High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! HMCS Grilse was a commissioned patrol boat of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during World War I. Built as the high-speed civilian yacht Winchester, the vessel was one of several yachts the RCN used during the war. In 1915, Canadian industrialist and millionaire Jack Ross purchased the Winchester and arranged for her conversion for military use; Ross was later reimbursed by the federal government. Armed with two 12-pounder guns, one fore and one aft, and a 14-inch torpedo tube amidships, Grilse was commissioned as a torpedo boat and operated off Canada`s east coast for much of the war. Unsuitable for winter operations in Canadian waters, Grilse was sent to the Caribbean in December 1916, but encountered a heavy storm and was nearly lost. Following a refit, the ship re-entered service in May 1917, and was paid off in December 1918. Attempts to sell Grilse as surplus in 1920 were unsuccessful, and she was used for training purposes in 1921-22 before being sold to Solomon Guggenheim in 1922. Renamed Trillora, the ship was still in Guggenheim`s ownership when she foundered at Long Island in the New England Hurricane of 1938.