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Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive

HMCS Beaver (Z 10)
ex-HMCS Beaver (S 10)



Beaver call sign:
Charlie - George - Love - Fox

ex-USS Aztec (SP 590)



Civilian call sign (1919):
King - Rush - Vice - Jig

Call sign (1919):
Nan - Unit - Cast - Love

Civilian call sign (1946):
William - Sugar - Charlie - Peter


Aztec served the Navies of the United States and Canada
Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1902 by the Lewis Nixon Co., Elizabethport, NJ
  • Launched 22 April 1902
  • Acquired by the Navy 29 June 1917
  • Commissioned USS Aztec (SP 590) 30 June 1917
  • Decommissioned 15 March 1919
  • Returned to her owner 7 August 1919
  • Sold in 1940 to T. H. P. Molson of Montreal, Canada
  • Taken over by Royal Canadian Navy 28 May 1940
  • Commissioned HMCS Beaver (S 10) 1 April 1941
  • Reclassified Z-10
  • "Paid off" (decommissioned) 17 October 1944
  • Declared surplus 13 July 1945
  • Sold 7 January 1946 to Wentworth N. MacDonald of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Scrapped in 1957.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 848 t.
  • Length 260'
  • Beam 30'
  • Draft 13'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 96
  • Armament: Four 3"/50 mounts, two machine guns and one depth charge Y-gun
  • Propulsion: Two single ended boilers, two 1,200hp triple expansion steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Yacht Aztec
    Aztec 129k Photographed prior to World War I by Edwin Levick, New York
    U.S. Navy photo NH 93937-A    		 Naval Historical Center
    Aztec 90k Photographed prior to her World War I service
    Courtesy of the Mariner's Museum of Newport News, VA
    Photo from "The Armed Yachts of Canada" by Fraser McKee    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Aztec (SP 590)
    Aztec 120k At the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 20 December 1917
    U.S. Navy photo NH 543    		 Naval Historical Center
    Aztec 107k In port on 1 January 1918, probably at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts
    U.S. Navy photo NH 59578
    Yacht Aztec
    Aztec 83k Photographed after her World War I service
    Courtesy of R. H. I. Goddard
    Photo from "The Armed Yachts of Canada" by Fraser McKee    		 Robert Hurst
    Aztec 103k In dry dock for inspection and repairs, East Boston, [MA] after purchase by Mr. T. H. P. Molson of Montreal, Québec, Canada
    Courtesy of T. H .P Molson
    Photo from "The Armed Yachts of Canada" by Fraser McKee
    HMCS Beaver (S 10)
    Aztec 129k c. 1942
    Halifax harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada
    HMCS Beaver (S 10) is passing upriver between HMCS Columbia (I 49), ex-USS Haradan (DD 183) and a tanker
    Photo from Nova Scotia Archives Jefferson Collection    		 John Chiquoine
    HMCS Beaver (Z 10)
    Aztec 62k Looking a bit care-worm from patrol duties
    Courtesy Department of National Defence [Canada], Historical Section
    Photo from "The Armed Yachts of Canada" by Fraser McKee    		 Robert Hurst
    Aztec 105k Advertisement from "Yachting Magazine" announcing the disposal of the armed yacht HMCS Beaver. Very few were sold this way
    Commanding Officers - USS Aztec (SP 590)
    01ENS Miles Wambaugh, USNRF14 June 1917
    02LT Jason H. H. Milton, USN30 June 1917
    Commanding Officers - HMCS Beaver
    01LCdr G. H. Griffiths, RCN17 March 1941 - 31 July 1941
    02A/Cdr R. I. Swansburg, RCNR1 August 1941 - 15 October 1942
    03Lt J. F. Watson, RCNR16 October 1942 - 4 December 1942
    04LCdr J. S. Wilson, RCNR5 December 1942 - 28 December 1942
    05Lt J. F. Watson, RCNR29 December 1942 - 3 January 1943
    06Lt D. Davis, RCNVR4 January 1943 - 16 January 1943
    07Lt J. F. Watson, RCNR17 March 1943 - 19 September 1943
    08A/LCdr H. C. Walmseley, RCNR20 September 1943 - 5 March 1944
    09LCdr C. G. Williams, RCNR6 March 1944 - 7 August 1944
    10LCdr C. G. Williams, RCNR23 September 1944 - 13 March 1945
    11Skpr/Lt I. E. Abbott, RCNVR14 March 1945 - September 1945
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Aztec (SP 590) DANFS History
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