HMS Pembroke Castle was a Castle-class corvette constructed for the British Royal Navy during World War II, though before completion, she was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Tillsonburg. The vessel measured approximately 252 feet (77 meters) in length, with a beam of 36 feet 8 inches (11.18 meters) and a deep load draught of 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 meters). She displaced about 1,060 long tons (1,080 tonnes) at standard load and up to 1,580 long tons (1,610 tonnes) at deep load, with a crew complement of around 120. Powered by two Admiralty three-drum boilers producing 2,750 indicated horsepower, she drove a single vertical triple expansion engine, achieving a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h). Her operational range was approximately 6,200 nautical miles at 15 knots, thanks to a fuel capacity of 480 tons of oil. The ship's armament comprised a single 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XIX gun forward, varying anti-aircraft defenses with 4 to 10 Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, and anti-submarine weaponry including a three-barreled Squid mortar with 81 projectiles, two depth charge throwers, and a stern-mounted depth charge rail with 15 charges. Her sensors included Type 145 and Type 147B ASDIC, with the latter linked to the Squid mortar for automatic fusing. Additional equipment featured HF/DF and Type 277 radar, enhancing her anti-submarine warfare capabilities. Laid down on June 3, 1943, by Ferguson Brothers Ltd. at Port Glasgow, she was launched on February 12, 1944, and commissioned on June 29, 1944, as HMCS Tillsonburg (Pennant K496). She served as a convoy escort in the Mid-Ocean Escort Force, participating in Atlantic convoy duty until mid-June 1945. After the war, she was paid off at Halifax in February 1946. Subsequently sold to Chinese interests, she was renamed Ta Ching, then Chiu Chin, and later Kao An when taken over by the Nationalist Chinese government in 1951. She was rearmed with a 120 mm gun, a 76 mm gun, and twin 40 mm cannons before being discarded in 1963. Her service history highlights her role as a capable anti-submarine vessel during wartime and her subsequent transition to merchant and naval duties in Asia.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.