HMCS Crescent (R16)

On 20 March 1949, Crescent was at Nanjing, China – at the time the last mainland holdout of Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalists, which was to be overrun by the Communist People's Liberation Army a month later, eighty-three of Crescent's junior ratings locked themselves in their messdecks, and refused to come out until getting the captain to hear their grievances. The captain acted with great sensitivity to defuse the crisis, entering the mess for an informal discussion with the disgruntled crew members and carefully avoided using the term "mutiny" which could have had severe legal consequences for the sailors involved.

This case was almost simultaneous with two other cases of mass disobedience in other Canadian naval ships at very distant other locations: the destroyer Athabaskan at Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico and the aircraft carrier Magnificent in the Caribbean Sea. In both of these other cases, the respective captains acted similarly to their colleague aboard Crescent.[12] On 23 March, the destroyer was relieved on station at Nanjing by HMS Consort and sailed for Hong Kong.[11] The ship remained in China until May when Crescent sailed for home.[13] In November 1949, Crescent was paid off into the reserve.[14] In 1950, the destroyer was designated the east coast training destroyer and her complement reduced.[15]

In May 1951, Crescent, La Hulloise and Swansea sailed to the United Kingdom on a training cruise.[16] In May 1952, with La Hulloise and Swansea, the destroyer made a training cruise to Gibraltar and the French Riviera. Crescent and La Hulloise returned to Europe in August and in December, the two ships visited Cuba while training in the Caribbean Sea.[17]

Crescent after her 1956 conversion to an anti-submarine frigate.

In 1953, Crescent underwent a conversion to destroyer escort.[18] She was modernised for anti-submarine warfare and to serve as a fast fleet escort, similar to the Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy, the second Canadian warship to so. The superstructure was extended aft, and the bridge was modified. Half of her gun armament was replaced by sonar, a Mark 10 Limbo anti-submarine mortar and homing torpedoes.[2] The project was considered the largest operation undertaken by a Canadian dockyard to that point.[18] While under refit, Crescent was assigned to the Second Canadian Escort Squadron on 1 January 1955.[19] The ship was recommissioned on 31 October 1955, followed by three months of extensive sea trials.[20] In 1959, she was used as a test bed for the new variable depth sonar and was eventually permanently installed.[2][21]

Crescent served in an anti-submarine role until being paid off 1 April 1970 at Victoria. She was taken to Taiwan in 1971 to be broken up.[2][4]