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HMCS Naniamo. Included on this dedicated page is the story of HMCS Naniamo, written by Lorne Norman. Battleships-cruisers would like to thank Lorne for allowing us to display this great work and we hope you enjoy what we have presented here. We have also provided a message board for ex-crew members, families and naval historians. |
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HMCS Naniamo. Thought to be around 1944 - 45. Sent in by Lorne Norman. |
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H.M.C.S. NANAIMO: Her Wartime History
Lorne Norman This book is dedicated to my father, his shipmates and "his ship"!
FOREWORD
This History is dedicated to my father, Lewis (Lew) Charles
Norman, who seldom spoke of his time in NANAIMO and the Royal Canadian
Naval Volunteer Reserve, and to those who served in NANAIMO. Dad served
in her when she was commissioned, was drafted to H.M.C.S. STADACONA on
course but was returned to "his ship" when the crew asked that
he be returned. He stayed
with her until 1943. Special
mention is given to my Uncle, Raymond (Ray) Norman, who served in her
when she was decommissioned, 28 September 1945.
This book is also dedicated to Leslie (Buzz) Horne, the man for
whom the authour is named. He
was a close friend of my father and was lost when he was a member of a
boarding party from NANAIMO while aboard a torpedoed freighter, PORT
NICHOLSON. Dad never
really got over the lost of Buzz and never spoke about the incident.
PROLOGUE This is
the story of a ship and her crew. She
was typical of most of Canada's wartime navy.
To the casual observer she had very little glory, stayed in the
background and seldom gained the recognition she deserved.
Yet, like the navy she was part of, she did the job she was given
with little thanks. This
too was typical of Canada's Navy as a whole.
In the early years Canada provided the men and ships so necessary
for the Battle of the Atlantic and gave the Britts and Americans time to
build and train their naval forces.
During this crucial time Canada's Navy served as the drudge and
plodded on under unbearable and unrelenting adversity only to be scorned
by both the Royal Navy and the American Navy.
Both seemed to see the R.C.N. as inept; even as a joke!
Yet, the R.C.N. saved the day and went from an insignificant
force to the third largest navy in the world and a truly international
power by the close of the war.
When the British were sinking subs in 1943 the Canadians were
fitting out with new equipment and training those who served in ships
too long at sea with too little maintenance.
This lack of maintenance was precipitated by carrying a very
heavy load during the early part of the war with little or no
assistance. This early situation allowed the British and Americans time to train crews and fit the latest equipment in their ships. Politics, misunderstandings and downright stupidity gave Canada's fledgling wartime navy a bad name, which took most of the war to live down and was most undeserved!
While the British and Americans got first "dibs" on new
equipment, Canada had to wait; partly due to politics of where the
equipment should come from and partly due to the error of not recognizing
that better equipment could be obtained from places other than Canada.
This is the story of H.M.C.S. NANAIMO, a flower-class Corvette, and
according to the "Trident" of Maritime Command, she was the
Royal Canadian Navy's first Corvette.
While her being first may be open to debate she was without a doubt
one of the first to be built in Canada for the Royal Canadian Navy.
This is also the story of those who served in her.
Her story is not outstanding.
She never sank a "U" boat and never took part in any
great sea battle. Still, like
the Navy she was built for, she did her job and did it well.
She, like the R.C.N., grew from an untrained, poorly equipped and
diverse group to an entity unto itself.
The ship and her crew became one!
Here begins her story.
Spring of 1940 saw the beginnings of a proud, new ship. She was conceived April 27, 1940 and just one year less a day
later she was commissioned "His Majesty's Canadian Ship NANAIMO".
She was named for a city in the province in which she was born.
Shipyard workers seemed to put loving care into her.
Like a child in the womb she grew from conception to birth!
Finally, on the October 28, 1940 she slipped off the ways to begin
her life. She had a
name but, as yet, was not christened.
Like parents investing time and love into the rearing of a child.
There was evidence of the extra time and effort put into her
construction. Unlike later
ships built for the war effort, she had trimmings that were usually
reserved for liners and the like. NANAIMO
was described as a very "tidily ship" by those who served in
her.
Ray Norman recalled, when asked what he remembered about NANAIMO,
that, "She was exceptionally well built and that someone had tried to
make her look like something. Her
bulkheads weren't just welded; she had mouldings and such just to tidily
her up a bit!"
According to Puffy, Wilford J, Somerfeldt this was true of most
ships built on the west coast. He
felt that the workers there had "some consideration for those who
would have to live in her". He
used the example of a pipe that had to go through a living space.
He said that the workers on the west coast would bend it onto a
bulkhead or deck head, so that it would be a bit out of the way.
He went on to say that those built elsewhere that same pipe would
be run straight through the mess deck regardless of the discomfort or
inconvenience this might cause the crew.
Almost exactly six months had passed from the time of her
conception to her launch. With
her commissioning on April 26, 1941, she joined the ranks of the Royal
Canadian Navy. The day was
drizzly with intermittent cold, gentle rain.
A somewhat dreary setting to begin her life with Canada's wartime
fleet.
Now, the ship received her lifeblood -- her crew.
It was also the time that Lewis (Lew) Charles Norman officially
came aboard "his ship".
It was during the next few weeks the ship and her crew got to know
each other. She began her
naval career with a shakedown cruise.
One way the crew got to know each other could be characterised by
the following story told by Puffy Summerfeldt;
When I joined NANAIMO, the first time we went out, I was pretty
seasick. I remember Red; the
big bastard; he never got sick. He
cut the fat off a pork chop and tied a string to it he'd swallow it and
pull it back up. No doubt this impressed a sea sick young Puffy!
During this cruise she sailed right by the town, who's name she
carried, and then northward to Prince Rupert.
Like any new born, NANAIMO and her crew had to learn to crawl
before they could run.
One of her first problems was a seized H.P. piston on her main
engine, which kept her at anchor off Cape Scott for twenty-four hours
while her crew managed repairs.
Bob Reedman remembers this cruise as being rough and the portholes
leaking. He remembers waking
up in the morning and finding water sloshing around on the decks and being
terribly seasick. He says:
"I thought the ship was sinking and I just didn't give a damn"!
Sounds like he and Puffy had something in common during that first
trip. Having served on small
ships in Canada?s Navy himself, the author knows just how Bob, Puffy and
undoubtedly many more of the crew, felt!
There was time for the odd night ashore as well.
Hugh (Red) Ashcroft tells of his first time ashore with Lew.
He says he remembers that we all got into our "tidily"
uniforms (number one or dress uniform) and went ashore.
Only to discover after sometime that Lew had neglected to put on
dress boots and was found to be just a tad out of "the rig of the
day"! Quite a contrast,
number one uniform and greasy, steaming boots!
The situation most surely earned a good laugh to his shipmates and
some consternation to Lew.
HMCS NANAIMO on commissioning
HMCS NANAIMO off British Columbia
1941
Bob Reedman, another shipmate, tells the tale of another night
ashore and of a Totem Pole that was borrowed.
This happened during NANAIMO's second cruise up the coast to Prince
Rupert. It seems that some of
the boys, went ashore in Prince Rupert and spied a small totem pole.
They decided that the totem pole would be a fine piece of mess deck
decor. So, as any good
scrounge would do, they "confiscated" the appropriate specimen
and threw it into the stoker's mess.
Next morning the local constabulary (Royal Canadian Mounted Police
[R.C.M.P.]) apprehended the totem pole and returned it to its proper
place. Bob goes on to say one
of the Officers, he can't remember just which one, commented he wished he
had been there. Because, if
he had, they never would have got it back.
Nevertheless, the totem was returned; but, in the process the bill
from the totem was broken off and, through some quirk of fate, remained
with the ship. The bill was
fastened to a board and then to the bridge.
It remained with the ship till it was lost in a storm on a trip
between Newfy John and Iceland.
All the while the ship and crew were becoming a unit, a single
entity made up of many. Like
a growing, learning child, NANAIMO and her crew grew more competent and
became proficient in their duties. Still,
she remained childlike in many ways.
She had yet to have her baptism.
It would come in time. She
was innocent and had many hard lessons yet to learn.
She then returned to Esquimalt after her shakedown and, on 30 May
1941, in company with H.M.C.S. TRAIL, another of the B. C. built Corvettes
to carry the name of a town in the province of her birth, sailed for the
Panama Canal and Halifax. Halifax
was where her life as a part of the Navy would begin in earnest!
Both ships visited San Pedro, California, near Los Angeles, on June
3, 1940. This visit gave the
crew yet another chance to relax and see the world.
All too soon the leave was over and NANAIMO sailed for Panama and
the Canal. Red Ashcroft
remembers Panama and some shore leave.
Red tells of how he and Lew, dressed in whites, made a foray into
the wilds of Panama City's night life and how they got
"drenched" in a down pour.
So much for the nightlife! Red
told the author, they were probably "all wet" to begin with
anyhow.
NANAIMO sailed from Panama City and entered the canal on June 14.
The United States was not in the War at this point, thus being a
neutral country she sent armed Marines aboard both ships as they transited
the canal. This was done just
to provide an escort for the two ships.
Shore leave
The next port of call for the two intrepid corvettes was Kingston,
Jamaica, a tropical port that must have seemed truly exotic to the young
crew. They spent four days in
Kingston and managed to clean boilers while there.
Not a pleasant task yet it kept the ship in port in this beautiful,
green country.
Lew and Unknown Jamaican 1941
NANAIMO bid a fond fair well to Kingston with the tiller flat full
of pineapples. Its little
wonder that according to Red, "I haven't been too fond of pineapple
ever since"! Food was
one thing that many seamen learned to dislike due to having to eat too
much of the same thing day after day.
Like Red and Pineapples, Lew often told his children, when they
complained about their food, that we should be glad for what we had as he
and his shipmates had to eat "red lead and beans for weeks at a
time? red lead being stewed tomatoes.
Like Red, Lew didn't like beans and tomatoes very much after that
either.
They arrived in Halifax on June 27 just in time for Lew to
celebrate his birthday the next day.
NANAIMO took on stores and after storing ship she spent the next
three months carrying out local duties.
By this time her armament had been fitted and she was "in all
respects ready for sea". All
the while the crew became a "fighting unit" and became ready as
well. A far cry from those seasick sailors on their shakedown
cruise.
One of these local duties was to form part of the escort group for
the ships involved in bringing Churchill and Roosevelt together for
"talks", which resulted in the Atlantic Charter.
Interestingly, this operation is still "classified" and
information cannot be acquired from Canada's National Archives about this
part of world history.
Here is a brief run down of some of the events surrounding this
meeting as told by several of the crew of NANAIMO some fifty years after
the fact. Some of the
information was also obtained from personal research and study of other
volumes written about the conference.
Roosevelt left New London, Connecticut under the guise of doing
some deep sea fishing in POTOMAC, the presidential yacht, but he
transferred to U.S.S. AUGUSTA once out to sea.
Roosevelt arrived at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland in AUGUSTA, a
heavy cruiser, with an American group, consisting of U.S.Ships ARKANSAS, a
Battleship, AUGUSTA, TUSCALOOSA, both Cruisers, MacDOUGAL, MAYRANK and
RIND, Destroyers, which left New London, Connecticut on August 3, 1941.
H.M.S. PRINCE OF WALES sailed from Scapa Flow for Newfoundland on
August 4, 1941. On the August
5, 1941 she and her escort ran into heavy weather.
As a result the escorts were forced to slow down.
Given the option of slowing down and keeping her escort or
proceeding alone and maintaining her speed PRINCE OF WALES went on alone
at high speed as per the wishes of Churchill.
She arrived on Saturday, August 9, 1941.
HMS Prince of Wales off Argentia, Newfoundland as seen
from NANAIMO
On the May 8, 1941 NANAIMO was one of the escorts, which joined
H.M.S. PRINCE OF WALES when she arrived off St. John's carrying Sir
Winston Churchill for his famous meeting with Roosevelt at Placentia Bay. A total of twenty-eight warships were involved in the
operation. The author was
only able to identify some of these ships.
They are: H.M.Ships PRINCE OF WALES, a Battleship, REDDING, RIPLEY,
Destroyers, HAFALOCK, HESPERUS, ROYBY, probably Corvettes, H.M.C.Ships
SAGUENAY, ASSINIBOINE, RESTIGOUCHE, Destroyers, NANAIMO and the previously
mentioned American ships.
This conference lasted from August 9-12, 1941.
While the conference lasted until August 12 it was not until the
fourteenth that the agreement was made public.
Red Ashcroft kept a journal and from this journal he related the
following to the author: NANAIMO went aground on Fox Island at 0610 on the
May 9, while entering harbour at Placentia Bay; no doubt with great
consternation and embarrassment to her skipper.
A passing destroyer, H.M.C.S. RESTIGOUCHE, sailed by while NANAIMO
was on the rocks. Typical of
many arrogant destroyer-men her skipper sent a "nasty" message
about being out of the rig of the day and that: "the crew looked like
a bunch of fishermen". After
the Commanding Officer checked the navy list and discovered that he had
seniority over the skipper of RESTIGOUCHE, he sent back an
"appropriate reply" (Red Ashcroft).
No doubt the "appropriate" reply was not one to be
repeated in cultured society.
Red, who was on watch below decks, remembers the grounding itself
this way: "While the ship was entering
harbour Lew and I were on watch in the forward boiler room.
Lew was at the air hatch and looking out at the scene of the group
entering Placentia Bay while I was below writing a letter home when the
ship went on the rocks. Gee
whiz! The first thing I knew
the boiler dropped about a foot; we hit the rocks with such force.
Lew yelled down to me when she struck "Red what are you doing
down there""! "The first thing that I remember doing after she struck
was putting the top back on the pen I was using to write my letter".
Keep in mind he had to take the
time to screw the top on unlike today's pens.
Red seems to have kept his calm and at least some of the crew
retained a sense of humour!
Bob reedman tells the same story with himself as the one who yelled
down to Red. Fifty years
tends to cloud memories. Never
the less, the story it self seems accurate.
Artificers from PRINCE OF WALES made temporary repairs following
the grounding. The damage was
not serious, however, and NANAIMO was soon under way again for more
permanent repairs in Halifax. The
grounding had damaged NANAIMO's A.S.D.I.C. and surrounding hull area.
NANAIMO arrived at Halifax on May 15.
"This "allowed a spell of leave for all of us", as
Red, one of Lew's wingers, put it.
After repairs in Slackers, Halifax, she was assigned to convoy SC
49 and the Newfoundland Command.
She sailed from Halifax on October 10 for this assignment but had
to return to Halifax as a result of faulty degaussing gear. Just another
reminder that, while she may have been in all respects ready for sea, she
was still growing up. She
managed to sail the next day and join the convoy on the thirteenth.
Much to the dismay of her crew NANAIMO received a message the same
day advising them that the previous convoy had lost thirteen ships.
Among the ships attacked in this previous convoy were: U.S.S. GREER
and KEARNY as well as H.M.C.S. SHEDIAC.
KEARNY was torpedoed but she did not sink.
The others were attacked without success.
One of NANAIMO's characters was a stoker named Courtney. He never slept below decks when the ship was at sea.
Instead, he slept on the gratings just inside the engine room
hatch. It may be safe to say
that the news, if not the grating may have caused him some trouble
sleeping! The German Navy was at its peak and news of
this kind was a common thing in those hazardous, early days of the war.
NANAIMO spent three days in and around Reykjavik, Iceland.
She "fuelled ship" and took on some stores from H.M.S.
HELCA, a depot repair ship, during this time.
Task Unit 4.1.16 consisting of H.M.C.S. ST. FRANCES, MAYFLOWER,
EYEBRIGHT, LETHBRIDGE, NANAIMO and KENOGAMI sailed from Reykjavik at 1930
on October 26 to join westbound convoy ON 29.
Although ST. FRANCES was part of the group she did not sail until
the next day. They left with
three merchant ships; however, due to unfavourable weather and low
visibility they were separated from the escort and it was later reported
that they had returned to Iceland. Unfavourable
must have been an understatement!
MAYFLOWER, EYEBRIGHT, LETHBRIDGE, NANAIMO and KENOGAMI joined ON
29 at 1700 two days later. NANAIMO?s
officers reported the convoy as being "off course".
Whether the convoy was, in fact, off course or it even was the
NANAIMO is uncertain but it is a well-known fact that compasses in many
"Corvettes" of the time, especially Canadian, were very
inadequate. Moreover,
difficulty in locating the convoy, as happened with this one, was not an
isolated nor uncommon occurrence. Furthermore,
finding a convoy in heavy weather was no small task.
MOOSEJAW, part of the mid-ocean escort force, remained with the
convoy following the relief of this force and the convoy, of which she was
a part, consisted of twenty three ships.
Three ships became stragglers.
On the night of October 29/30 S.S.TRONDHEIM fell astern of the
convoy and a search failed to locate her.
The following night RAMAVA and ANASTASSIUS PATERAS also became
stragglers. The former was found by ST. FRANCIS and given the convoy's
course, route and speed.
After bringing the convoy to Western Ocean Meeting Point (WESTOMP)
NANAIMO was relieved and met another convoy.
This convoy too was reported as being "off course".
However, after meeting the convoy NANAIMO and the group sailed
through the Straights of Belle Isle and on to St. John's the next day.
For the next few weeks NANAIMO worked around Newfoundland spending
the odd night in such exotic places as Harbour Grace and the ever-welcome
"Newfy John". November 18 saw NANAIMO sail from St. John's to make contact with an eastbound convoy bound for the British Isles. She arrived in and fuelled ship at Reykjavik harbour in Iceland.
NANAIMO, KENOGAMI, PRESCOTT and LETHBRIDGE sailed from Reykjavik to
join westbound convoy ON 42 on December 4.
LETHBRIDGE was reported as adrift on 10 December.
At this time she sent an R/T message to MAYFLOWER stating she was
with ON 41.
NANAIMO joined the convoy next day with MAYFLOWER (SO) sailing from
Iceland at 0900 to join. MAYFLOWER
joined the next day and took over the convoy from the previous escort at
1000 / 7. SORREL sailed to
join the convoy at 1700 the same day that MAYFLOWER took over the convoy.
DUNVEGAN sailed to join ON 42 at 1600 the following day.
NANAIMO was dispatched to the aid of PT 46 BENCLEUCH. She picked up
10 survivors, six officers and four crewmen, from BENCLEUCH, a freighter
out of Lieth with a cargo of munitions and whisky, bound for Singapore. A tanker ATHELVISCOUNT was able to pick up the other three
lifeboats and the rest of the crew, including the master.
Not a sole was lost!
NANAIMO stayed with the furiously burning ship but maintained a
safe distance so as to minimize the chances of discovery by a
"U" boat. Perhaps
the same "U" boat responsible for the loss of BENCLEUCH.
The freighter continued to burn and emit frequent explosions
through the night and into the next day.
Thankfully, the weather was poor and the visibility worse.
NANAIMO even lost sight of the stricken ship for about an hour
early in the evening. At
about 0600 the flaming ship suddenly disappeared and by 1200 NANAIMO had
found wreckage and ascertained that the BENCLEUCH had certainly sunk;
moreover, wreckage was retrieved to verify the loss; the Navy needed
proof, you see, that BENCLEUCH had indeed sunk.
Sabotage was suspected; however, this was never proven.
NANAIMO's report of proceedings of the events are included here for
the reader and were reported as follows:
H.M.C.S. NANAIMO
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS AFTER BEING
DETACHED FROM ON 42 UNTIL REJOINING.
SUBJECT: SINKING OF
S.S. "BENCLEUCH".
11 December 1941
1755z Whilst
screening convoy ON 42 in station K. D.L. course 227 degrees, speed
6 knots, (Wind: westerly, force 7, Visibility: c 4-5, sea and swell: 76)
received orders from Senior Officer Escort H.M.C.S. "MAYFLOWER",
to proceed with utmost speed to assistance of PT 46, S.S. "BENCLEUCH",
on fire and abandoning astern of the convoy.
Proceeded immediately on reverse course to convoy at maximum speed.
1830z. On port bow sighted freighter stopped with tanker stopped in
immediate vicinity. While
maintaining course made frequent attempts to establish V/S communications
with tanker and freighter but received no reply.
1900z. Sighted one life
boat about 2 miles from the vicinity of freighter and tanker.
Stopped vessel immediately and picked up one boat load of survivors
consisting of 6 officers and 4 seamen from S.S. "BENCLEUCH".
Contacted tanker at once by V/S and ascertained that she was "ATHELVISCOUNT"
(PT 36 from ON 42) and had picked up 3 boat loads of survivors comprising
the remaining 49 members of the including the master.
She stated there were no serious injuries aboard.
Immediately "ATHELVISCOUNT" discovered naval vessel was
in the vicinity and that all survivors had been picked up she proceeded on
course toward the convoy. V/S
communication was maintained with "ATHELVISCOUNT" till all
necessary information had been exchanged.
2100z. Contact lost with
"BENCLEUCH" due to poor visibility.
2200z. Contact regained,
at which time the vessel was burning furiously.
Contact maintained at a safe distance throughout the night during
which time the vessel continued to burn furiously and to emit intermittent
and violent explosions.
12 December 1941
0615z. Flames from
burning ship suddenly disappeared and vessel was presumed to have sunk.
NANAIMO closed position; but, due to snow squalls and greatly
reduced visibility NANAIMO remained in vicinity until at
1150z. conclusive evidence of final sinking was ascertained by the
presence of large clearly defined patches comprised of rafts, boxes, cases
(general cargo), mess room tables, wooden bulkheads, name plates, car
seats, hatches, lifebuoys, and other wreckage, in position 55 10 North, 38
00 West.
1200z. Proceeded to join
convoy ON 42, course 222 degrees, speed 14 knots, after being positively
convinced that vessel had sunk at 0615z.
13 December 1941
Proceeding on course of convoy at maintaining distance in order to
send W/T messages.
14 December 1941
Rejoined ON 42 after survivors report and other W/Ts on from S.O.
escort had been dispatched.
Another shot of the wreckage
Bob Reedman relayed what wasn?t
mentioned in the report to the author some fifty years later.
This is what Bob reported:
"After the sinking there was this great pool of flotsam and
jetsam in the water, all these boxes and crates.
The crew, we had picked up, had said they were headed for Singapore
and the scuttle butt was she was carrying Teacher's Highland Creme, guns
and lorries (Trucks).
The Old Man steamed right through this stuff, He wouldn't stop of
course, never the less, we tried to grab some of the stuff.
We didn't get anything of course".
What a stroke of luck it would have been for the ship and her crew
had they managed to snag some of that Highland Creme.
Never the less, it was worth a try.
NANAIMO's skipper was later censured by the powers that be because
he didn't verify that the log and confidential books from BENCLEUCH had
been disposed of properly. It
seems a little absurd to think that he should have sent someone aboard the
stricken and burning ship to rescue the books.
Further, the master of BENCLEUCH was aboard the ATHELVISCOUNT, who
rejoined the convoy. Given
the confusion, the need for radio silence, the little time NANAIMO was in
company with ATHELVISCOUNT and the poor visibility, it is of little wonder
that NANAIMO's skipper could not ensure the proper destruction of the
books. On the other hand,
NANAIMO's Captain did comment that he had acquired all necessary
information from ATHELVISCOUNT in his report of proceedings.
In addition, with suspicion of sabotage and the sensitive nature of
convoy information contained in the confidential books there was certainly
a serious concern. NANAIMO arrived in St. John's on December 16 and sailed to join another convoy bound for England on the December 22. The ship would spend Christmas at sea.
Christmas this year was spent at sea and Puffy Summerfeldt
remembers Christmas as being somewhat less than merry.
He tells of going to the galley and getting Christmas dinner in an
enamel tin, the ship being covered in ice and everyone having to get out
and chip ice after Christmas dinner. This was not an uncommon thing in a corvette and the crew had to use everything and anything that would chip off the ice. This was done to prevent the ship from becoming top heavy and turning turtle (rolling over) and everyone had a turn.
This was her third trip to Iceland and the day after New Years, she
challenged a tramp steamer named the "JESSIE MAERSK". This tramp steamer was crippled out of Iceland and may have
been returning to Reykjavik for repairs.
She purportedly had dropped out of convoy ON 5. NANAIMO arrived in Iceland on January 3, 1942 and anchored in
Hvalfjordur Fjord.
Next day, the boys got to go ashore to the canteen.
Not much of a break but welcome none-the-less after fighting the
sea and watching for German "U" Boats!
Within a week NANAIMO would know what fighting the sea was all
about!
Fighting the sea was especially true for "Corvettes" as
they were known to "roll on wet grass".
While, the rolling may have made things uncomfortable, the stubby
little corvettes were marvellous sea keeping ships.
They often survived storms that larger ships could not.
On January 8 NANAIMO sailed from Hvalfordur Fjord to join a
westbound convoy running right into a storm, which damaged the A.S.D.I.C.
Damaged equipment was not an uncommon thing in those days. Ships lost these essential pieces of equipment due to
failure, water, storm damage or even damage from their own depth charges.
Often several escorts in the group would be without A.S.D.I.C.,
radar, such as it was, or HF. DF.
Here is a first hand account of some of the lessons on fighting the
sea that NANAIMO would learn. At
1400 on January 8, 1942, task group 4.1.16 consisting of H.M.C.Ships
LETHBRIDGE (SO), NANAIMO, GALT, NIAGARA and MATAPEDIA along with H.M.S.
DIANTHUS, sailed from Hvalfordur Fjord to join a westbound convoy ON 54.
H.M.C.S. NIAGARA was designated as an extra and sailed with the
task group.
They met ON 54 during a force eight gale during which H.M.S.
DIANTHUS' log describes the next four days:
January 9, 1942
0900 - GALT and NANAIMO parted company with the convoy.
January 10, 1942
0900 - LETHBRIDGE and MATAPEDIA parted company with the convoy.
January 11, 1942
0900 - DIANTHUS lost the convoy.
January 12, 1942
Force twelve gale from the southwest.
DIANTHUS reported that the sea had smashed her forward wheelhouse
windows and flooded the compartment along with the radio or WT office. The starboard plating of the wheelhouse was buckled and the
bridge rails were carried away or flattened.
The breakwater was set back and two holes were torn in the foc'sle.
The gun shield on her main armament was also buckled.
As a result of this damage DIANTHUS was without radio
communications and forced to heave to and returned to the United Kingdom.
On January 12 the convoy, unable to overcome the storm, was hove to
at position 54 38'N 25 32'W
and was scattered badly as each ship fought its own battle with the sea.
This individual battle lasted for another day.
During the next two days the convoy slowly came together and the
convoy reassembled as the bad weather abated.
To further complicate things the convoy was reforming in fog! The visibility was a mere five Cables.
On the January 17 the convoy reported the following weather and
position report to C.O.A.C.: Position 047
02'N 038 20'W a gentle
breeze was blowing and visibility was not five miles.
NANAIMO arrived in St. John's for repairs on January 19 after
weathering the storm. Anyone
who has sailed the North Atlantic during a winter storm knows the fury and
damage that can be inflicted by the sea!
By February 1942 she made a move to Escort Group 16 and made her
only Trans-Atlantic crossing. She
picked up a slow convoy, SC 68, out of Sidney, Nova Scotia and
escorted it to Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
The convoy made contact with the enemy, or perhaps more correctly,
the enemy made contact with the convoy on the February 8 and NANAIMO
dropped a total of eighteen depth charges without results.
Perhaps the phrase without results is a misnomer.
While no "U" boat was sunk she may have forced the
submarine to keep her head down, thus saving losses to the convoy.
After all, this was NANAIMO's job; to protect the convoy.
While on the return trip she escorted ON 68 and on March 4
action stations were called. More
than fifty depth charges were dropped and a possible kill of the submarine
was reported. Red Ashcroft
corroborates this episode, as it was recorded in his journal.
The weather deteriorated much to the benefit of the convoy,
initially at least. By March
6 a full-blown gale was in progress.
For the next three days the storm raged on.
As with the storm in January, the convoy dispersed in an attempt to
win their own battle with the sea... "The Cruel Sea".
Red Ashcroft describes the storm this way:
"During this storm the weather was so bad that the watches
could not be changed as it was worth your life to venture above decks.
With her short foc'sle NANAIMO's decks were constantly awash.
Food couldn't be brought from the galley and water was everywhere
in the ship. The mess decks
were constantly wet with water entering every hatch and door.
In order to get to the boiler room the crew had to negotiate via
the boat decks. The storm was
so fierce that the force of the water broke up the lifeboats and the
Carley floats were torn away. All this damage was happening on the boat deck.
This is where the crew had to try to negotiate a passage from one
end of the ship to the other, with nothing but a flimsy life line to hold
on to".
NANAIMO arrived, storm battered, at St. John's on March 9, 1942.
Her next major move was to Western Local Escort Force commonly
referred to by any and all who served there as the triangle run.
As J.E. Lamb put it "... no seaman in the Halifax groups would
dream of such a reference, Western Local Escort Force.
For him and for crews of escort ships everywhere this was the
"Triangle Run"". Short,
quick runs up and down the coast from Boston and New York to
"Slackers" Halifax, Sydney and "Newfy John", St.
John's, Newfoundland. Then after a one or, if you're lucky, two day stop over and
back again.
Alex Bretenbach, a stoker, commented on "The Triangle
Run" by saying, "I never though we were in water that was deep
enough to drop depth charges in".
An apt tongue in cheek description of how the average seaman viewed
the assignment.
NANAIMO made a round trip from St. John's to Halifax and return
during March. It was during
this brief stop in Halifax that Wilfred "Puffy" Summerfeldt
likely joined NANAIMO. He
tells this story that begins here and ends some years later on another
ship:
"I went aboard NANAIMO as an A.B. and those things (corvettes)
took at least twenty four hours to get steam up.
My assignment was to get the steam up and I started about 1600 I
guess.
I stumbled down to the Boiler room and it was a shambles.
They had just finished Boiler cleaning and bits of pumps were here
and there. Oh, hey, I was
putting it together as I was flashing it up.
Cripes, I look up and here's this bloody Commander Engineer coming
down the ladder! He took one
look around and blew a fuse. He
asked: "are you the Petty Officer of the watch"?
I said: "No sir". He
said: "are you a Leading Seaman in charge of the watch"? I said: "No sir".
He shouted: "Good God man what the hell are you"?
So I told him I was a stoker one and had just finished the PO's
course.
"I want the duty Petty Officer,? he says.
I says: "There isn't one sir". "Well", he asks, "who's in charge?"
I answer: "I am sir".
He says: "You can't be in charge you're a stoker first
class".
Well any way he left in a fume and I guess there was all hell to
pay the next day on the ship. But,
luckily enough I'd got the place reasonably cleaned up so they could stand
up and the steam was up.
So when we commissioned the WARRIOR she carried a full commander.
Any way a few months after we commissioned I was put in charge of
oiling and water and all that crap. I
went into the office to report I'd finished fuelling to the Chief Stoker.
I looked around and here was this commander "E", the same
one who'd given me the trouble on NANAIMO.
I didn't say anything and I guess he didn't recognize me.
Well after some time I got pretty close to the Old Man because he
wanted all the reports direct to him and not through the Chief Stoker. I was to report to his cabin every day.
So one day I worked up enough courage to ask him if he'd remembered
boarding NANAIMO. "Oh",
he says, "That was a disgraceful exhibition"!
I says, "I was the poor Stoker One you were yelling at"!
He laughed like hell
and, Oh, he was a good old scout".
Then she joined convoy ON 78 along with H.M.S. VETERAN (SO),
MONTGOMERY and H.M.C. Ships OAKVILLE, NIPIGON.
They sailed from St. John's to pick up a Halifax bound convoy and
were known as TU. 24.18.6..
On April Fool's Day the Task Unit picked up convoy ON 78
1430 and H.M.S. VETERAN took over as Senior Officer.
NANAIMO and NIPIGON were dispatched with the Halifax portion of
convoy ON 78 at dusk on April 6 and landed in Halifax on the next
day.
One day later, NANAIMO had a new skipper; his name was T.J. Bellas
(LT) and he retained command until August.
NANAIMO then had a chance to take part in some much-needed training
exercises off Halifax. This
training consisted, for the most part, of gunnery practice according to
Red Ashcroft.
On April 20 NANAIMO sailed out of Halifax harbour bound for St.
John's again. She arrived
three days later. NANAIMO
sailed from St. John's again and, along with H.M.C.S. HALIFAX, was
detached from ON 86 at 2000 on April 28.
They were to escort the Halifax section of the convoy consisting of
fifteen ships. HON 86 arrived in Halifax on April 29.
From May 6 to 10 NANAIMO worked out of Halifax and in the Gulf of
ST. Lawrence near St. Pierre and Miquelon.
NANAIMO returned to Halifax on the tenth.
On April 14 NANAIMO sailed from Halifax and the next day was fired
upon. A "U" Boat
fired two torpedoes at her but they missed and NANAIMO escaped unscathed
to enter St. John's again four days later.
This incident happened just off "Slackers".
She made many a trip to Boston or New York and Lew tells of one
visit to New York and Coney Island.
Lew and some of his wingers tried their hand at a shooting gallery.
In the end, Lew was paid to leave as he was winning most times he
shot. He took with him a
Browning pump action 22 rifle, which was given to the author's mother and
remains in the family to this day. Suffice
it to say, growing up on the prairies did not hinder Lew's ability to
shoot straight.
On a cool morning in mid-May NANAIMO slipped from Halifax bound for
St. John's and another trip on "The Triangle Run".
A ?U? boat fired NANAIMO on the next day, May 15, 1942.
Two torpedoes were fired, but NANAIMO was not hit nor was her
attacker destroyed.
HMCS NANAIMO at anchor 1942
During another trip on "The Triangle Run", and exactly
one month to the day later, the enemy attacked again, this time in the
evening at approximately 21:30 June 15.
Two ships in the convoy were torpedoed.
One was the "PORT NICHOLSON",
a freighter, and the other was the U.S. troop ship "CHEROKEE".
There were eighty-three survivors from PORT NICHOLSON and twelve
from CHEROKEE. NANAIMO picked
up seventy-nine of the eighty-three survivors from PORT NICHOLSON.
As she did not sink immediately, NANAIMO remained with the ship
throughout the night.
The next day a sea boat was sent from the NANAIMO with two of the
freighter's officers and five crewmen from NANAIMO, one officer and four
ratings. These men were
Lieutenant Wakely, Leading Seaman; Aubrey Pickles, Signalman; Jack Tedford,
Able Seaman; Lorne (Buzz) Horne and an A.S.D.I.C. operator named Pat
Ginevin. They went to see if the ship could be salvaged.
The sea boat made its way to PORT NICHOLSON and tied up near her
bow. The boat's crew and the
two officers from PORT NICHOLSON had to climb about fifteen feet to gain
the deck. After the boarding
party was aboard the PORT NICHOLSON the boat's party went below decks near
the bows of the ship leaving only Jack Tedford above decks.
Jack was standing at the ship's side where the sea boat had been
secured. NANAIMO signalled,
by light, that the ship was sinking by the stern.
Jack commented that he had not noticed it as she was going down
very gradually. Jack then ran
to the hatch and yelled to the others.
He commented that some of them got up and some of them did not.
The after bulkhead gave-way and the ship went down by her stern
very quickly.
Port Nicholson sinking by the
stern as seen from NANAIMO
The rest of the story will be told in Jack's own words as he
described them to this writer almost fifty years later.
"The boat came right up.
It was maybe fifteen or twenty feet to climb on to the ship but
when we went to get into the boat it was right at our feet.
As a matter of fact it swamped and went under.
I know I got my feet caught in the falls from one of the ship's
boats. I kicked my rubber
boots off and when I came up I looked around and there was Pickles on a
Carley Float, a life raft, that had fallen down off the foc'sle of the
PORT NICHOLSON. He hollered
at me and said, "Over here, come on over here Ted".
I had a life jacket on so I swam over".
Jack went on to say that the A.S.D.I.C. rating Pat Ginevin was also
picked up with Pickles and himself. The
two officers from PORT NICHOLSON, her skipper and executive officer did
not even get above decks before she went down.
Lt. Wakely and Buzz were able to get above decks; but they were
unable to get clear when the sinking ship struck and swamped the sea-boat. As a result they were lost.
Puffy Summerfeldt remembers the situation and tells this small
addition to the story:
"We wanted to put a line aboard and they wouldn't let us,
probably somebody in Boston. They
detached a deep-sea tug. Well there was a heavy swell running.
Finally, her main bulkhead broke and she went down.
They took everybody off. They
lowered the boat and took the skipper and I guess the Chief Mate.
One signalman got pulled down with it but his sea boots came off
and he managed to pop to the surface. We laid right in the middle of where she'd gone down there. Her boilers blew and she covered us from stem to stern with soot! We picked up eighty seven, I think and took them into Boston".
PORT NICHOLSON was a steam ship of 8,402 Tons.
NANAIMO arrived in Boston, Mass. with the survivors from
PORT NICHOLSON later in the day.
The loss of Lt. Wakely and Able-Seaman Horne was traumatic for the
crew. NANAIMO received a
message from the Commander of the Task Unit congratulating her on her
efforts and her skipper on his "...bold and skilful handling of the
ship...". In addition,
he sent, on behalf of the remainder of the group, deepest sympathy for
the..."loss of good shipmates"!
On a more personal note, Lew took the loss of his friend
"Buzz" very hard and until the day of his death he never spoke
of the incident, even when asked.
A copy of this message was given to the author by Jack Tedford, the signalman who went
aboard the PORT NICHOLSON that fateful day and is included here for
reference.
Survivours likely from Port
Nicholson
NANAIMO sailed from Boston for Halifax on the June 17 and arrived
June 19.
NANAIMO took part in local patrol duties until two days before
Lew's birthday, June 28, and then she went into refit at Halifax.
The refit took two months to complete and included repairs and
replacement of electrical and mechanical gear.
Red Ashcroft left the ship during this refit.
E.U. Jones took command on August 21, near the end of this refit.
He was related to the C.O.A.C., who was Commodore G. C. Jones and
was constantly in hot water. He
retained command for about a year being relieved on October 10, 1943 by
J.E. Hastings, Lt.. His antics kept NANAIMO tied to the *trot buoys and not
alongside, which was a sore spot with the crew.
Still, he got away with many of his "little tricks".
Pat Hennesy told one example of his little tricks to the author.
He said that while racing another corvette NANAIMO ran onto a sand
bar and went right through, just kept on going.
That seems to be one way to clean the bottom, as no doubt there
were few barnacles left on the ship's bottom.
This little prank took place in St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia.
H.N.M.S. LINCOLN, H.M.C.Ships KITCHENER, NANAIMO and ALGOMA sailed
at 0830 on September 9 to join a westbound convoy, ON 125, which
was bound for New York. The
escort group was known as TU 24.18.1 and joined the convoy at 2200.
TU 24.18.1 left the convoy at 1400 September 12 after arriving at
Ambrose Light Vessel and arrived at Staten Island at just over an hour
later.
NANAIMO arrived in Halifax on September 21 in company with H.N.M.S.
LINCOLN and H.M.C.Ships ALGOMA and KITCHENER after escorting convoy HX
208 from New York.
NANAIMO must have made a quick run up to St. John's as she was
dispatched from there on September 29, 1942.
She sailed in company with H.M.C.Ships ORRILIA (SO), DIGBY and
CHICOUTIMI to relieve the Task Group escorting ON 140.
The group joined the next day.
They were to join at 79 19' N
47 16' W at noon; however, they did not join until 1500 at 47 15' N 47 45" W some
considerable distance from the described meeting place.
B.4 group transferred the convoy papers at 1530 and detached for
Argentia.
At 1300 on October 4 H.M.C.Ships ANNAPOLIS (SO), DIGBY, CHICOUTIMI
and NANAIMO, who were detached from ON 140 earlier, arrived in
Halifax.
NANAIMO, refuelled in Halifax, sailed to join ON 133 the
next day with a full gale blowing.
As it sometimes happens, especially when steaming in close
formations such as a convoy, ships collide.
Just such an accident happened to "MILLCREST".
It was October 7 and the convoy was making its way northward in a
full gale, when MILLCREST was rammed. NANAIMO was part of the escort of
ON 133 when she stood by MILLCREST.
She took aboard forty-seven survivors and landed them in Halifax.
Only one of the crew of MILLCREST was lost; he was presumed
drowned.
When NANAIMO first came upon MILLCREST she reported that MILLCREST
was down by the bows and that her number two hold was flooded and that
number one hold was covered by canvas only.
EMPIRE LIGHTNING of an eastbound convoy SC 104, who passed within
four to twelve miles, rammed MILLCREST.
It must have been a very close four miles.
MILLCREST was a straggler from ON 132 and did not even
belong to the convoy NANAIMO was escorting.
GEORGETOWN was dispatched to pick up survivors and she met NANAIMO
and MILLCREST at 0917 and found MILLCREST settling slowly by the bows with
her foredeck awash.
MILLCREST's master reported number two hold flooded and that she
may remain afloat if her number one bulkhead would hold.
The weather was reported as wind force 4-5 and freshening.
At 1142 MILLCREST sank and by 1315 NANAIMO was in Halifax dropping
of the survivors.
NANAIMO must have left almost immediately as she was part of the
escort force for ON 133 along with CALDWELL, CHICOUTIMI and KENORA.
NANAIMO joined the convoy, which was west bound in very bad
weather, at 1830 on October 8. Much
to the consternation of those in the convoy, there was a lone merchant
ship identified as IRISH POLAR following at visual distance with all her
lights on. She was told to stand clear and not use her R/T on penalty of
being boarded. IRISH POLAR
made no attempt to over take the convoy and must have been a source of
some worry to those responsible for protecting the convoy.
The convoy was diverted through Long Island Sound at 0300 on
October 10, 1942.
NOTE:
On October 10 NANAIMO, in company with H.M.S. CALDWELL and
ROXBOUROUGH and with H.M.C. Ships CHICOUTIMI and KENORA, was reported as
escorting convoy ON 135 but there is almost certainly some error
here as she was also reported as escorting ON 133 at the time.
The reports of ON 133 are much more mentioned and the convoy
numbers may be incorrect or the dates could be wrong. However, NANAIMO may have simply been re-assigned from ON
133 to ON 135 while at sea.
NANAIMO sailed from Halifax at 2330 on October 27 in company with
CHICOUTIMI and at 0426 next morning NANAIMO sent a message indicating she
expected to make contact with the convoy, ON 130, at 1300 and that
she had CHICOUTIMI in company. H.N.M.S.
LINCOLN, a Norwegian warship, and H.M.S. ROXBOUROUGH were ordered to sail
from Halifax at 1000z October 27 but, due to defects, did not sail until
0130. NANAIMO and CHICOUTIMI
sailed as ordered and made contact with the convoy at 1400 and joined the
New York bound convoy, ON 130, some two hours later.
KAMSACK was dispatched to Halifax with the arrival of the two
ships.
The convoy was released on the thirtieth after reaching Ambrose
Light Vessel at 1800 and the escort arrived at Staten Island shortly
thereafter.
H.M.C.S. ANNAPOLIS joined convoy ON 141 at 42 00' N 64
21' W about 1000 November 7. H.M.C.Ships
NANAIMO and CHICOUTIMI were already in company as they had sailed earlier
with the Halifax section of the convoy.
There was some problem joining the main section of the convoy, as
it was some thirty miles off its estimated position.
As a result the main section of the convoy was astern of the HON
section with NANAIMO and CHICOUTIMI escorting. The two groups joined with
the help of an R.C.A.F. Hudson. The
HON section was turned back by R/T transmission and joined between 1700
and 1800.
NANAIMO began an attack on an underwater target on November 8.
The target was later identified as fish.
Next day, in early evening, ANNAPOLIS attacked an under water
target. This target too was
later determined to be fish.
The group passed Ambrose Light Ship at 1100 next day with
forty-five ships and entered New York Harbour later in the day.
The group stayed in "The Big Apple" for seven days and
each watch was given forty-eight hours leave.
While the ships were there they all had their boilers cleaned.
NANAIMO sailed from New York for Halifax on November 17 where, Pat
Hennesy joined the ship. He
commented to the author, "she was all froze up" due to lack of
steam???
H.M.C.S. QUESNEL, part of the local escort for ON 146,
sailed from Halifax on December 2,1942 to join the convoy.
The remainder of the group, which included NANAIMO, was to sail the
next day.
H.M.C.Ships DIGBY (SO), NANAIMO, CHICOUTIMI sailed from Halifax to
join convoy ON 146 at 0644. The
6,089-ton steamship EMPIRE DABCHICK, who was straggling from the convoy,
was torpedoed the same day. Her
position was reported as 43 00' N 58
17' W when she was torpedoed by a "U" boat. (His Majesty's
Stationery Office, British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy
Action During Second World War, London, 1947.)
On December 7, H.M.C.S. ARROWHEAD (SO), DIGBY and CHICOUTIMI sailed
from Halifax, to join ON 149, at 1600.
NANAIMO already at sea, joined the convoy from the southeast at
1720. She signalled ARROWHEAD that she only had thirty percent fuel
remaining and was
immediately detached for Halifax with orders to rejoin as soon as
possible.
H.M.C. Ships COLUMBIA (SO), FENNEL, COWICHAN, and DUNVEGAN were to
be relieved by "H.M.C. Ships DIGBY, NANAIMO, ARROWHEAD and CHICOUTIMI
in position 43 20' W 58 10' W at 1500.
The convoy was about seven hours late and the relief did not happen
as was planned.
On December 9 COLUMBIA sent, by R/T, an amended position to the
relieving escort and to Captain "D" Halifax.
NANAIMO joined the convoy around 1000 at 43 16' N
58 10" W and signalled by V/S to COLUMBIA that DIGBY was in
the vicinity. NANAIMO was
ordered to take up station astern of the convoy by SO in COLUMBIA.
DIGBY joined at 1330 the same day.
With the arrival of NANAIMO, FENNELL and DUNVEGAN were detached to
Halifax at 1110.
Several ships bound for the West Indies were also detached without
escort that evening about 2000. A
few minutes later NANAIMO lowered a sea-boat to transfer an injured rating
to COLUMBIA.
COLUMBIA detached from the convoy for Halifax, on December 10, with
serious condenser problems. Once
the whole relief group joined NANAIMO took station on the port bow by day
and the port beam by night at 3 - 5000 yards.
After Christmas in Halifax and home port, a none to frequent
occurrence, NANAIMO sailed from Halifax at about 1400 December 29 with the
Halifax section of convoy ON 155.
She was to join the main portion of the convoy with H.M.C.Ships
COLUMBIA, QUESNEL and COBALT. NANAIMO
joined at 1100 on new year's eve 1942 convoy position was 45 56' North 48
42' West.
The following is a verbatim report of the proceedings of the convoy
as reported by the skipper of H.M.C.S. COLUMBIA:
- - REPORT OF
PROCEEDINGS - CONVOY ON 155 - -
1.
COLUMBIA slipped from H.M.S. GREENWICH at 1415z December
29, the delay being due to the incompletion of repairs to A/S set.
2.
Immediately upon passing out the gate COLUMBIA commenced to take
station ahead of the convoy.
3.
During the night of the twenty-ninth, the St. John's section of
four ships became separated due to poor visibility and heavy seas.
4.
The next morning at 0900z/30 COLUMBIA closed a tanker belonging to
that section. At 1030z/30
COBALT with one
merchant ship joined
COLUMBIA. The later then told
the COBALT to take the tanker and merchant ship and steer south for thirty
miles. An R/T signal was
received from QUESNEL at 1100z/30 stating that she was in company with the
commodore and her position. COBALT
spoke to COLUMBIA by R/T at 1205z/30 stating she had steered south for
thirty miles as ordered and that H.M.C.S. NANAIMO was now in company.
During this period COLUMBIA was travelling alone endeavouring to
round up the section. H.M.C.S.
QUESNEL with the commodore and another merchant ship were closed by
COLUMBIA at 1315z/30.
5.
At 1434z/30 Polish destroyer BURZA gave COLUMBIA a bearing and at
1730z/30 stated her estimated position to be 46
07' N 49 16' W.
6.
COLUMBIA proceeded ahead at 1440z/30 to contact the main convoy,
H.M.C.S. QUESNEL remaining with the other two merchant ships.
7.
At 1715z/30 COLUMBIA met THE BURZA in position 46 11' N
49 17' W. Shortly
after H.M.C.S. QUESNEL with two merchant ships joined and at 1955z/30
COLUMBIA took over as Senior Officer from BURZA.
COLUMBIA took station on port bow and QUESNEL on starboard bow.
At 2145z an RDF contact was obtained with H.M.C.S. NANAIMO.
COLUMBIA now took station ahead, NANAIMO port bow QUESNEL starboard
bow.
8.
The remaining two ships of the Newfoundland section were contacted
at 0533z/31 at a range of 5 1/2 miles, H.M.C.S COBALT joining with them at
0615z/31.
9.
Day stations now COLUMBIA ahead, COBALT astern, NANAIMO port wing,
and QUESNEL starboard wing. Night
stations were, COLUMBIA starboard bow, QUESNEL starboard quarter, COBALT
port quarter, and NANAIMO port bow.
10.
At 0251z1 NANAIMO's RDF broke down and for this reason COLUMBIA
remained in the van during the dark hours.
11.
At 2300z/1 the two ships for Guantanimo were detached.
12. H.M.C.S. NANAIMO and two ships, which got ahead of the convoy,
were closed at 0950z/2. By
1100z COLUMBIA had rejoined the convoy and the other vessels rejoined at
1130z/2.
13.
HON 155 was sighted at 1140z/.
This section had joined by 1215z/2 in position 43 30' N
61 00' W. Convoy
sailing orders were passed by flashing to H.M.C.S. BRANTFORD, Senior
Officer of the relieving escort, and the latter vessel took over at
1240z/2.
14.
Shortly after COLUMBIA closed PT22 (S.S. HERCULES) to transfer her
medical officer, the chief officer of the HERCULES having suffered a
stroke.
15.
The three ships for Halifax detached at 1400z/2 and a quarter of an
hour later the commodore detached the HERCULES to Halifax for medical
reasons, COLUMBIA's doctor remaining on board the former.
16.
COLUMBIA escorting the HERCULES overtook the Halifax section at
1600z/2. A Canso aircraft and
a Lockheed Hudson appeared over the section during the early part of the
afternoon. Two yellow
parachute flares were sighted ahead while proceeding towards Halifax,
approximately 15 miles ahead at 2330z/2.
17.
COLUMBIA passed through the gate at 0335z/3 and secured alongside
NIAGARA at No. 3 jetty at 0423z/3.
18.
Asdic conditions during the end of December and the first few days
of the New Year were fair. Average
echo range being approximately 1700 yards and range reverberations roughly
2000 yards. H.E. was good. There was no evidence of skip distance.
19.
All R/T messages were coded
NANAIMO was detached from ON 155 at 2030 on January 3 with
the arrival of COLUMBIA and QUESNEL.
NANAIMO (SO) and H.M.C.Ships QUESNEL and COBALT sailed from New
York with another convoy. They
remained at sea until January 17 when the task unit arrived in Halifax.
During this convoy the escorts had an opportunity to practice an
A.A. shoot and Star shell illuminations.
The only excitement occurred when one of the ships of the convoy
S.S. ROXBURG CASTLE reported sighting a submarine.
The escorts were sent to investigate.
They found the sub all right except it turned out to be a fog buoy.
Never the less, it broke the monotony no doubt.
In the early hours of January 31, H.M.C. Ships NANAIMO, MONCTON
(SO), and LACHINE escorted the Halifax portion of ON 160 out of
Halifax to join the main part of the convoy.
H.M.C.S. COBALT (SO), MONCTON, NANAIMO and LACHINE sailed from New
York on the eight of February with Convoy HX226.
They remained with this convoy for three days before turning it
over to another escort. During
this time a straggler reported sighting a periscope; however after
investigation the report was considered erroneous.
While on their return to Halifax on the February 12, the ships were
ordered to proceed independently after reaching Chebucto Head, due to a
moderate gale and dense fog, an unusual combination.
In February 1943 NANAIMO assisted in the tow of U.S.C.G. CAMPBELL
seven hundred and fifty miles to St. John's following her ramming of U606.
CAMPBELL was in escort of ONS 166 with Escort Group A3 at
the time. This job was done
with HIS MAJESTY's ROYAL TUG "TENACITY".
What follows is a blow by blow description of events of the sinking
of "U 606" and the aftermath, which, save for the efforts of a
couple of unsung heroines in the form of TENACITY and NANAIMO, nearly cost
the loss of U.S.C.G. CAMPBELL.
CAMPBELL made radar contact with the enemy at 2010 on Valentine's
Day, only fifteen minutes after her radar had been repaired; it had been
out all day. While trying to
ram the "U" boat CAMPBELL was gashed by the "U" boats
hydroplane. In the process a
fifteen-foot gash was made in the fuel tank and into the engine room below
the water line. CAMPBELL
attempted to make her own repairs during the next four days, while other
escorts of the group stood by.
Interestingly, they were all Canadian except for the BUNZA.
NANAIMO became involved when she was dispatched from St. John's at
1352 on February 23 to join the crippled U.S.C.G. CAMPBELL.
Meanwhile, BUNZA, a Polish destroyer, and H.M.C.S. SALISBURY stood
by CAMPBELL, as did H.M.C.S. DAUPHIN.
All three took fuel from her.
DAUPHIN took fuel on February 24.
Next day, DAUPHIN signalled CTF24 and Escort for ON 167 that
her "prudent limit of endurance was 1400 on the February 26".
SALISBURY took 100 tons of bunker fuel from CAMPBELL the following
day giving her seventy six percent and at 1920 she signalled NANAIMO
alerting her of this as well as giving course speed and position and
indicating she would join ON 168 when relieved by NANAIMO.
However, this was not to be. SALISBURY
was told by COMTASK 24, the commander of Task Unit number twenty-four, to,
"...Remain with CAMPBELL until prudent limit of fuel or until
detached by me". Message
repeats were also sent to NANAIMO and DAUPHIN.
At 0312 February 26, NANAIMO signalled the three ships with
CAMPBELL that she found no trace of survivors, gave her 2200 position as
46 25' N 39 34' W and her
course of 080 and a speed of 13 knots.
She also signalled her ETA as 1700.
With the arrival of TENACITY at 1230 DAUPHIN was detached to St.
John's for fuel. H.M.R.T.
TENACITY took CAMPBELL in tow and H.M.C.Ships SALISBURY and NANAIMO
continued to screen.
SALISBURY sighted a "U" boat on the surface at 1415 and
gave chase. The "U"
boat submerged and got away but had no opportunity to inflict further
damage.
At 1645 NANAIMO, SALISBURY and DAUPHIN received a message from
admiralty that "U" boats were in the vicinity of CAMPBELL or
possibly in the vicinity of DAUPHIN.
At 0100 February 28 SALISBURY detached to St. John's with 30% fuel
remaining. Her relief H.M.C.S.
GEORGETOWN sailed from St. John's at noon the same day.
This left NANAIMO and TENACITY to fend for themselves with
"U" boats having been sighted as well as being reported in the
area. A most tenuous
situation.
On the March 3, 1943 in the early evening TENACITY arrived at St.
John's with CAMPBELL in tow escorted by NANAIMO and GEORGETOWN, who had
joined the group sometime earlier.
The following is a typical convoy report.
NANAIMO was part of the escort force and the report was submitted
by Lt. Commander G. H. Stephens of H.M.C.S. COLUMBIA, Senior Officer of
the Task Group. The report
was submitted January 6, 1943:
________________________________________________
- - REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS - CONVOY ON155 - -
________________________________________________
1.
COLUMBIA slipped from H.M.S. GREENWICH AT 1415Z December
29, the delay being due to the incompletion of repairs
to A/S set.
2.
Immediately upon passing out the gate COLUMBIA commenced to take
station ahead of the convoy.
3.
During the night of the twenty ninth, the St. John's section of
four ships became separated due to poor visibility and
heavy seas.
4.
The next morning at 0900z/30 COLUMBIA closed a tanker belonging to
that section. At 1030z/30
COBALT with one merchant ship
joined COLUMBIA. The later
then told the COBALT to take
the tanker and merchant ship and steer south for thirty miles.
An R/T signal was received from QUESNEL at 1100z/30 stating that
she was in company with the commodore and her position.
COBALT spoke to COLUMBIA by R/T at 1205z/30 stating she had steered
south for thirty miles as ordered and that H.M.C.S. NANAIMO was now in
company. During this period
COLUMBIA was travelling alone endeavouring to round up the section.
H.M.C.S. QUESNEL with the commodore and another merchant ship were
closed by COLUMBIA at 1315z/30.
5.
At 1434z/30 Polish destroyer BURZA gave COLUMBIA a bearing and at
1730z/30 stated her estimated position to be 46
07' N 49 16' W.
6.
COLUMBIA proceeded ahead at 1440z/30 to contact the main convoy,
H.M.C.S. QUESNEL remaining with the other two merchant ships.
7.
At 1715z/30 COLUMBIA met THE BURZA in position 46 11' N
49 17' W. Shortly
after H.M.C.S. QUESNEL with two merchant ships joined and at 1955z/30
COLUMBIA took over as Senior Officer from BURZA.
COLUMBIA took station on port bow and QUESNEL on starboard bow.
At 2145z an RDF contact was obtained with H.M.C.S. NANAIMO.
COLUMBIA now took station ahead, NANAIMO port bow QUESNEL starboard
bow.
8.
The remaining two ships of the Newfoundland section were contacted
at 0533z/31 at a range of 5 1/2 miles, H.M.C.S COBALT joining with them at
0615z/31.
9.
Day stations now COLUMBIA ahead, COBALT astern, NANAIMO port wing,
QUESNEL starboard wing. Night
stations were, COLUMBIA starboard bow, QUESNEL starboard quarter, COBALT
port quarter, NANAIMO port bow.
10.
At 0251z1 NANAIMO's RDF broke down and for this reason COLUMBIA
remained in the van during the dark hours.
11.
At 2300z/1 the two ships for Guantanamo were detached.
12.
H.M.C.S. NANAIMO and two ships which got ahead of the convoy were
closed at 0950z/2. By 1100z
COLUMBIA had rejoined the convoy and the other vessels rejoined at
1130z/2.
13.
HON 155 was sighted at 1140z/.
This section had joined by 1215z/2 in position 43 30' N
61 00' W. Convoy
sailing orders were passed by flashing to H.M.C.S. BRANTFORD, Senior
Officer of the relieving escort, and the latter vessel took over at
1240z/2.
14.
Shortly after COLUMBIA closed PT22 (S.S. HERCULES) to transfer her
medical officer, the chief officer of the HERCULES having suffered a
stroke.
15.
The three ships for Halifax detached at 1400z/2 and a quarter of an
hour later the commodore detached the HERCULES to Halifax for medical
reasons, COLUMBIA's doctor remaining on board the former.
16.
COLUMBIA escorting the HERCULES overtook the Halifax section at
1600z/2. A Canso aircraft and
a Lockheed Hudson appeared over the section during the early part of the
afternoon. Two yellow
parachute flares were sighted ahead while proceeding towards Halifax,
approximately 15 miles ahead at 2330z/2.
17.
COLUMBIA passed through the gate at 0335z/3 and secured alongside
NIAGARA at No. 3 jetty at 0423z/3.
18.
Asdic conditions during the end of December and the first few days
of the new year were fair. Average
echo range being approximately 1700 yards and range reverberations roughly
2000 yards. H.E. was good. There
was no evidence of skip distance.
19.
All R/T messages were coded.
Some time during 1943 Ray Norman first went aboard NANAIMO when
both he and Lew Norman were trying to serve together in her.
This was shot down due to the R.C.N.'s policy of nepotism or not
having two members of the same family serving in the same ship.
At 0600 April 6 H.M.C.Ships CHICOUTIMI, QUESNEL and NANAIMO sailed
from St. John's to join ON 175.
H.M.C.S. MILLTOWN developed gyro problems while slipping and was
delayed; however, she sailed later and joined the convoy before the
remainder of the group.
NANAIMO, CHICOUTIMI and QUESNEL Joined convoy ON 175 at
1900/08 some ten hours late. The
group used HF/DF homing and joined from the south on a steady bearing.
H.M.S. MONTGOMERY remained with the convoy and assumed temporary
command of the group.
The next day H.M.S. LORD MIDDLETON and CAPE MARIATE joined as
additional escorts at 2200. Prior
to MONTGOMERY's leaving the convoy she screened S.S. EMPIRE BAFFIN for
about five hours. This ship
had to stop due to engine problems.
May 16 found NANAIMO with H.M.S. MONTGOMERY (SO), and H.M.C.Ships
FENNELL and NORANDA relieving the Mid-Ocean Escort Force ships of convoy ON
182. This convoy
consisted of fifty six ships in fourteen columns.
NANAIMO in company with GOTHLAND, the rescue ship from ON 182,
sailed for Halifax at 1210/18. GOTHLAND
ran into an iceberg at about 0130 on May 16, 1943.
Her position at the time was 48 00' N
47 37' W. She had
stove in her bows and both *hawse-pipes, making the anchors unserviceable.
Her forward accommodations were also made unliveable.
At 2045 three coastal ships joined the group.
GOTHLAND secured at the Pickford and Black pier about an hour
before noon on May 19. It is assumed that NANAIMO arrived at Halifax as
well but she may have released the GOTHLAND and returned to join the
convoy.
W9 sailed from Halifax at 1700 on June 22.
NANAIMO stayed behind to sail following her DF calibration.
The next day H.M.S. ROXBOROUGH (SO) and CHELSEA with H.M.C.S.
LEAMINGTON and BURLINGTON relieved the escort of convoy ON 188 at
1354 in heavy fog with a visibility of only two cables.
The convoy was supposedly some 80' astern of her reported position.
NANAIMO joined the convoy at 0000 due to a delay in getting her DF
calibrated.
The group arrived in New York on the June 26.
NANAIMO was the last of W9, her escort group, to secure and she
tied up at Pier 9 Staten Island at 1845.
NANAIMO sailed at 1600 on July 8 to join convoy ON 191 she
had H.M.C.S. BURLINGTON in company. H.M.C.S.
SUDBURY and H.M.S. ROXBOROUGH were delayed by defects and joined the
convoy later.
NANAIMO never reached the convoy as she was ordered back to St.
John's by *F.O.N.F. the next day. She
was detached from the unit at 0330 in heavy fog.
BURLINGTON relieved the Mid-Ocean Escort Force at noon and took
over escort of ON 191. H.M.S.
ROXBOROUGH and H.M.C.S. SUDBURY joined the convoy the following day.
H.M.S. MANSFIELD and the Canadian ships NANAIMO, BURLINGTON and
SUDBURY sailed from Halifax in dense fog on July 30; however, by the time
they had reached number four buoy the fog had cleared and the remainder to
the voyage remained clear. Just
outside Sydney harbour the convoy known as SC138 formed up.
Forty-eight ships sailed for the U.K.
During this trip the escorts practised the transfer of depth
charges from S.S. KINSWOOD. They
arrived at St. John's just before midnight on the third of August.
October and November found NANAIMO in refit at Lunenburg and, as
happened during the last refit, she received a new skipper.
He was, J.E. Hastings (LT) RCNR took command from E.U. Jones. On
the October 11 and retained command until October 9, 1944.
During this refit NANAIMO fell off the slips.
This incident happened just after completion of repairs while she
was being refloated.
Alex Bretenbach tells the story this way:
"Norm Parkes was standing on the stern.
She just broke lose slid down on an angle right off the slips.
They brought about three tugs from Halifax.
They even had divers there. They
worked half the night and when the tide came in pulled her off the slips. Then took her to Shelburne, Nova Scotia to get the bottom and
propeller fixed". (Pat Hennesy, Alex Bretenbach)
Alex Bretenbach joined the ship during this refit.
About one month following this refit NANAIMO in company with SAULT
ST. MARIE (SO), NORANDA and BURLINGTON sailed from Halifax at 1050 January
27, 1944 and at 1315 cleared the sweep channel and forming a line abreast
to port set course for convoy ON220.
The next day the convoy was sighted and the relief was completed at
1315 with SUALT ST. MARIE taking over as senior officer.
The convoy was badly organized, no doubt due to the unfavourable
weather, and consisted of thirty-two ships.
Sixteen of these ships were stragglers and not in company with the
main portion of the convoy.
Mid afternoon saw NANAIMO ordered astern to round up the
stragglers. Two hours later a
snowstorm reduced visibility to less than two cables and the convoy became
even more broken up. In fact,
only sixteen ships remained with the main portion the next day.
On January 29, 1944 the weather cleared and by early evening forty
ships were again with the convoy.
Two more stragglers rejoined the convoy on January 30. Further, air cover was available long enough to carry out
Operation Crocodile with the escorts.
The operation had a range of twenty miles. Operation Crocodile seems to have been a screening operation
to detect "U" boats in the area of the convoy and was carried
out as a joint effort between the air support and the escorts. S.S. WM. E. PENDELTON rejoined
the convoy on January 31. As
with the previous day aircraft and escorts carried out Operation
Crocodile, this time with a range of fifteen miles.
The aircraft remained with the convoy for four hours. In addition to the shore based air cover
S.S. EMPIRE McABE launched one aircraft.
At about 1830 NANAIMO detached with the St. John's section of the
convoy. NANAIMO sailed with
this section to St. John's then detached and sailed for Halifax.
She arrived in Halifax on February 2, after leaving her charges
from ON220 in St. John's.
February 12 found SAULT ST. MARIE (SO), NANAIMO, NORANDA and PORT
ARTHUR sailing to join convoy ON222.
The group remained with this convoy for four days leaving on
February 16, 1944.
NANAIMO was operating with H.M.C.S. COLUMBIA (W10) when she rammed
a cliff at Motion Bay, Newfoundland, due to faulty radar and fog, killing
two of her crew, but she never touched bottom. (Pat Hennessy, K MacPherson
and J. Burgess)
NANAIMO in company with RED DEER (SO), PORT ARTHUR and PORT HOPE
sailed on March 1, 1944 from Argentia, Newfoundland at about 1830, formed
a line abreast and made for *WESTOMP.
The convoy was in contact with enemy subs on and off most of the
day and radio restrictions were in effect to minimize the possibility of
"U" boat detection of the convoy by means of radio direction
finding equipment.
Radar contact with ON225 was made at about 1300, but due to
weather, visibility and radio restrictions responsibility was not turned
over till after 1800. F.F.S.
LOBELIA, from B-5, remained with the convoy and joined W-9 under the
direction of RED DEER but she only remained with the convoy till the
following morning.
H.M.C.S. RED DEER developed circulator and condenser problems that
necessitated stopping of the ship to repair the damage.
This was most assuredly a time of great concern for the crew as the
convoy had been in contact with the enemy throughout the previous day.
Stopping a ship in mid-ocean would make her easy prey for a
marauding "U" boat who might happen to stumble upon her.
She didn't rejoin the convoy till March 5.
In the mean time, very heavy weather was experienced. In fact, on March 4, RED DEER's *W/T office was flooded by a
large wave which poured water down the ventilator trunk and made her PV
500 H transmitter unserviceable.
Convoy ON225 was badly broken up due to heavy weather.
NANAIMO was alone with four ships, separated from the convoy,
endeavouring to overcome the heavy weather and make contact with the main
portion of the convoy. However,
the weather was so bad that the convoy was never successfully regrouped.
During this storm JOEL POINSERETT, a merchantman, broke in two.
EMPIRE CHIVALRY stood by the wreck.
It wasn't mentioned in the convoy report whether JOEL POINSERETT
sank or was salvaged. However,
it was noted that one ship was lost and several more damaged.
NANAIMO remained with her little portion of the convoy, of between
four and eight stragglers. Interestingly
enough, NANAIMO pasted the main body of the convoy in the night and
arrived in New York on March 8 ahead of the remainder of the convoy.
NANAIMO, NORANDA (SO) and PORT ARTHUR left Halifax on March 18,
with four ships in three columns to join ON227. Two days later they joined the
main body of the convoy consisting of fifty-one ships in ten columns.
Unlike the first part of the voyage for this convoy, where PRINCE
RUPERT sunk a "U" BOAT, this part of the trip seems to have been
relatively quiet till just before the group entered New York Harbour.
PORT ARTHUR reported an *A/S contact at about ten in the morning
and began an attack. NORANDA
and NANAIMO both closed to assist only to find that PORT ARTHUR's attack
with hedgehog was a success. In
fact, large numbers of herring were coming to the surface.
While the contact was not a submarine, it was, never the less,
devastating to the school of herring and no doubt a relief to those in the
convoy who had been shadowed by "U" boats from the beginning.
NANAIMO, SAULT ST. MARIE (SO) and NORANDA sailed from St. John's
Newfoundland to join ON230 on April 8.
As it happened, they arrived at WESTOMP twenty-four hours late and
had to increase speed in order to catch the convoy. ST. CATHERINES was relieved of
the convoy at about 2200 the next day.
H.M.C.S. FRONTENAC remained with W.9 and the convoy.
In addition, H.M.C. Ships DRUMHELLER and FRONTENAC remained with
W.9 for one and two more days respectively.
FRONTENAC was reported in contact with a "U" boat at 041
55' 047 22' on April 10. NANAIMO
was ordered to remain to assist as *A.S.D.I.C. aboard SAULT ST. MARRIE was
inoperative. W.9 was relieved of the convoy on
April 13, and SAULT ST. MARIE and NORANDA escorted the Halifax and Bay of
Fundy portions of the convoy.
NANAIMO remained with W.6, the relieving escort group, until the
next day at dawn when she sailed to rejoin W.9.
She rejoined the rest of her escort group at about 1400 and entered
Halifax harbour about midnight. As
it seemed to happen on many occasions NANAIMO and the convoy experienced
heavy seas and high winds.
Lew left his ship on April 16, 1944.
It was a sad day for him. He
had been rescued once before, but he was not so lucky this time. Lew went to H.M.C.S. COBALT after taking a course at "STAD"
(H.M.C.S. STADACONA).
April 19, 1944, W-7
sailed from Halifax and while enroute to join ONM231 carried out
A/A and 4" shoot. The following day they relived W-6 H.M.C.S.
WALLACEBURG (SO) and took over escort duties for ONM231.
Six of the sixty-eight ships detach for Boston on April 22, without
escort. Two days later five
more ships are detached for Baltimore, Philadelphia and Norfolk, Virginia.
H.M.C.Ships NANAIMO, SAULT STE. MARIE (SO), SHERBROOKE and DAWSON,
known as Escort Group W-7 or simply as W-7, as well as two American ships
SC1338 and SC1350 sail from New York with convoy HXF290, May 5,
1944. The weather was fine, but visibility was poor and
deteriorated with heavy fog for five days.
There were reports of icebergs in the area causing the commodore to
slow the convoy. The two
American ships left the convoy when it is out of American waters.
Seventy-one ships left New York with W-7 and twenty-two joined from
Halifax at HOMP.
May 9, the H/F D/F ship S.S. CAIRNESK reports a "U" boat
transmission estimating her to be some thirty miles from the convoy.
A liberator aircraft that was providing air cover investigated, but
saw no sub due to the fog. CIC later noted that the bearing was extremely accurate, but
the range was probably short as the "U" boat was more likely
between thirty and sixty miles from the convoy. H.M.C.Ships DUNVER, HESPELLA,
ROSTHERN, NAPANEE, NEW WESTMINSTER and DAUPHIN relieve W-7 May 10 and the
following day NANAIMO and the rest of W-7 enter harbour.
H.M.C.Ships SAULT SAINT MARIE (SO), NANAIMO and SHERBROOKE relieve
ST. CATHARINES and C-2 of ONF235 at 0635 May 14, 1944.
TRANSCONA detaches with four ships for Montreal and the following
day, after H.M.C.S. MATAPEDIA joins the convoy, NANAIMO detaches from the
convoy with ships for Halifax, St. John, New Brunswick and Boston.
NANAIMO forms up her convoy and sets a zigzag course of 283 and a
speed of ten knots. As the
convoy was formed during the night her skipper J.E. Hastings sends a
recommendation that henceforth convoys be formed up during daylight hours
prior to detaching from the main convoy.
At 0430 the Halifax section is detached from the group. About 0900 in the morning NANAIMO checks up on her convoy and
finds one ship S.S. GEORGE WATTON missing from the Boston section and
reports to C in C.N.A. By
2100 in the evening the Saint John portion is detached and on its way. The Boston section being detached about 1800.
At 0350 May 17, action stations are sounded and a radar contact is
investigated. Four Star
Shells are fired and the contact is lost.
NANAIMO continues to patrol the area for about half an hour before
returning to Halifax, passing the harbour gate at 1610.
During this convoy a swordfish aircraft from S.S. ADULA from the
Boston section of the convoy was lost.
The fishing schooner KASAGARA commanded by a Mr. Parks picked up
the aircrew. He transferred
the three crewmen to H.M.C.S. SHERBROOKE.
Mr. Parks received a commendation for his seamanship and prompt
action. In fact, the skipper of ADULA commented that his men were in
such fine shape they were ready to go back to work as soon as they were
returned to his ship.
H.M.C.S. NANAIMO and TRAIL leave Halifax with twenty-six ships at
0700 May 29. The convoy is
known as HHXF293. Next day after delivering the Halifax portion of the convoy
NANAIMO and TRAIL leave the convoy at noon and return to Halifax.
One of the ships carries the personal effects of a German
submariner, an engineer, who's body was picked up by W-4 while escorting
the convoy proper. The idea
was to get the effects to Ottawa as soon as possible so as to gain any
intelligence possible from them.
NANAIMO and TRAIL arrive in Halifax June 1, after leaving HXF293
at HOMP (Halifax Ocean Meeting Point). After four days in Halifax, W-7
and H.M.C.S. TRAIL depart with HHXS294 consisting of twenty-seven
ships just after noon on the fourth.
The group relieved H.M.C.S. TIMMINS, June 5, 1944, and joined the
convoy, now designated as HXS294, with a total of one hundred and
one ships. Trail was detached
at 1800 to join ON238. The
following day H.M.C.S. BRANTFORD is detached for Newfoundland.
She is probably part of the previous escort group as she was not
part of W-7. The Sydney
section of the convoy joins on June 7 and next day, after H.M.C.S. FOREST
HILL, of escort group C-3, (mid ocean escort) and the Newfoundland section
of the convoy join HXS294, H.M.C.S. AGASSIZ leaves for port.
The total number of ships in the convoy is now one hundred and
sixteen. W-7 turns over the
convoy to H.M.C.S. PRINCE RUPERT (SO) of C-3, but due to
"exceptionally thick fog" the convoy was badly scattered at the
time of turn over. Reports do
not mention the next port of call for NANAIMO.
NANAIMO in company with H.M.C. Ships SAULT ST. MARIE (SO), DAWSON
and NORTH SYDNEY as well as an American escort U.S.S. SC1350 and SC1335
sailed from New York at 1930, June 23, to join HXS297, consisting
of 83 ships. The American
SC1335 is detached at 0600 with broken down A/S gear just one day out of
New York. The following day the other American escort is detached.
W-5, with H.M.C.S. PORTAGE as senior officer, relieved the escort
force at 1440 and the escort group sailed for Halifax.
They arrived in Halifax at 0745 on June 28, 1944.
W-7 sailed from Halifax leaving harbour at 0800 July 5, with
twenty-five ships of HHXM 298.
Escorts for the group are SAULT ST. MARIE (SO) NORSYD and NANAIMO.
Next day the group relieved W-4 with the senior officer aboard
H.M.C.S. ST. BONIFACE; however, the group remains with the convoy at
extended screening stations. The
ships from Halifax added to the seventy nine ships from New York brings
the convoy to a total of one hundred and four ships and the convoy now
becomes known as HXM 289. To
this are added twelve ships from Sydney and one from Newfoundland and when
C-4 with H.M.S. WENTWORTH (SO) relieves W-7 the convoy has one hundred and
seventeen ships.
On the morning of July 9, Escort Group W-7 arrives in St. John's,
Newfoundland. Two days later
W-7 consisting of H.M.C.Ships SAULT ST. MARIE (SO), NANAIMO, NORSYD and
DAWSON sail from St. John?s in company with H.M.C.Ships SWIFT CURRENT
and STRATFORD and H.M.S. FLIORIZEL to join ONM243.
Short-range weapons, equal speed manoeuvres and signal exercises
were carried out before joining the convoy the following day.
The convoy consisted of ninety ships.
During the next three days SWIFT CURRENT and STRATFORD are detached
with seventeen ships bound for Sydney and the Gulf of St. Lawrence and
H.M.C.S. WALLACEBURG is detached with seven ships for Halifax. The Boston and St. John sections are detached with NIPIGON as
escort as well.
Two days out of New York S.S. SAN AMANDO and S.S.CLIONA are
detached for Curacao and on July 18, 1944, W-7 arrives in New York.
Both NANAIMO and SAULT ST. MARIE experienced radar trouble during
the trip; however, the group radar officer was transferred at sea and soon
had the trouble fixed.
NANAIMO as part of W-7, which sailed from New York, July 24, 1944
with two American ships for SC985 and SC1013.
H.M.C.S. NORSYD is delayed owing to defective boiler tubes and does
not join the convoy until the twenty-sixth.
Convoy HXM301 forms up with one hundred and ten ships and
proceeds at a speed of ten knots. The
two American escorts are detached on the twenty-seventh and return to New
York. On the twenty-eigth,
W-3 relieves the escort group and adds eighteen more ships to the convoy. NANAIMO escorts S.S. NORRIS, who has a broken piston, and
S.S. N.B. McMANUS, who has boiler trouble, to Halifax while NORSYD pays a
state visit to North Sydney, Nova Scotia and DAWSON remains with S.S. GULF
COAST who was stopped for repairs to her condenser.
On the way to Halifax NANAIMO sends a message to CIC Halifax
stating her ETA as 1500 July 28, and requesting "urgent repairs"
to her four inch gun's lifting shaft and pinion elevating gear.
NANAIMO and SAULT STE. MARIE arrive at Halifax with S.S. NORRIS at
1645.
The convoy known as HXF302 sailed from New York on August 3,
and consisted of sixty-eight ships. H.M.C.Ships
WALLACEBURG, SASKATOON, DUNVEGAN, OAKVILLE and one American ship of SC1350
escorted them from New York. On the sixth, these ships were relieved by SAULT ST. MARIE,
NANAIMO, DAWSON, AGASSIZ, and NORSYD, who joined the following day.
Next day W-7 left the convoy, probably bound for St. John's.
Ten days later NANAIMO (SO) with MELVILLE and BROCKVILLE sail from
Sydney to join SHX309 at SOMP (Sydney Ocean Meeting Point).
NANAIMO remains with the convoy to WESTOMP (Western Ocean Meeting
Point).
A signal sent from NANAIMO indicates she is, in company with BARRIE
and SHAWINIGAN, making for Sydney, Nova Scotia with a defective stop
valve, the number one boiler main feed pump is unserviceable and her bilge
pump is inoperative. NANAIMO
indicates that both BARRIE and SHAWINIGAN have defects as well. ETA for the group is 2230.
At 0100, August 24, 1944, NANAIMO now part of Escort force W-8
sailed from Sydney to rejoin the convoy.
The senior officer was aboard H.M.C.S. SYDNEY and she was in
company with H.M.C.Ships SHAWINIGAN and BARRIE.
The group sailed with heavy fog as cover.
H.M.C.S. MELVILLE joins the convoy with ships from Sydney, Nova
Scotia and is designated as Senior Officer.
NANAIMO probably left the convoy at this point; however, the
authour could find no record of this.
Never the less, she was at sea in the St. Lawrence River on the
night of August 30.
Four ships of W-7 patrolled between Red Island and Father's point
in the St. Lawrence River on the night of August 30 - 31, 1944. They were AGGASIS, NANAIMO, DAWSON and TRURO.
They met their convoy QS 88 August 31, and later in the day
joined ONM 249 where they took up extended screening stations.
QS 88 arrived in Sydney on September 2.
NANAIMO was reported to need a reducing valve on the starboard
generator. Just another sign
of her age and wear and tear from more than four hard years at sea.
NANAIMO, NORSYD, DAWSON and AGASIS (SO) sail from St John's,
Newfoundland at noon to join ONF255.
They sail into the teeth of a heavy southerly gale.
The convoy is met and C-5 is relieved of 83 ships.
GULF COAST and FISHER AMES are reported as stragglers.
JOLIETTE and LUNNENBURG remain with the convoy.
JOLIETTE investigates a life raft, but finds it empty.
The raft was marked BELLY SUNDAY.
At 2000 EMPIRE SATURN drops behind the convoy to enable engine
repairs. She is screened by
NANAIMO. At 2200 JOLIETTE and
five ships bound for the Gulf of St. Lawrence detach.
H.M.C.Ships WESTMOUNT and NIPIGON join at HOMP and the Halifax
section of the convoy, consisting of seven ships, is detached under escort
of NIPIGON and LUNNENBURG. Just
before midnight WESTMOUNT and seven ships for The Bay of Fundy are
detached. One ship, JOHN
CATRON, is detached as per C.E.S.F. orders. Escort Group W-7 enters harbour *******
Boston. R.C. Eaton (LT) RCNVR took
command on October 10, 1944, from J.E. Hastings until he turned command
over on 22 Mar 1945.
NANAIMO, NORSYD, DAWSON and AGASIS (SO) Rendezvoused with convoy HX314
abreast of Ambrose light ship at 1045, October 15, and take up steaming
stations. Four ships of the
Delaware section join at 1700.
Three days later, HHX314 joined from Halifax and W-3
relieved W-7, MIDDLESEX taking over as senior officer (SO).
NANAIMO remained with the convoy until the following day at 1000.
NANAIMO detaches from the convoy on the nineteenth and makes for
Halifax.
DAWSON, NORSYD and NANAIMO sailed from Halifax at 1755, October 22,
1944 and on the twenty-third W-7 join HX315 and relieve W-2. Next day the Sydney section SHX315
joins the main convoy. AGASIS,
with nothing but bad luck, joins after having been delayed in sailing and
then strikes a submerged object, which put her ASDIC out of commission.
Her Asdic dome was fractured and her oscillator shaft was bent. H.M.C.S. HAWKSBURY with one ship
in convoy WHX315 joins the convoy on the twenty-sixth.
Later in the day, C-7 joins and takes command.
H.M.C.S. LANARK is senior officer.
W-7 takes up extended screening stations and begins refuelling from
the escort oiler NORFJELL. After
all of W-7 have their fuel tanks topped up they set their course to
intercept convoy ON260.
ON260 is the last convoy NANAIMO was to escort on the east
coast and at 0150, October 27, 1944, H.M.C.Ships NORSYD, NANAIMO and
DAWSON join ON260; however, they remained at extended screening
stations until dawn when they relieved B-2.
AGASIS joins the convoy, October 28, after having her ASDIC
repaired in St. John's and resumes (SO) duties.
NORSYD gains an under water contact, in mid-afternoon and attacks
with depth charges. AGASIS
joins in the hunt, but both ships lose the contact and rejoin the convoy.
NANAIMO with six ships of convoy ON260 detached from the
convoy at 1800 on October 29, 1944. NANAIMO,
who had long been at work without relief and little re-fit, was beginning
to show her age. She finished
this convoy with the following defects:
1. 271SQ radar unserviceable
2. #1 and #2 fan engines unserviceable
3. Distiller tubes unserviceable
4. Evaporator coils unserviceable
NANAIMO and her charges entered Halifax harbour gates around five
in the afternoon of October 30.
The defective radar was removed prior to her sailing for the west
coast. Rather than repairing
obsolete and ineffective radar set, the set was simply removed and the
more efficient 253 radar was fitted when she arrived on the west coast.
During November NANAIMO made the trip back to the place of her
birth. Once again she
transited the Panama Canal; however, in contrast to her first transit of
the canal, this time she was no longer like a child; instead she was a
tried, tested and proven "lady".
December 7, NANAIMO tied up in Esquimalt harbour.
Here NANAIMO under went re-fit that lasted till February 25, 1945.
Pat Hennesy was drafted off on PO's course in Naden during this
refit.
HMCS NANAIMO May 1945 off BC
coast
HMCS NANAIMO of British Columbia
Coast just before being paid off
NANAIMO was paid off on September
28, 1945. She was just five
years five months and one day old and all but forgotten save in the minds
and hearts of those who served in her.
To them she will live on and to them and to this great lady the
author wishes to give his thanks. It
is hoped that with the printing of this history she and those who knew her
will not be forgotten.
This last small story might be a fitting way to close the cover on
this volume. When NANAIMO was
taking her last trip, from Esquimalt to Lynn Creek near Vancouver for
disposal, Ray Norman, Lew's brother and the author's uncle, was aboard
her. He told this story.
"We could pretty much do as we wanted at the time.
I was up on the forward gun with some other fellows when we went
under the Lions Gate Bridge. They
used to have a searchlight on the bridge.
I guess it was to identify ships going through.
We had the breach open and were looking through the barrel of the
forward gun. We trained the
gun on the light and it sure went off in a hurry".
NANAIMO, truly a heroine of the war, may have given her last act of
defiance at being paid off.
8 Oct 1945 was the date of NANAIMO's last log entry and signals the
close of her career with Canada's Navy.
Like so many of her counter parts with the end of the war they were
gone. Only H.M.C.S. SACKVILLE
remains and she too would be gone save for the efforts of those who spent
years at sea in these jaunty little warships that won The Battle of the
Atlantic!
EPILOGUE
In 1953 NANAIMO was converted to a whale catcher in Kiel and was
renamed RENE W VINKE and sailed under Dutch flag.
NANAIMO was sold to a South African company for scrap and was
subsequently broken up in 1966.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is with heartfelt thanks that the author acknowledges the help
of the following people: Hugh (Red) Ashcroft, Bob Reedman,
Jack Tedford, Wilfred (Puffy) Summerfeldt, Alec Bretenbach and Mrs. Fergie
Dowding, who gave of their time and knowledge from firsthand experience.
Thanks also to my uncle, Ray, and to my mother for their help;
especially to my mother who gave me the courage to get started.
I would also be remiss if I did not acknowledge the time and
patience of Jody Bohle, who spent so much time proof reading and
correcting this work as it progressed.
OFFICERS H.M.C.S. NANAIMO COWAN, Kenneth According
to his son Kenneth, he was the communications officer. WALKLEY, John (LT)
Lost 15 Jun 1942
From Montreal. Lost
when aboard PORT NICHOLSON as part of a salvage crew. BRIDGEMAN, Montigue (LT)xo
Apr 1941
From the Victoria area and was sick when he left the ship.
It is reported that he died either during or just after the war of
illness. He had a china shop
in Victoria on Government Street prior to enlisting. KIGHTLEY, (LT) navigator RCNR
Apr 1941 FOWLER, William Horace
Joined the R.C.N.V.R. October 17, 1941 as
probationary sub-leutenant: served in H.M.C. Ships CATARAQUI, KINGS,
NANAIMO, CHALUER, STE. THERESE, YORK:
was demobilized October 23, 1945; joined the R.C.N. January 3,
1947, as instructor Lt.-Cdr.; served in YORK, STADACONA, ROYAL ROADS,
NADEN, BY TOWN, CORNWALLIS; at his last appointment STADACONA as
Officer-in-Charge Academic Division and on Staff of Commodore Personnel
Atlantic Coast as Staff Officer Academic Training; commenced leave
retirement leave January 3, 1964 and retired on May 26, 1964. (THE CROW'S NEST January
1964, Vol. 16 No. 1) LORT, Tony
(Slt) TEAR, Roy
(Lt)
1944
1945 TRAYNOR, John
(Lto)
1945 CARTER,
Was the "Jimmy" on NANAIMO during the time of the sinking
of the PORT NICHOLSON. He
later took command of H.M.C.S. VILLE DE QUEBEC where he asked for Jack
Tedford to join the ship as his signalman.
COMMANDING OFFICERS H.M.C.S. NANAIMO H.C.C. Daubeny (Lt. Cdr)RCNR 26 Apr 1941
7 Oct 1941
First ship's Commanding Officer.
Thought to have served with the British Columbia Police or as Chief
of Police in NANAIMO B.C.. T.J. Bellas (LT) 8 Oct 1941
20 Aug 1942
He reportedly lost his command for going on the rocks while
entering harbour at Conception Bay, Newfoundland while forming part of the
escort force for those signing the Atlantic Charter. E.U. Jones (LT) RCNR 21 Aug 1942
10 Oct 1943
He was a real character and was related to COAC while he was in
command. Some of his tricks kept the ship tied to the trot buoys
instead of alongside when she was in harbour.
He liked to race the ship. J.E. Hastings (LT) RCNR 11 Oct 1943
9 Oct 1944 Reginald C. Eaton (LT) RCNVR 10 Oct 1944
22 Mar 1945 W. Redford (LT) RCNR 23 Mar 1945
28 Aug 1945 NAVAL TERMS Adrift
Absent without leave Afters
Desert Andrew Miller
Royal Navy Beach
Land, hence a run on the beach = shore leave. Burgoo
Porridge Belly robbers
Victualling Assistants Blacklistmen
Defaulters Bone butcher
Medical officer Bottle / Blast
A rebuke Bow waves
A green seaman Brigg
A ships cells / military prison Buttoned up
Finished Button it up
Be quiet / stop talking Button your flap
Be quiet / stop talking Bunting tosser
Signalman Blue light
Warrant gunner Calk
Sleep Chips
Ship's carpenter / shipwright Chicago piano
Multiple Pom Pom Chief Buffer / Buffer
Chief Bosun's mate Clinker Knockers
Stokers Charlie Noble
Galley Funnel C.O.A.C.
Commanding Officer Atlantic Coast C.T.F.
Commander Task Force C.T.U.
Commander Task Unit Curly navy
R.C.N.V.R. Dechho
Let me see / Show me (from
hindustani) Dohby Day
Wash day (from Hindustani) Ditch
The sea EASTOMP
Eastern Ocean Meeting Place Fanny adams
Canned beef Flaked out
Asleep Flap
A commotion F.N.O.F.
Flag Officer Newfoundland Forces Foc'sle
An abbreviation for forward castle.
In the days of wooden ships it often resembled a castle. In modern usage the forward part of a ship, usually raised
from the main deck. Get my / your head down
Going to bed / sleep Grog
Daily issue of rum or another term for rum Guns
Gunnery officer Get cracking
Get on with the job Gibby
Cap Gun busters
Ordinance artificers Have a look see
Investigate Hard tack
Sea biscuits Hawse-pipe
A pipe that the anchor chain goes through before going below decks
to the chain locker. Irish mail
Potatoes Jaunty
Master at Arms Jeeps
Volunteer reservists Jimmy the One
Executive Officer (First Lieutenant) Jimmy
Executive Officer Jimmy Bungs
A cooper Jack Dusty
Victualling assistant Kye
Cocoa Kip
Sleep Killick
A leading seaman (for the rank badge, an
anchor or killick) Liberty Boat
The official name for the boat to take those with leave /
liberty-men ashore Limeys
British seamen (from lime juicers) Lower deck Dit / Buzz
A rumour Like tiffles tea
Weak MAC or MAC ships
Merchant aircraft carrier, usually a freighter with a floatplane
launched from a platform and picked up from the sea after landing on the
water. Make and mend
A day off to allow seamen to make or mend clothing / gear Makee learn
A beginner Matlot
A seaman Mic
A Hammock MOMP
Mid-ocean Meeting Place Mouldies
Torpedoes Number one
Executive officer (First Lieutenant) Oil-fuel attendant
A stoker Oldman
The Captain (Skipper) Pan
Bread (From the French "Pain") Paybob
Paymaster Pack the cackle
Stop arguing Pilot (Sky)
Chaplain Pilot
Navigating officer PF Blokes
Permanent forces personnel Pongoes
Soldiers Possie
Jam Plue
Tea Poultice whalopper
Sick berth Attendant Pukkah
Real / top notch (from Hindustani) Pusser crabs
Naval issue boots Pusser dirk
An issued seaman's knife Pusser
Navy style / as per regulations (From purser) Quack
Medical Officer Rockies
R.C.N. Reservists Scaly backs
Stokers Scran / Pusser Scran
Food / Food prepared by the ship's cook Scran Bag
A bag in which articles found laying about were placed. It usually cost the seaman a small fine to retrieve an item
from the "Scran bag". Originally
it was soap that was used, in turn, to clean the ship. S.O.
Senior officer Stretch of the land
Sleep Stow it
Stop talking / keep the noise down Slushy
Cook Snotty
A midshipman Sparkers
A Wireless telegrapher (A radioman) Show a leg
Get up Salt and beef Squire
A warrant Bosun Splice the main brace
The issue of an extra ration of rum Sun's over the yardarm
An invitation to have a drink Seven beller
A cup of tea Tiddley
Extra smart / well turned out Tiffy bloke
Engine room artificer Tizzy snatcher
Paymaster Tin fish
Torpedo Torps
Torpedo officer Trot Buoy
Usually a pair of buoys in mid harbour used to secure a ship fore
and aft to prevent the ship from turning with the current or wind as would
happen if she were placed at anchor. Wavy Navy
Anyone from the Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserve, or more properly
the reserve force itself. R.C.N.V.R. WESTOMP
Western Ocean Meeting Place Wooden handled
A Cork tipped cigarette
CONVOY DESIGNATIONS HJ
Halifax to St. John's SB
Sydney to Cornerbrook SPAB
Sydney to Port Aux Basques QS
Sydney to Quebec and up river ports ON
United Kingdom to New York HX
New York to United Kingdom GU
Gibraltar to USA GS
Greenland to St. John's GN
Guantanimo (Cuba) to New York GK
Guantanimo (Cuba) to Key West GI
New Guinea to Philippines GJ
Guantanimo (Cuba) to Jamaica GAT
Guantanimo (Cuba) to Trinidad FTT
Freetown to Trinidad FON
ON convoy to Halifax and /or St. John's FH
St. John's to Halifax The following letters added signify the convoy's
relative speed. S
slow M
medium F
fast Lorne Norman
|
|||||||
CREW MEMBERS
H.M.C.S. NANAIMO
Ship?s company June 1941 in Kingston Jamaica
Ship?s company 1942
Engine room crew
Some of the crew with the film crew whom made
K-225. Lew is in the centre
of the back row with his shirt off.
Some unknown crew members.
Trident asks for information about these fellows.
Lew Norman and some of the crew on the boat
deck. NAME 1. ANDERSON,
(Seaman)
Possibly Fred who lives in Sutton West, Ontario. He was a red head. 2. ANDERSON, Frank
Nov 1940
Oct 1942 3. ANDERSON, Frederick
(ASDIC) 1941
1943
See number 1. 4. ARTMOT, JOE 5. ASHCROFT, Hugh RED
(St) Apr 1941
13 Aug 1942
Hugh joined with the rank of Stoker 2/C and retired with the rank
of Lieutenant-Commander. He
lives in Nova Scotia. 6. Axel 7. BAKER, Gordon (GORDIE)
(St 2/C) Joined
the same time as Bob Reedman and Hugh Ashcroft and was from New
Westminster, British Columbia. 8. BARNES, Philip He
was a religious type who eventually became a conscientious objector. 9. BAXTER, BILL 10.
BELL, (Ldg St) An
American who was trying to gain a transfer to the U.S. Navy.
He suffered from some kind of an ear problem. 11.
BERRY, BOB 12.
BERTHELET Alfred Z August 15, 1943 - January 24, 1944 LSRM
III Now lives in Vanier, Ontario. 13.
BOND, Bill Was
a stoker PO, but due to his shore experience had his own watch.
He worked in the Ogilvie Flour Mills in Edmonton before the war. 14.
BRETENBACH, ALEC Oct Nov
1943
1944 Alec
now lives in London, Ontario. 15.
BRODIE (Sick Bay Tiffy) 16.
BROWN, Possibly an
officer
Still lives in Victoria and runs a real estate firm on Blanchard
Street.
Puffy Summerfeldt was never one of his favourite people as Puffy
puts it because of the following incident as described by Puffy:
We were fuelling ship and he had been having a shower. He came out. --- In those days when we fuelled ship we took
the tank top off so we could see the oil coming up. And I don't know for some reason or another they couldn't get
the valve shut and we flooded his cabin.
Well, he came out of the shower and stepped into this oil, phwut,
he fell on his ass. 17.
BURGESS, TITCH (Ldg Telegraphist) He
used to write poetry. 18.
BURGESS, (Seaman) A
Newfoundlander with red hair. He was a comical type. 19.
BURTHELET, Alfred (LS)
15 Aug 1943 24 Jan 1944 20.
BYERS, Ken (Signalman) 21.
CANDOW, Bob Worked
as an engineer with the coast guard after the war. 22.
CHAMBERS, 23.
CHALMERS Quartermaster 24.
COGHILL, George (Wireless operator)
Presented the city of NANAIMO with a scale model of NANAIMO.
Still may live in or around Victoria.
25.
COLLINS, 26.
CONNOLY, ?? Tom ?? E.R.A. Possibly
know as SPLIT-PIN. From Ontario; maybe Hamilton or Toronto. 27.
CONWAY, TOMMY 28.
COURTNEY, Archie (St) He
was another character. He was in the Salvation Army and played trumpet in a band.
He would never sleep below decks while the ship was at sea;
instead, he slept on the gratings just inside the engine-room hatch. 29.
COWAN, Kenneth
(CODER) Communications Officer 30.
CROFT, Ivan (Seaman)
Ivan
was from Lunenburg, Nova, Scotia and died in 1990. 31.
CROWE, Dave (Ldg St) He
was a member of the regular forces before the war. 32.
CURRY, Stoker From
Calgary. 33.
DEMSEY, BOB 34.
DOUCETTE, Charles J (AB)
Dec 1942
Nov 1943 Now
lives in Aylesford, King's County, Nova Scotia 35.
DOWDING, FURGIE 36.
EVANS, TAFF (Seaman) He
was a tough guy, who kept losing his ID card.
He finally sewed it into the back of his jumper. 37.
FARRELL, POP (seaman)
38.
FULLERTON, Bert (ERA) Almost
lost him when he fell between NANAIMO and another corvette while they were
tied up on the south side in St. John's, Newfoundland. 39.
GARVEY, (Alcohol...
became mentally ill ... possibly committed) 40.
GARVIES, CPO COX Joined
the ship as Seaman PO and served as Coxswain. 41.
GINEVIN, PAT He
was an asdic operator and part of the boat's crew who went to PORT
NICHOLSON to see if she could be salvaged.
He was picked up along with Jack Tedford and Aubrey Pickles. 42.
GILPIN Fred E 1945 ERA
3 presently living in Delta, British Columbia. 43.
GLISTER, (Ldg St)
An Englishman 44.
GOLDFINCH, (Seaman) Was
in the same new entry class as Bob Reedman and Hugh Ashcroft in H.M.C.S.
NADEN. 45.
HANNAH, GINGER (Victualling Assistant) 46.
HARKISS Ken (cook) 47.
HARGRAVES, MOOSE Possibly
still around Victoria. 48.
HATCHER, BRUCE 49.
HAWTHORNE, Edward J
Jan 1943
Jan 1944 50.
HENNESY, PAT Dec
1942 Dec 1942 Presently
living in London, Ontario. 51.
HODDING, Aubrey "DAISY" CPO ERA Mr.
Hodding was the first chief ERA to serve in NANAIMO.
Before the war he worked on tow boats hauling ore somewhere on the
northern coast of British Columbia. He
attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served as engineer on yard
craft in Esquimalt after his retirement from the navy.
52.
HORNE, Lorne BUZZ (AB)
Lost 16 Jun 1942
Buzz
Horne
From Winnipeg, Manitoba. He
attended Ralph Brown, Issac Newton and St. John's Tech schools.
He was an avid soccer player.
He played on the Manitoba All Stars Team that met the Charlton
Athletics of the English League. He
also coached several soccer teams for youth.
In addition, he was a keen golfer. Described by all I communicated with as a
"great guy". Lost
when the PORT NICHOLSON sank. Had
a lake, in northern Manitoba, named for him, according to Mrs. Pennington
the second wife of Buzz's brother-in-law.
She also states that he was drafted aboard the ship to replace
someone whose mother was ill. 53.
HOWARD, (Seaman) From
Edmonton, Alberta. He
remained in the reserves after the war. He may have worked for an Edmonton newspaper (The Edmonton
Journal??). 54.
HUTCHINSON,
(Ldg/Sig)
Was regular Navy. 55.
HUGHES, BUBBLES PO (St) Bubbles
was from St. Catherines, Ontario and was quite a character.
He used to tell stories by the dozens.
Was a regulating P.O. and used to relieve the E.R.A's.
He worked on the locks on the Welland Canal. 56.
HUNTER, (St)
He was from Windsor, Ontario. 57.
ISNOR, James David (AB)
1942
1943 58.
KIRKBY,
(Seaman) 59.
KIRKPATRICK, Bill (AB LTO) Jul 1945
Aug 1945
From White Rock, British Columbia 60.
KORDYBACK, (Seaman) 61.
La'LIBERTY, (Ldg St)
From Quebec. 62.
LARTER, Ches (Seaman) Ches
and Aubrey Pickles were good friends.
He is now thought to be living in the San Francisco area. 63.
LITTLE, Bill (St 1/C)
Was
the engineer?s storekeeper and had a finger missing on his right hand.
He had a brother, George, also in the R.C.N., a gunner's mate.
Bill was from Vancouver, British Columbia. Worked in the mills in British Columbia after the war. 64.
MacKENZIE, CHUCK (Ldg
St) From
Vancouver, British Columbia. He
worked in the shipyards before the war and it is believed he started his
own repair yard after the war. 65.
MacARTHUR, 66.
MATHERS, George 67.
McCORRISTER, Loyd V (SIG)
Aug 1942
Sep 1945 68.
McDONALD,
(Telegraphist) 69.
McFARLAND, SPIKE Walter The
following is, for the most part, an excerpt from TRAILS AND RAILS
NORTH; History of the McLennan District.
He was born in 1910 and raised on a small farm in
Pugwash, Nova Scotia on Northumberland Straight. He was educated there but moved west during one of the
harvest excursions of about 1928. He
went to Edmonton where he had uncles and cousins.
Things were really tough in those days but Walter was a good worker
and he always managed to get by. He
found work with The Canadian Pacific Railway, at saw mills etc. During this period he took out a homestead in Rocky Rapids
near Drayton Valley and got title in three or four years.
In 1930 he got a job as a locomotive watchman with the Northern
Alberta Railway Company and headed out to the area from Hythe to Dawson
Creek, where the railway was exrending the track.
During the next few years he worked in many places on the railway,
but made his home in McLennan, until joining The Royal Canadian Navy in
1941 and went off to the east coast.
While in the Navy, Walter spent most of his time on corvettes in
convoy duty and saw a lot of the world before getting his dischargein
1945, when he returned to McLennan.
Walter was promoted to engeneer in 1946 and railroaded until the
middle of the sixties when he left to farm a section of land on White Mud
Creek, just south of the Little Smokey River south west of McLennan.
He enjoyed life out there and had a lot of good neighbours, such as
the Arndt boys and Wilf. Reids.
Walter was a good legion member and when he passed on in 1972 a
legion service was, of coruse, held for him.
The one escapade which involved Walterin his railway career was the
rather famous occassion when a "caboose got away".
The crew was made up of Walter as Engineer, Smokey Dupuis as
Fireman and Scotty Hall as Conductor.
They had brought the train up the hil to Judah, put the train on
the siding and were going to take the caboose back to Peace River to get
more cars. In the process the
caboose got away and there was no way they could catch it.
The crew boarded the engine and headed slowly down the hill after
it, expecting to find the caboose of the rails in the bush, before they
had gone far. But, lo and
behol;d, the the cabose never derailed.
It sped down the hill, through Peace River and across the river on
the narrow railway bridge, which at the time, was used by both trains and
vehicles, continued up the hill on the other side until it finally
stopped. Its stop did not
last long as it then began to roll back down that hill, across the bridge
again and comming to the station, the night operator managed to board it
and put on the brake and put out a small fire which had started when one
of the coal oil lamps fell on a bed.
While the railway bridge had a roadway on it to take other traffic,
there was no room for trains and vehicles at the same time.
It was a miracle that the little red caboose didn't meet any
traffic on its two mad dashes across the bridge.
It could have been a real disaster.
A lot of people feel that the caboose could have been travelling at
seventy five or eighty miles per hour, and on those sections of curving,
rising, track the speed limitwas fifteen miles per hour.
The end result was a humourous story instead of a tragedy.
The incident was kept secret from Railroad officials for, I
believe, several months. Of
course, after they heard about it, those judged guilty were presented with
demerit marks. 70.
McGEACHY, JOCK (Ldg St) Jock
was from Ponoka, Alberta. It is thought he worked at the Ponoka Hospital prior to the
war. 71.
McKAY, RED (St) 72.
McKENZIE, 73.
McIVOR, An
ASDIC Rating. 74.
McNEVIN, Sydney R (LS)
Jan 1943
Jun 1943
?Anti Aircraft gunner? 75.
McCRAKEN, Chief ERA He
relieved Aubrey Hodding as Chief ERA. 76.
MONTIGUE, B ??? 78.
NORMAN, LEWIS (LEW) C (St) 25 Apr 1941
16 Apr 1944
Lew
Norman July 1942
Lew
in round rig 1944
Lew
relaxing in a ventilator on NANAIMO
Lew
Norman in Jamaica 1941 with an unidentified man Joined
as Stoker 1/C due to his shore experience at the Archer Memorial Hospital
in Lamont, Alberta prior to the war.
After leaving NANAIMO Lew went to trade school in H.M.C.S.
STADACONA where he took an SPO's course and then was drafted to H.M.C.S.
COBALT another corvette. In
June 1945 he was drafted ashore to STADACONA, then on to PEREGRINE and
finally NONSUCH for demobilization on 4 July 1945.
Lew, his wife and two sons returned to his home in Lamont, Alberta,
following the war. He and his
brother Ray started a plumbing and heating shop, which they ran for some
years. The partnership broke
up and Lew ran the business himself for some time.
Meanwhile the family grew by two more girls, both born in Lamont.
Lew and his family built a new home with the help of V.L.A..
This home was built on acreage just south of the town of Lamont.
Lew worked in Edmonton and commuted back and forth each week while
Dorothy worked as a switchboard operator and raised chickens. (25
- 3500 of them for eggs). All
the while Lew was taking night school and correspondence courses.
Interestingly, when he died he had six valid trade certificates.
He held certificates of qualifications as a steam engineer, an
electrician, a linesman, a plumber, a tinsmith and as a radio and
television technician.
Lew and his family moved from Lamont to Edmonton and back two times
before the family moved to Grande Prairie.
During this time Lew had many and varied jobs always seeming to be
unfulfilled in his work. After moving to Grande Prairie Lew seemed to have found his
job and special niche. He
often remarked that when you came over the hill towards Grande Prairie you
didn't have to wonder where the town got its name.
Lew lived in Grande Prairie until he died in 1981.
When he passed away he was one of the partners in Frontier T.V..
Lew was an avid fisherman and hunter.
There was little doubt as to why he enjoyed the area as much as he
did. It abounded with good
hunting and had several good fishing lakes within driving distance.
Lew was also very musical and played the guitar, banjo, ukulele and
base guitar. He taught Hugh
Ashcroft, as Hugh put it, "The only guitar chords I ever knew"!
Lew was the author's father and he died in Grande Prairie, Alberta,
in November 1981. 79.
NORMAN, RAYmond
Sep 1945 Ray decommissioned NANAIMO and was in her when she arrived in Vancouver to be paid off in 1945. He remained in the navy and served in H.M.C.S. CAYUGA during the Korean conflict. He went to work for H.M.C. Dockyard in Esquimalt following his release from the Navy and lived in Victoria, B.C. Ray passed away in 2000. Ray was the uncle of the author. 80.
O'FLINN, Harry Leading stoker 81.
PARKES, NORM 82.
PICKLES, Aubrey (LS) Aubrey
was from Port Arthur, Ontario. While
in NANAIMO he was captain of the guns crew and remained in the service
after the war. He served with Hugh Ashcroft in 1959-1960 and again when he
had command of H.M.C.S. NEW GLASGOW.
Hugh Ashcroft served under him as engineering officer in NEW
GLASGOW. He retired with the
rank of Lieutenant Commander. He
died in the Toronto area in the late eighties. 83.
PILKINGTON (ERA) 84.
PLAXTON A stoker
PO 85.
POFF, RUSTY (Cook) 86.
RAYNER, Frank (St) 87.
REEDMAN, BOB
Bob by the forward gun showing off the gun
shield From
Kamloops, British Columbia. Joined
the navy the same day as Hugh Ashcroft, 15 July 1940.
When Hugh sent this information to me he wrote "I'm looking at
a maple tree we planted about forty four years ago in the back of our
lot". 88.
ROBSON, GILL From
Winnipeg. 89.
RODEN, Bennie (an ASDIC rating) He
worked in H.M.C. dockyard, Halifax, after the war and was from Halifax,
Nova Scotia. 90.
ROWAN, Tommy 91.
RUST, 92.
SELLICK, STAN Presently
lives in Calgary, Alberta. 93.
SHEPHARD, (Signalman)
Possibly from Winnipeg. 94.
SILVER, Normand Nathan (Sto 1) Apr 1945
Sep 1945 95.
SMITH, Jim 96.
SMITH, James John, Chief ERA 97.
SOMMERVILLE, Wilfred J PUFFY (Ldg
St)
Mar 1942 - Nov 1943
Joined the ship as she was coming out of a boiler clean in Halifax.
He joined NANAIMO as a stoker first class but had finished and
passed his stoker P.O.s course in October of forty two he was promoted to
a leading hand. NANAIMO went
into refit, Puffy had been doing P.O.'s duties for quite a while and his
acting P.O. came through, and he left the ship.
Now lives in Esquimalt near Victoria, British Columbia. NANAIMO was
the only corvette he ever served in.
He went on to serve in H.M.C.S. PUNCHER, WARRIOR, commissioned the
SAULT SAINT MARIE, SOIUX, CRUSADER, STETTLER, CAYUGA came off her
qualified as a Chief E.R.A., served in SOIUX during the Korean Conflict,
re commissioned SUSSEXVILLE as Chief E.R.A., JAMES BAY, served a year on a
diving unit and finished in CAPE SCOTT.
He was the first, and only, chief stoker on the west coast to gain
his charge ticket and resulting chief E.R.A. status. He mentioned that it was possible to get Chief Petty Officer
second class E.R.A. or C2E.R.A.. He
said he studied "like hell" for the test. He tried for provincial stationary certificate and acquired
second class certification. When
he left the navy he did so as a Chief E.R.A. and decided not to follow the
career of a steam engineer. He
went on to do accounting for twenty years.
Tells the following story of NANAIMO entering St. John's,
Newfoundland under the command of T.J. Bellas.
There were two of them, both R.N. or R.N.V.R..
Bellas and Kitely were on the bridge when we were going into
Newfoundland one time. I'm
sure they were both "p____d" out of their minds. They were arguing; we were in a heavy fog; one yelling
"Newfoundland is over there", the other returning with "No
its right here". Luckily
we finally did find the opening for Newfy.
Puffy also spoke about a signalman who slept under the boilers and
was sea sick from the time they left harbour till they were tied up again.
He was finally drafted ashore by the Old Man, but, Puffy can't
remember his name. 98.
SERENKO, Bill (Leading seaman) 99.
SOUBLIERE, George A
stoker PO Was
regular navy and served prior to the war. 100.
STRONG, (Seaman) He
had relatives in Jamaica, came from Regina, Saskatchewan, and used to get
very sea sick. 101.
SWIMM, Waldo G (Seaman)
Waldo Swimm by the 4? gun shield Waldo
was from Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia, and was a lobster fisherman before
the war. Waldo, Hugh Ashcroft
and Lew Norman were wingers. He
still lives in Clark's Harbour. 102.
TEDFORD, JACK (Signalman) Born
in Truro, Nova Scotia, one of six brothers, he tried unsuccessfully to
join air crew and later joined the Navy on 30 June 1941.
He enlisted as an ordinary seaman for visual signals.
He was sent immediately to signal school without basic training.
This training was done at "Stadacona II", which was
located at the corner of Almond and Windsor streets in Halifax. On completion of the course he was sent to St. John's,
Newfoundland with other signalmen and drafted onto NANAIMO 19 November
1941. Jack comments, "At
this time, although I was a maritimer, I didn't know the front end of a
ship from the back end. When
I reported aboard and the quartermaster told me to report aft to the cox'n;
I was completely lost".
Jack served in several other ships including:
VILLE DE QUEBEC, CANSO, DIGBY and MIRAMACHI.
He spent his longest tour, some sixteen months, aboard NANAIMO. Jack left NANAIMO in March 1943.
Jack signed up for duty in the Pacific after VE day; however, while
he was on leave, before reporting to signal school in St. Hyacinth, P.Q.
VJ day was declared. During
this leave Jack got married. Jack
reported to Signal school and was then sent to H.M.C.S. PEREGRINE for
demobilization. Jack reached
the rank of Ldg/Sig VS3.
Jack worked for a while in Truro then decided to use his
rehabilitation credits by going to university.
While he was attending Acadia University the Korean War broke out
and Jack enrolled in COTC, Canadian Officer's Training Corps, and finished
his university. By this time
Jack's family had increased to four.
He went to Korea and also served in Japan.
Jack remained with the army and retired with the rank of Major in
March 1971.
After retiring Jack went to work for D.S.S. in Halifax.
He now lives in Halifax and curls with Hugh Ashcroft.
Neither knew the other had served in NANAIMO at the same time until
1990 when the subject came up, over a few drinks, while the two were at a
bonspeil. He was one of the
sea boat's crew that went to PORT NICHOLSON. 103.
TENNANT, (Telegraphist) 104.
TWIST, W G (ERA5) 7 Aug 1942
3 Sep 1942 Possibly
Roger. 105.
WALLACE, Danny An
ERA, who was a signalman before the war.
He taught Hugh Ashcroft a lot of engineering mathematics. 106.
WEEDEN, (Seaman) 107.
WILLIS, Thomas H Mar 1943
Jun 1943 108.
WYLIE, Herb Living
in Granby P.Q. as reported in Trident Volume 5 number 8, April 22 1977. 109.
Tommy BULLDOG 110. MOOSE Possibly HARGRAVES.
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Out And About: Photos
Of NANAIMO And Crew Unless identified the men in the pictures are unknown to the author but were a part of my father?s collection of photos taken while he served in NANAIMO There
are some photos provided to the Author
by Red Ashcroft and Bob Reedman.
Depth
charges astern of NAMIAMO
A
?green one? coming over the side
Bill
Little giving Bob Reedman a
haircut.
Iceland
as seen from the deck of NANAIMO
Signalman
at the Aldis Lamp
Ship?s
mascot NANAIMO or HMCS Cobalt
A
sinking freighter identified as possibly Bencluch; however,
she is not on fire as reported in the report of proceedings so
there is some doubt about the ship?s identity.
Another
view of the same ship
Three
amigos
The
Baptism
In
the Gun Tub
A
recovered bomb
A
handsome foursome
Fun
in the sun
Just
goofing around
?Pop?
Farrell or possibly Bill Little
Some
of the crew (Signals I think)
A
good view of the gun deck and gun shield
The
gun?s crew closed up and ready for action
Having
a beer in New York
Semifore
to go
Some
of the boys at the bofour
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Everything we obtain for this site is shown on the site, we do not have any more photos, crew lists or further information on any of the ships. COPYRIGHT NOTICE. ALL IMAGES DISPLAYED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW, AND ARE OWNED BY CRANSTON FINE ARTS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO REPRODUCTION OR COPYING ALLOWED ON OTHER WEBSITES, BOOKS OR ARTICLES WITHOUT PRIOR AGREEMENT. |
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