Memorial planned for HMCS Esquimalt, last Canadian warship to sink in WWII

Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, near Victoria, B.C., is shown in this undated file photo.

The Township of Esquimalt and Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt are hosting a memorial for the last Canadian navy ship to sink during the Second World War this weekend.

The memorial will be held on Sunday at Esquimalt Memorial Park at 2 p.m.

The event will commemorate the HMCS Esquimalt, which was attacked by a German submarine while it was on an anti-submarine patrol near Halifax Harbour on April 16, 1945.

The ship was struck by a torpedo and quickly sunk, claiming the lives of 39 crewmembers.

Just three weeks later, the Second World War would be called to an end in Europe.

"That HMCS Esquimalt went down within view of Halifax [and] reminds us that the Second World War did not just happen 'over there,'" said the Naval Association of Canada in a release Friday.

The association says that of the 24 Canadian navy ships to be destroyed in the Second World War, 11 were sunk in Canadian waters.

This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. During the Second World War, 96,000 Canadians served in the country's navy, of which 78,000 were members of the volunteer reserve who enlisted during the war, according to the association.