The five ships of the C class were assigned to Home Fleet upon their completion, although they reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet during the Italian invasion of Abyssinia of 1935–36 and enforced the Non-Intervention Agreement during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39. They were transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1937–39 and spent most of their time during World War II on convoy escort duties in the Atlantic Ocean. "Crescent" was sunk when she was accidentally rammed by the British cruiser HMS "Calcutta" in 1940. "Crusader" was sunk by a German submarine in 1942, though she had sunk an Italian submarine in 1940. The other ships of the class sank three German submarines during the war. They were all worn out by the end of the war and were scrapped in 1946–47.