By then the carnage in the mid-ocean had ended and the Germans had temporarily abandoned pack attacks. Writers were primarily clerical, being responsible for legal, pay, welfare and career issues for a crew. It was, in the end, a very small proportion of the 1,000 U-boats sunk by the Allies between 1939 and 1945, and a very modest portion of the 500 of these claimed by naval vessels. Fought largely by reservists in small ships built in Canada and operating from Canadian bases, the defence of North Atlantic trade against the submarine menace defined a naval role for Canada within a much larger alliance. The RCN-RCAF combined operations room at St. John’s. Escort groups were often ad hoc, leadership was inconsistent, and group training non-existent — because no permanent group training establishment existed. When the Canadian Navy ordered its initial wartime shipbuilding program in early 1940, its main vessel — the corvette — was completed as a jack-of-all-trades, but would prove to be master of none. The sad news was received with great regret. U-806 sank the minesweeper Clayoquot just off Halifax on Christmas Eve, and then, in early January, U-1232 began a successful cruise off Nova Scotia. The real damage was done by U-517 and U-165. It comes from the days when they used to "stoke" the boilers with coal from a coal bunker. 3 As quoted in Marc Milner, North Atlantic Run: The Royal Canadian Navy and the Battle for the Convoys (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1985), 140. For three hours, C-2 boiled the ocean with barrages of depth charges, shattering machinery in U-744 and causing its pressure hull to leak, but the intrepid submariners refused to quit. What followed was the U-boats’ first “Happy Time,” when they roamed the Atlantic with impunity, overwhelming the tiny escorts of transatlantic convoys and creating a generation of U-boat aces. U-1006 was the only U-boat sunk by the Allied navies in the North Atlantic in October 1944. Under operational conditions submarines proved remarkably difficult to locate and destroy, but what really confounded the Allies was the adoption of new tactics by Germany’s U-boats. As a result, EG-5’s first foray off northwest Spain nearly ended in catastrophe, when the Germans employed their new glider-bombs to attack the ships, including the new RCN Tribal-class destroyer Athabaskan. In particular, the three centimetre radar of RN Captain-class frigates could detect the snorkel masts of U-boats. Destroyers provided escorts with the speed needed to “put down” shadowing U-boats, forcing them to submerge and so drive off the enemy. 5 The class designation followed British usage; Canadian frigates generally were named after Canadian towns, with destroyers taking river names. The Allied offensive over the summer consisted of air assaults in the Bay of Biscay, and by USN escort carriers off northwest Africa and south of the Azores. In April 1942, “Chummy” Prentice’s training group was re-established and during the next four months, he trained over a score of corvettes and supported nearly as many convoys east of Newfoundland. Sig Terrance P. O'Connor, L/Sto John Murray Willard, PO … They believed that the RCN had expanded too rapidly, taken on too many tasks, was poorly trained and badly led. In 1939, the RCN expected submarines to be a manageable problem. Add a record to our website. In early December the government appealed to the British for the loan of at least 12 escort destroyers. Probably arising from this incident, Stoker First Class T Robson was killed and is interred at St Pol de Leon Cemetery, Brittany, France. Some of the records cover periods of service up to at least 1950. First Class Stoker Tom Bellis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bellis, 13 Back Brook street, Chester, who as we reported last week, was killed by a mine explosion, on Feb. 4 th last, while serving on board a minesweeper. In contrast, ONS-144 coming the other way a week later and defended by only six corvettes, five Norwegian and one British, of group B-6 was also beset by a large pack. Under pressure to crush the U-boat fleet before the war ended or Germany could deploy the radically new type- XXI and XXIII subs in large numbers, the British increasingly put their better-equipped groups in the hot spots. In the battle around the fast UK to New York convoy ON-113 at the end of July two ships were lost, but St. Croix sank U-90. Eight ships went down in the first furious night of battle; seven more followed over the next week. Whilst Stoker 1st Class George Morgan survived the actions of March 1942, he was to die just 6 weeks later during HMS Trinidad’s attempts to return home (via Philadelphia where it would undergo further repairs and a refit). For the operations round Antwerp from the 3rd to the 9th October: Naval Brigade. Through the fall of 1941, NEF operations remained plagued by poor equipment, too few destroyers and escort group commanders, no training, and an operational cycle between Newfoundland and Iceland that was unbearable as winter set in. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Weyburn stumbled onto U-517 as it took aim at the Donald Stewart, driving the sub underwater just as the torpedoes were fired. Worse followed that winter. Fortunately, all the escorts carried type 271 radar and by forming a tight barrier around the convoy they fought it through with only six ships lost. The RCN destroyed 33 enemy submarines during the war: three Italian and the rest German. Although … Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. The RCN was not really a part of this great Allied offensive: it remained tied primarily to close escort work. “I lost my best friend and I … For enquiries, contact us. Drum Major. Stoker 1st Class HMS Royal Oak (08) + Cumming, Leslie Thomas James, RM 33 Marine HMS Royal Oak (08) + Cummings, Harry, RN 40 Ordnance Artificer 1st Class HMS Royal Oak … In this tutorial we’ll isolate some of the more obscure trades and explain what they do and how you may find them listed in our records. Theodore Frank Perrow, Petty Officer Telegraphist, O N 238640, H.M.S. Production of Canadian Anti-Acoustic Torpedo (CAAT) equipment began on September 21, the day after St. Croix was sunk and while the battle still raged. The corvette Sackville had three close encounters with U-boats on the night of July 31–August 1. World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII. A sailor who worked in the boiler room. Vice-Admiral Percy Nelles, Chief of the Naval Staff, arrives at Naval Service Headquarters in Ottawa. Moreover, much of the shipping lost in 1942 was British or British chartered, and the North African campaign strained what remained. The next day, U-517 sank three ships from the convoy off Cap Gaspé. The moment came in May, when U-553 sank the steamers Nicoya and Leto between Gaspé and Anticosti Island. Meanwhile, British support groups, equipped with newer equipment and in some cases (like EG-2) directed by special intelligence, scored with greater ease. With the advent of the Internet, we have created as a historical archive for your free use a Last Post database that … Ironically, the RCN’s last “kill” of the war, U-1003, occurred when a snorkelling U-boat collided with New Glasgow on a dark night. {waa} Stoker 30. Prior to oil fired boilers, stokers were primarily responsible for transporting and shovelling coal to the furnaces. The service particulars in pieces 9-82, from service number 42922, are continued in eight … When the U-boat packs returned to the mid-ocean briefly in May, to see what was going on, they easily found Canadian escorted convoys but did not find them easy targets. PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL WW2 NAME ALSO ON THESE MEMORIALS DATE NUMBER RANK ADDITIONAL INFO ABBEY JM 1942 ABLE SEAMAN ABBOT … Douglas, who served as a stoker first class, saw battle all over the world, including Normandy and D-Day at Juno Beach. You’ll most commonly find artificers listed as engine room artificers in our records, sometimes abbreviated to ERA. The British escorted more than their share of the slow westbound convoys (17 out of 21), but westbound speeds were nominal: all ships steaming in ballast against prevailing winds were slow. The crisis began in September with the passage of ONS-127, during which aggressive sweeps by St. Croix and Ottawa could not prevent the loss of seven ships and Ottawa itself with heavy loss of life. Waterloo County Soldier Information Cards - World War II Last Name First Name Rank Regiment/Battalion Residence [R] or Hometown [H] A Ableson Albert Private H.Q. In 1890 a major revision of the Royal Navy uniform regulations had established three different types of uniform to differentiate petty officers and ratings. Mate A.F. Survivors of the minesweeper HMCS Clayoquot (J174), torpedoed by the German submarine U-806, are rescued by the corvette HMCS Fennel (K194) off Halifax, December 24, 1944. Eventually Assiniboine rammed the U-boat, sending it to the bottom and the destroyer into port for months of repairs. By December 8th, 1941, he was promoted to Stoker 1st class and serving onboard HMS Repulse a Renown-class battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, launched during the First World War. And to make matters even worse, the Germans now had a radar detector to warn of first generation — metric wavelength — sets. Stoker 1st Class SS/ 117522 Royal Navy H.M.S. The ex-USN 'four-stackers' were not the best anti-submarine warfare platforms, but they were good enough for the critical years of 1940–41. Many records are available online, sometimes on more than one site. Indeed, between the sinking of U-257 by the new River-class frigate5 Waskesiu on February 27, 1944, and the end of April, the RCN sank four out of 14 U-boats claimed by surface vessels in the North Atlantic. However, by late 1942, the U-boats began to concentrate in the mid-ocean again. Then U-501 got underway. The importance of destroyers was enhanced if their sweeps were directed by HF/DF. Both Skeena and the U-boat escaped unharmed. At his time of death, he served at HMS Sultan, a Royal Navy shore base in Singapore. The escort had much new equipment aboard, but the radars and HF/DF sets were not yet calibrated and the assigned British destroyer failed to show. stoker-1st-class-frederick-sears-royal-navy Free Account Registration To view the record for Ernest W Sears you must be a Full Access Member , take the first step here. When Kenogami fired its four-inch gun at a U-boat, the blast left everyone temporarily night-blind and the sub escaped. C-2 circled the U-boat that night, maintaining asdic contact and waiting for first light to renew its attacks. EG-11’s skill owed a great deal to the tenacity, patience, and inventive genius of its officers and men. ON-115 eventually suffered losses in the Grand Banks fog: three ships were hit, two sunk. The British had long suspected that the Canadians were aggressive but misguided and ONS-127 seemed to confirm that. Meanwhile, Skeena pursued a U-boat inside the convoy just as the convoy started an emergency turn. Date of death Thursday 6 July 1916 (aged 24) A Street Near You. Harris commenced training at HMS DRAKE in late 1945, after … On January 4, it sank three ships near Egg Island, then attacked convoy BX-141 in the very entrance to Halifax harbour during a blizzard, sinking two ships and damaging a third. The elimination of Iceland as an escort relay point in February (to free escorts for elsewhere) forced convoys to travel a predictable route across the Atlantic by the spring of 1942.The advantage for the RCN was that its four Newfoundland- based escort groups gained access to excellent facilities in Northern Ireland, including training. Object details Category Uniforms and insignia Related period First … At times, special intelligence (called Ultra), provided by breaking the German operational codes for the North Atlantic, permitted highly effective routing. Apart from atrocious weather and water conditions, the bottom off Halifax was so boulder strewn that asdic echoes bounced in all directions and ships often unwittingly tracked themselves. On 19 January 1911, he joined the Royal Navy, being rated as Stoker, Second Class, on HMS Victory. Died 1st February 1943. Training, maintenance, leadership, and equipment all seemed to be inadequate. The most dramatic was Assiniboine’s memorable battle with U-210 in the fog around SC-94 in August after a wild hour-long running gun battle. One was sunk by the RCAF early in the battle, while Restigouche used its HF/DF to help drive off shadowers. In 1943, the Allies won the Battle of the Atlantic and, in three distinct phases, inflicted a punishing defeat on the U-boats. Even Lieutenant-Commander P.M. Bliss, RN, recently arrived in Ottawa from St. John’s as the new staff officer, anti-submarine, rejected the British assertion, observing “that when C groups are brought up technically to B groups a very great increase in efficiency will result without reference whatever to training and experience.”4. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and … SUBMARINE. 1st and 2nd Class Sick Berth Steward First Writer Victualling PO Gunner’s Mate, Torpedo Gunner’s Mate (CPOs) Chief Yeoman of Signals or Chief Tel Chief Sailmaker Chief Stoker Chief Mechanician ERA 4th Class, 3 rd Class 2 HMCS Orillia (K119) as seen from the deck of HMCS Chambly (K116) in the fog of the North Atlantic. U-210’s conning tower was riddled with holes and littered with dead; Assiniboine’s upper decks and bridge were cut-up by German 40mm fire, and small fires started in its superstructure. TORPEDO: Torpedo Gunner's Mate: Torpedo Coxswain: Leading Torpedoman (Low Power) Leading Torpedoman: Seaman Torpedoman WIRELESS. No naval counterattacks were effective against these two intrepid submariners. Now diesel, gas or stoker 1st class ww2 engines in modern surface fleets, are obvious! Fudge one the escort was overwhelmed, destroyer sweeps might help the escape... 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