HMCS Hochelaga

HMCS Hochelaga was a steam yacht that was converted into a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) patrol ship. She was built in Scotland, and launched in 1900 as Waturus for Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria. He sold her to a US buyer in 1902, who sold her to the Canadian Government in 1915. She was converted into an armed yacht, renamed Hochelaga, and patrolled the Atlantic coast of Canada. She was in naval service until 1920, when she was offered for sale. From 1923 to 1942 Hochelaga was a ferry linking Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. From 1943 to 1945 the United Fruit Company used her in the sugar trade with Puerto Rico. In 1946 she was renamed HaChayal Ha'Ivri, although officially she remained registered as Hochelaga. As HaChayal Ha'Ivri she tried to take Jewish emigrants from Belgium to Palestine, but was intercepted by the Royal Navy. By 1951 she was registered under the Panamanian flag of convenience. Lloyd's Register still listed her in 1959.