatically set the depth on the fuses of the projectiles until the moment of firing.

[8] On 9 September 1944, while on patrol south of the Hebrides, Hespeler, in conjunction with the River-class frigate Dunver attacked and sank the German submarine U-484.

[8] Spotted by a Short Sunderland from 423 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force which attacked the submarine using depth charges, the aircraft then directed three ships to U-484.

Hespeler attacked the submarine using her Squid anti-submarine mortar, and after the explosions spotted large air bubbles coming to the surface.

The refit was completed in July at Liverpool, Nova Scotia and following it, the corvette sailed for Esquimalt, British Columbia.

[8][note 5] Stella Maris was used to give round-trip cruises on the Saint Lawrence Seaway, starting from Montreal.

[8][9] While en route from Greece to Vancouver, on 28 January 1966 the ship was refueling at Sarroch, Sardinia when a fire broke out in her engine room.