1AICROWSNESTVol. 8 No. 11 THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY'S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER, 1956

SMILES OF THE MONTH

Letter to Editor II................. 29

Orltar;o's Private Cloud...................................... 26

Naval Lore Corner No. 40 Inside Back Cover

Negative nUlnbers of RCN photographsreproduced in The Crowsnest are includedwith the caption for the benefit of personswishing to obtain prints of the photos.

This they may do by sending an order tothe Naval Secretary, Naval Headquarters,ottawa, attention Photographic Section, quot­ing the negative nUll1ber of the photograph,giving the size and finish required, and en­closing a Inoney order for the full amount,payable to the Receiver General of Canada.

Sizes, finish and the new National Defencestandardized prices, follow:

4 x 5 (or smaller) glossy finish only .• $ .10

6~~ x 8% glossy finish only .408 x 10 glossy or Inatte finish .50

11 x 14 n1atte finish only 1.00

16 x 20 •• .•.•...•..••• 3.0020 x 24 ••..••.•..••.•• 4.0030 x 40 •••••••.••••.•• 8.00

Sonleone nlust have told a whale of agood joke. Or, perish the thought, a sedateand highly respected officer Il1ay have CaDlea cropper on a grease patch. Let no dis­loyal idea, such as the laUer, enter any Inindas they gaze on the scene on the oppositepage of a lot of good-looking sailors deriv­ing a great deal of \vholesolue enjoyluentfrool sonlething or other.

Of course, \vhether the hilarious outburstwas provoked by grease patch or greasepaint, the picture reveals that, despite theuniform, despite stern naval discipline,despite all the fears of persons not acquain­ted with service Iife, the sailor remains anindividual. He can takes his jokes or leavetheln.

You will observe here the abandonedhilarity of SaIne, the cheerful enjoylnent ofothers. And you will notice the subduedaJnUSenlent of still others which expressesthe thought: '~That was a darn good joke thefirst tinle 1 heard it. Don't mind hearing itagain at alL"

Whatever the occasion, whatever the jest,the conclusion can be safely drawn that lifeat Naden cali't be too bad after all.(E-36663 )

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CONTENTS

Lower Deck Pro/n.otions

Pion,eer Subnl,ariner Retires , ,.,.

Labradot KeeZJs 'EI11. Healthy .

Afloat and Ash.ore , .

Books for the Sailor............................................ 25

ReN' Netvs Revie11) .. , " .. ,.,.", , , .

Officel~S 1l.11,d Men ,."."" , , , , " .

Weddin.gs and Births ' ..

The Last of Sca/Ja Flo}t,) II " ..

Odyssey of th.e Mary Celeste , ,

Tlle New Assin,iboine

The Cover-Three ships of the Second Canadian Minesweep­

ing Squadron furrow the waters off Vancouver Island. Preparedness

against an unseen and treacherous enenlY, the J11ine, in all its deadly

nlodern forms, is the objective of the wood-and-aluminum sweepers

of the Royal Canadian Navy. The three pictured here are the

Con10x (foreground), Jalnes Bay and Fortune. (E-36375)

SUBSCRIPTION RATEThe Crowsnest may be sub­

scribed for at the rate of $1 for12 issues.

Persons desirous of receivingtheir own private copies by mailshould send their orders, accom­panied by cheque for money or­der made out to the ReceiverGeneral of Canada, to:-

THE QUEEN'S PRINTER,75 St. Patrick Street,

Ottawa, Ont.

Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Deparbnent, ottawa. Page one

The Arctic sun was setting as a party from the Labrador raised this radar beacon on the shore of a barren northern island. (LAB·1672)

Commodore WrightNaval Comptroller

Commodore (S) Rupert AntonyWright took up the appointment ofNaval Comptroller and member of theNaval Board at Naval Headquarters onAugust 15. He had been attending theNational Defence College. at Kingston,Ont., since September 1955..

The post of Naval Comptroller is anew one intended to ensure that themost effective use is made of manpower,materiel and financial resources avail­able to' the RCN in carrying out ap­proved policies and programs.

Captain (SB) George A. Woolcombe,Director of Naval Organization, has beengiven the additional appointment ofDeputy Comptroller.

Captain (S) Donald McClure, who hasbeen Deputy Supply Officer-in-Chief,was appointed to staff of the NavalComptroller as Director of Naval Pro­gram Control, effective August 13.

Crew of SubmarineHalf l1mwdian

Thirty Canadians are among the crewof 60 in HM Submarine AHiance whicharrived in Halifax September 11 to jointhe 6th Submarine Squadron which isprobably one of the busiest in the world.

This is the greatest proportion ofCanadians yet to arl'ive in any of theBritish submarines serving on (he Cana­dian Atlantic Coast. As training ofCanadians in the United Kingdom pro­gresses, subsequent units of the squad­ron are expected to contain even higherpercentages of Canadians.

A Naval Headquarters message wel­comed the Allia71ce. "The Naval Board

Pane two

welcomes you to Canada," it said, "andtrusts that your period of operationswith the Royal Canadian Navy will behappy and fruitful."

From the AlLiance, commanded byLt.-Cdr. H.R. Clutterbuck, RN, camethe reply: "Your kind signal was muchappreciated by all on board. We lookforward to becoming an integrated anduseful member of the RCN."

The AHiance replaces the Ambush,which returned to the U.K. in May after

Roof ProvidedFor Veteran

A partially blind naval veteranliving in Montreal has a sturdy roofover his head these days and he nowknows that naval divisions have akeen interest in naval veterans, thatpersonnel at Donnacona, Montrealnaval division, have his welfare atheart and that the RCN BenevolentFund is there to assist him. .

The veteran's roof was in a bad stateof repair and, unable to renovate ithimself, he appealed to the Benevol­ent Fund for assistance.

PO J. C. Reid, BCN shipwright atDonnacona, heard of the requestthrough the Staff Officer and offeredto organize a roofing party of Reserveshipwrights to get the job done, withthe fund paying .for the materials.

Fixing. Satuday, August 11, .as R- (forrepair) day, four men, CPO L. J. Fett,PO D. C. Hurst, PO B. G. Huculakand PO R. L. Cobb, led by PO Reid,'worked all day to leave the roof wellfortified against the whims of Montrealweather.

The strain on the Benevolent Fundwas further eased when through thecommanding officer, Commander A. B.Webster, RCN (R), the materials wereobtained at cost and transportation toand from the site was provided.

serving as one of the original threemembers of the Squadron. The AlLiancemade the crossing from Portsmouth ineight days and, in little more than aweek following her arrival, had begunher new duties.

Cdr. W. T, J, Fox, senior officer of thesquadron, commenting on. the newarrival, said "there are probably nosubmarines in the world, certainly nonein the NATO fleets, busier than threebased at Halifax."

The other two members of the squad­ron, the Astute and the Alderney wereat sea for Exercise New Broom VI whenthe Altiance arrived.

The 6th Submarine Squadron wasformed at Halifax March 15, 1955, un­der Canadian operational control andhas since been employed in anti-subma­rine training exercises with units of theRCN and with aircraft of the RoyalCanadian Air Force and in NATO exer­cises in North Atlantic waters.

All are "A" class submarines with adisplacement of about 1,120 tons eachand snorkel-equipped.

Topsy-TurveyShip Challengell

Steaming through the southern'stretches of Foxe Basin, the Arcticpatrol ship Labrador recently challengedan upside-down icebreaker in the sky­and got an answer.

The incident occurred when the Lab­raddr was nearing a rendezvous withthe American icebreaker, USS Edisto,and her convoy of DEW-line supplyvessels. The convoy was stillwell belowthe horizon when the Labrador's look­outs spotted the image of the U,S. shiphanging mast down from the sky.

The Labrador's signalman sent theofficial challenge by signal lamp to thephantom icebreaker and received theofficial down-to-earth reply, althoughhours of steaming still separated the twoships. Marked temperature differencesbetween layers of the air over the seawere responsible for the mirage.

It was not until the next morning thatthe Labrador rendezvoused with theconvoy and the supply ships wereformed into two columns for the restof their journey to the beaches wherethey would unload their DEW-linesupply.

For weeks previous to their arrivalthe Labrador had been surveying beachapproaches, setting up beacons andmarkers and clearing obstructions. Thefreighters lie offshore and the cargo istransferred to landing craft, which carrythe supplies to the prepared beaches.

In contrast to last year, ice conditionswere excellent and the supply convoycompleted the last portion of its journeywith little difficulty.

Here is an instance of an airmon deliberately trying to get forced. down by ice. An RCN heli­copter is seen defying the worst that could be done by a freezing cloud produced by an array of143 fog nozzles during an experiment conducted last winter by the National Research Council inOttawa. NRC scientists were trying out systems for de-icing the whirlybirds. (Photo courtesy NationalResearch Council)

Navy's Share ill­Research Told

Work done by the National ResearchCouncil of Canada on behalf of theRoyal Canadian Navy and instances inwhich the Navy has been able to recip­rocate by assisting the work of theCouncil are recorded in the 39th annualreport of the NRC, recently off thepress.

Reference is made to cosmic raymeasurements taken during the maidencruise of HMCS Labrador in the Arcticduring 1954. On the return of theLabrador, these experiments were con­tinued on board the USS Atka in theAntarctic.

The results of the measurement havebeen analysed and, according to. thereport, "they show in a striking ,waythat the earth's magnetic field as itaffects cosmic rays is considerablydifferent from that derived from sur­face geo-magnetic measurements. Thereason for this is not known".

The NRC is continuing its cosmic raymeasurements as part of the programfor the International Geophysical Year(1957-58), which will entail a massiveassault by many nations on unsolvedmysteries of the earth's land, sea andair. Two RCN frigates, the Ste. Thereselast year and the New Glasgow this,have conducted mid-Pacific surveyswhose findings will be added . to thestore of knowledge it is hoped. to ac­cumulate during the Geophysical Year.

The National Research Council, inits ship laboratory, has tested modelsof a large variety of ships and boats

for the RCN, naval architects and ship­builders. It has included models of "St.Laurent" class destroyer 'escorts, coastalminesweepers and the Labrad01' in thetests which seek to establish the mosteffective hull design with regard to thefunction of each ship.

One of the major projects of theNRC's low temperature laboratory, says

. the report, is the investigation under­taken for the Navy of the icing of heli­copters. A spray rig of unique designwas devised and this produces an arti­ficial icing cloud in which a helicoptermay be flown and the degree of~cing

determined. A naval helicopter' wassupplied for the experiments and opera­ted from Uplands airport at Ottawa.

Great Lakes ShipsSail for East Coast

The Great Lakes summer trainingended with a flourish for at least fourCanadian Navy ships heading for Hali­fax and away from the threat of winter­time's ice-bound inland waterways.

En route to Halifax, the Wallace burg,a unit of the 11th Canadian EscortSquadron, and HMC Ships C01'morant,Blue Heron and Mallard, inner patrolcraft commissioned in western Ontariolast July, sailed with His Excellency theGovernor General embarked in theWallace burg for a brief visit'to two St-.Lawrence River ports.

The escort squadron, comprising HMCShips P01'tage, Wallace burg, and SaultSte. Mm'ie, arrived on the Great Lakeslast May to carry out summer trainingof members of the Royal Canadian Navy(Reserve). They were joined in Julyby the Cormorant and Mallard. TheBlue Heron, commissioned the samemonth, is to be loaned .to the RoyalCanadian Mounted Police at Halifax,

First navy ships to leave the Gr.eatLakes for Halifax were the Sault Ste.Marie and Portage, which attended theCanadian National Exhibition at Tor­:onto with the Wallace burg and two ofthe "Bird" class vessels before sailingSeptember 1. The Soo and Portagecalled at Montreal and Quebec en routeto Halifax where they arrived Septem­ber 8..

The three "Bird" class vessels leftthe Great Lakes September 10 and ren­dezvoused with the Wallaceburg atMontreal September 14. Sailing thesame day, the four ships proceeded toQuebec City where the Governor-Gen­eral embarked in the Wallace burg forvisits to Tadoussac and Port Alfred.

His Excellency returned to Quebecwith his naval escort on September 19.

The "Bird" class vessels sailed againshortly after their return to Quebec,calling at Charlottetown, P,E.I., en routeto Halifax, while the Wallace burg pro­ceeded directly to her winter .home port.

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LAST,OF SCAPA FLOWNuclear Age Dooms Great Base

By KINGSLEY BROWNin the

Hamilton Spectator

~HE REPORT from London that theAi Admiralty has decided that th,egre.at naval base at Scapa Flow shallshortly be abandoned will likely bringa twinge of regret to all old naval typesfamiliar with that great fortress of thesea so long associated with Britannia'srule of the waves.

"'~" Scapa Flow is a natural anchorage inthe heart of the Orkney Islands, off thefar northern tip of the Scottish coast.It, is a shelter of immense proportions,and all the navies of the world, let alonethe ships of the British Fleet, couldanchor there with plenty of room to'spare.

But the advent of the atom bOInb andthe H-bomb has made such sheltersobsolete. Never again can a nation atwar afford to anchor hernaval craft atanyone central haven, for a singlebomb could wipe out an entire fleet.Dispersal at sea will be the safety offuture fleets, and such places as ScapaFlow are out-of-date.

And so, before long, the chain ofislands that ring the great naturalharbour will hear no longer the rattlingof anchor chains and the thunder ofnaval salutes, or the shrill piping ofthe boatswain's call. The Orkneys willreturn to their ancient loneliness, whereonly the cries of wild sea-birds, andperhaps the occasional tinkle of asheep's bell on the weathered hills, willbreak the quiet.

Scapa Flow is a place of many stories.At the end of World War One it was

ta Scapa E:low that the German Navysailed to m9..ke its formal surrender tothe Br,iii~rr :Fleet. It··.wa~ ·in November1918 tnat eleven l,.a'ttleships, five battle­cruisers, eight light cruisers and fiftydestroyer's of the Imperial .GermanyNavy steamed into' Scapa Flow anddropped anchor alongside the fleet ofthe victors.

They remained quitely at anchor inScapa Flow until June 21, 1919. Thenon orders from the German Govern­ment, the crews opened the seacocks

and sent the once proud German fleetto the bottom.

British authorities atScapa were toolate to prevent the scuttling, but in sal­vage operations that continued for 20years' most of the German warshipswere brought to the surface, towed toBritish dockyards to be broken· up andsold for scrap. The excellent Germansteel armour plate was sold specially forthe manufacture of cutlery, and as amatter of fact a good deal of it was soldback to Germany to be turned intothose fine Solingen knives and instru­ments.

Surrounded by a group of mountain­ous and rocky islands, Scapa Flow hasonly three entrances: Hoy Sound 'tothe west, opening into the Atlantic Hox

. Sound leading into Pentland Firth, thestormy and treacherous strait betweenthe Orkneys and Scotland, and HolmSound, leading east into the North Sea.

When World War Two opened, thesethree entrances were carefully guarded,but somehow or other a German sub­marine, commanded by a skilful youngcaptain, Cdr. Gunther Prien, was ableto slip into Scapa Flow undetected.

A few hours later the British battle­ship Royal Oak lying at anchor, was·torpedoed and sunk with heavy loss oflife, the first maj or disaster to the RoyalNavy in World War Two. Prien wasable to make good his escape into theNorth Sea, and a few days later wasbeing feted as a hero at home inGermany.

Prien deserved his accolades. Evenin the British House of- Commons thePrime Minister paid tribute to thecourage and the skill of this enemy sea­man.

It was from Scapa Flow that theHampshire sailed in 1915 to carry LordKitchener, Britain's chief of staff, toRussia to seek to bolster the flaggingRussian resistance to the Germans.

Nobody is too sure just what hap­pened to the Hampshire. She wasnever heard from again, and is gen­erally believed to have struck a mineduring a gale shortly after she hadsteamed out of Holm Sound' into

the North Sea. Whatever happened,.Kitchener was lost, and -today, a tall,granite obelisk faces out into the At­lantic at Marwick Head, in memory ofthat great tragedy of the sea.

The Pentland Firth, the channeldividing the Orkneys from Scotland, isone of the most turbulent, and treacher­ous bodies of water anywhere, on earth~~ "The largest steamers are not immunefrom the whims and tantrums of Pent­land. Great battleships-have beenknown to be suddenly knocked 90 de­grees out of their course by suddent~rrific gu~ts of wind and fFightening,whirlpool-like· swirls in the current.

During the First World War two des­troyers, on routine pa.trol duty throughthe Pentland Firth, were swallowed upin a sudden and terrifying gale. Despiteall the efforts of the crew the shipswere driven ashore and pounded topieces by a white fury of surf thatswept across the razor-sharp rocks.

All but one member of both crewsperished that night.

Through some miracle the lone sur­vivor was tossed agains.t a tiny, rockyislet, managed to claw his -way throughthe surf and spray to the top of the cliff,out of reach of the maddened sea. Fortwo days he lived on limpets, scratchedfrom the rocks below, and the snowthat covered the top of the island. Hewas finally picked up by a searchingnaval craft.

Soon the White Ensign will comedown at Hoy, and the great grey shipswill depart and Scapa Flow will becomeonce more a place of great and abidingpeace.

MISSILE CRUISERDIVISION READY

The commissioning of USS Canberraat Philadelphia on June 15 completedthe formation of the world's first guidedmissile cruiser division,. designatedCruiser Division Six.

The division is made up of the guidedmissile cruisers. Canberra and Bostoneach equipped to fire the surface-to-ai~missile "Terrier" from two twin mountsand the tactical command ship, USSNorthampton.

Conventional armament of the Can­berra and Boston includes six eight-inchguns in two mounts forward, plus five­inch and three-inch rapid fire gu~s.

The Canberra has the distinction ofbeing the only ship in the U.S. Navy tobear the name of a foreign capital. Shewas given the name of Australia's capi­tal in memory of the loss of HMASCanberra in the first battle of SalvoIsland.

THE ODYSSEY OF THE MARY CELESTEA Factual Account of an Unsolved Mystery of the Sea

EARLY on Tuesday morning, Novem~ber 5, 1872, the American brigan­

tine Mary Celeste, 282 tons, was towedfrom Pier 50, East River, New YorkCity, to a point off Staten Island in thelower bay where, owing to strong headwinds, she dropped al1ch~r. Two dayslater, on Thursday, November 7, shemade a fresh departure on a voyage tolift her from cOluparative obscurity intoan enduring place in the annals of thesea.

Her master, Captain BenjaminSpooner Briggs, of Marion, Mass. wasaccompanied by his wife, Sarah Eliza­beth (nee Cobb) and their daughter,Sophia Matilda, aged two. Accordingto the Shipping Commissioner'S records,her crew consisted of Albert G. Rich­ardson, first mate; Andrew GiBing,second mate; Edward William Head,cook or steward; and seamen ArianMartens, Volkert Lorenzen, Boy (orBoz?) Lorenzen and Gottlieb Goods­chaad, (or Gottschalk?) . Altogetherthe ship's company consisted of tenpersons. Her destination was Genoa,Italy, and 1701 barrels of alcohol com­prised her entire cargo.

On November 15-eight days afterthe Mary Celeste's departure from thelower bay-the British brigantine DeiGratia, 295 tons, under the command of

By

Charles Edey Fay

Captain David Reed Morehouse of BearRiver, Nova Scotia, and laden with81,126 gallons of petroleum, left Ven­ango Yard, Hoboken, in the port of NevVYork, her advertised destination beingGibraltar where she was to "call fororders".

It is a matter of record that duringthe closing months of 1872, the AtlanticOcean was in an unusually tempestu­ous mood. Vessels arriving at New Yorkand other Atlantic ports reported un­usually heavy seas and winds of galeforce. It was under such unfavourableweather conditions that the two brigan­tines made their way eastward. It isknown that the Dei Gratia encounteredextremely heavy weather, and that fromthe time she left New York untilNovember 24, her fore hatch remainedbattened down, and her main hatch wasoff for only one hour. It seems fair toassume that the Mary Celeste experi­enced similar conditions.

Until December 4, the passage of theDei Gratia was devoid of untowardincident. To her company of eight1 the

forenoon of that day brought 110 fore­shadowing of the stirring events soon tofollow.

At noon, the afternoon watch, con­sisting of second mate John Wright andseamen Augustus Andersen and JohnJohnson, came on decl~. Johnson wasat the wheel with Captain Morehousenearby. At some time between 1: 30 and2: 00 o'clock, (December 4 Civll Time:December 5 Sea Time) a sailing vesselwas sighted on the windward (port)bow. She was four or five miles distant,and headed NW by N. The Dei Gratiawas headed SE l E. They were thenin Latitude 38 0 20' North: Longitude 17 0

15' West, and about 378 miles east ofSt. Mary's Island, Azores.

Allthor's NoteThe accompanying narrative is

strictly factual, and is supportedby documentary evidence ofauthoritative character. The prin­cipal repositories of source '1nate­rial are the National Archives atWashington, D.C., the records ofthe Atlantic Mutual Insurance,Cornpany, of 49 Wall Street, NewYork City, which insured theFreight on Charter of the vesselon her rnemorable passage, a copyof the testi'1nony given by thesalvors before the Vice Ad7niraltyCourt at Gibraltar, and a copy ofthe special survey of the vesselby John Austin, Surveyor of Ship­ping at Gibraltar:

The writer is also under obli­gation to the late J. FranklinBriggs, of' New Bedford, Mass.,(nephew of Capt. B. S. Briggs) andhis. cousin, Dr. Oliver W. Cobb ojEastha'1npton, Mass., who gener­ously made available familyphotographs and correspondenceand much inforrnation relating tothe salty ritual of the sea. Alsoto my friend Lieut. Colonel J.Agostinho, Director of the ServiceNleteorological dos Acores atAngra do Herois'1l},e in the Azores,who lJrocu1'ed fron" Lisbon, Portu­gal a transcript of the officialrecord of the weather conditionsprevailing in the particular a1'eaof the A.zores whe1'e, according tothe Mary Celeeste's log slate, shewas be.lieved to be on Nove11~ber

24 and 25, 1872.-C.E.F.THE DERELICT MARY CELESTE

Page five

Few stories of the sea have ex­cited more wild surmise than themystery of the Mary Celeste and,84 years after the event, storiesstill appear pltrporting to explainhow a brigantine, in good sailingcondition; came to be deserted inmid-ocean.

Tellers of fales have invokedeverything from giant squid tofioating islands and Barbarypirates to explain the disappear­ance of the vessel's crew. With afine disregard for the findings ofthe Vice Admiralty Comt theyhave repeated alleged "facts"which have become incorp01'atedinto present-day mythology,

A man who has made a detailedstudy of the mystery of the MaryCeleste, Charles Edey Fay, of LakeWorth, Fl01'ida, has little patiencewith many of the romantic taleswhich have been spun around theincident, Among the groundlessembelLishments, which he findsperpetuated in. the press of .todayare the statements that the MaryCeleste was found "with all sailset", with "food still warm· on thecabin table", "a chicken sizzling

T HE STATE of her sails and thetact that she "yawed some",. at­

tracted their attention, She was undervery short canvas. It was at some timebefore 3 o'clock that Captain More­house summoned Mate· Oliver Deveau,off watch, and pointed the vessel out tohim, Scanning .her through the glass,they were unable, to See any sign oflife on board. She was making"'aboutone and a' half to two knots, and pro­ceeding'In a direction' opposite to theirown, The conclusion was quicklyreached that the stranger was in troubleand required assi~tance, although nosignal of distress was\visible, CaptainMorehouse then proposed to~'speak"

the vessel in order to .afford help ifnecesary, and he gave orders to haulwind,' This was dop.e and, on nearerapproach, .they hailed her but receivedno response, The captain then ordereda boat lowered, an~ Mate Deveau, withWright and Johnson, rowed over to thestranger. As she had only three sailsset':-c-'jlb, foretoP!TIast staysail, and lowerforetopsail-she was moving. slowly,making it -possible for the ,men in thesmall.boat. to overtake her,' On reach­ing her, Deveau and Wright clamberedaboard, leaving. Johnson in the boatalongside.

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Fact YS. Fanc)'

on the galley stove" a nd "the life­boat in the davits".

Mr. Fay, nOLl' in his 82nd year,lcas associated for 40 years lciththe insurance company in Net/]York lchich insured the MaryCeleste's freight on charter on herfateful passage in 1872. It was thediscovery in 1932 of his com­pany's association with the ship,com bin ed ldth' recollections ofromantic tales of the brigantine(Olle of the more famous was bySit· Arthur Conan Doyle) that ledhim to. dig for the facts. Thesehe later assembled and publ-ishedin book form.

Of special interest to Canadiansis the fact that the Mary Celeste(originalLy named Amazon) wasbuiltin 1861 at Spencer's Island,Nova Scotia, and registered- atParrsboro a few' miles away onthe n01'th sh01'e of the channel, intoMinas Basin,

In the accompanying article,pTepaTed by Mr. Fay specially forThe Crowsnest, speculation iscQ1'efully avoided, but elsewhere inhis w1'itings the altthor' has sug-

After an inspection lasting about ahalf hour, they returned to the DeiGratia and reported to Captain More­house. The derelict was found to bethe brigantine MaTY Celeste of New

CAPT, BENJAMIN S. BRIGGSMaster of the Ma1'y Celeste

gested a plausible reason for theabandon ment of the ship.

Briefly summarized, this is thepossible explanation suggested byMr. Fay: Within the holds of theMary Celeste was a cargo of alco­hol. Dltl'ing stormy weather" someof the casks were broached andthe fumes. of the alcohol built lIP

pTeSSllre beneath the tightly sealedhatches.

When the weather moderatedthe hatches were opened to airthe holds and the bursting forthof the fumes caused the crew tofear that the. ship would explode,They hastily took to the seaboat,which they allowed to be towedby a line from the 1111manned ship,A sudden stonn st'ruck, the lineparted and the ship's boat was lostwith all handS.

Mr, Fay does not insist that hisTeaders believe this explanation,but it rings more loudly of thetruth than one Pllt forwat'd seve1'alyears back by a Canadian writerto the effect that the crew hadbeen fTightened overboard by de~

mons or a ghost.

York. There was not a living thing onboard, Her only boat was gone. Shehad about 31 feet of >yater in her holdbut was seaworthy, (There were manyother details which will .be mentionedlater.)

One can easily imagine the intenseinterest· with which this report washeard;. Deveau estimated that the valueof hull and cargo might run as high as$60,000.., ". If they could take her in toGibraltal', there was bright prospect ofa substantial award for a suc(;essful sal­vage operation, and Deveau ,was eagerto make the attempt. ,He held a mate'scertificate and had commanded a brig.Ere is known to have been a man oflarge frame, of great physical strength,absolutely fearless and ··an experienced!leaman.

Capt!'lin Morehouse, mindful of hisobligation to the oWners of his vesseland of his r;sP9l'\SlbilitJ for the safetybf· h~~crewi·?t fli-st 'demurred, He re-

o' minded the men;p..f the risks involved insailing' their own vessel, with a dimin:­ished cl'ew,about 600 miles over astormy stretch of ocean, As for theMary Celeste, only slightly smaller thantheir own vessel, it would be an ex­tremely hazardous undertaking for the

THE DEI GRATIA

very few men-three at the most, thathe could spare for that purpose. Finally,however, he consented, letting Deveautake Seaman Charles Lund and Augus­tus Andersen. He gave them the DeiGratia's small boat, a barometer, acompass, a watch and some provisionswhich the steward had prepared. Bythe time they reached the Mary Celesteit was 4 p.m., and with sunset due inthat area about 4: 49, there was muchnecessary work to be done beforenightfall.

BETWEEN 8 and 9 o'clock in the. evening of December 5 (sea time)

the three men aboard the derelict hadher pumped dry, and they set sail onher. "It took two or three days to sether to rights." They had fine weatherat first, and for several days the t",ovessels kept company. By Wednesday,December 11, they were near the north­west coast or Africa, and approachingthe Straits of Gibraltar. When theygot into the Straits "the weather cameon to blow. hard" and was "thick with. _rain". During the night the two vesselslost sight of each other. It was earlyin the morning of Friday, December 13,that "journey's end" came for threenearly-exhausted men in the 1I1aTUCeleste when they dropped anchor inGibraltar harbour. Shortly thereafter,they learned that the Dei Gratia hadarrived there the night before.

Soon after arrival, the Mary Celestewas taken into custody by T. J. Vecchio,Marshal of the Vice Admiralty Court.

On Wednesday, December 18, theCourt began its hearings on the "Claimof David Reed Morehouse, Master ofthe British brigantine Dei Gmtia, andfor the Owners, Officers and Crew ofthe said brigantine claiming as salvors­The Queen in her office of Admiralty­against the Ship or Vessel supposed tobe called Mary Celeste and her. cargoproceeded against as derelict."

The Queen was represented by SirJames Cochrane, Kt., Commissary of theVice Admiralty Court of Gibraltar. Thepersons recorded as taking part in theproceedings were: Edward JoscelynBaumgartner, Registrar; FrederickSolly-Flood, Advocate and Proctor forthe Queen; Henry Peter Pisani, Advo­cate and Proctor for David Reed More­house, Master of the Dei Gratia; GeorgeF. Cornwell of Lincoln's Inn, London,Proctor for the claimants of the Mm'yCeleste, and Martin W. Stokes, Proctorthe claimants of the cargo. The firstwitness called was First Mate OliverDeveau. After hearing part of his testi­mony, the Court adjourned until FridayDecember 20, when Deveau concludedhis statement. He was followed the

same day by. Second Mate Wright andSeaman Lund. On Saturday, December21, Seaman Andersen and Johnson testi­fied. This concluded the Court Sessionsfor the time being.

A few days later, December 23, ·theDei Gratia, having received orders totake her petroleum to Genoa, Italy,sailed with Deveau in command, leav­ing Captain Morehouse at Gibraltar toreceive the expected salvage award.

Some weeks after Deveau had arrivedat Genoa, January 16, 1873, he was re­called by the Court to Gibraltar forfurther examination which occurred onMarch 4 and which was the final ses­sion. Soon afterwards, he returned toGenoa to resume temporary commandof the Dei Gratia which sailed on March17 for Messina.

The impossibility of giving the com­plete testimony within present limitswill be manifest, but we shall' en­deavour to mention the salient pointsthat were brought out in the course ofthe December (1872) and March (1873)hearings:

"S ALREADY stated, the boardingn party found the Mary Celeste'sonly boat missing. Only three sailswere set. Two others had been blownaway. The mainstaysail had beenhauled down and was lying loose on theforward house. All other sails-sevenin number-were furled. The vesselhad three hatches-fore, main andlazarette. Both fore and the lazarettehatches were off. (They were not re­ported as upside down.) The pumpswere in good order and showed only 3!feet of water in the hold. The skylightof the cabin was open and raised. Onepane of glass had been broken. There

was evidence to show that the ship'sboat had lain across the main hatch.

The standing rigging was all right,but some of the running rigging was inpoor shal~e. Sheets and brace;s werehanging over both sides. The' mainpeak halyard, hanging over the side,was "broke and gone." The water casks,on deck were on chocks which had beenmoved as if struck by a heavy sea. "Themen's clothing was all left behind; theiroilskins, boots, and even their pipes asif they had left in a great hurry orhaste".

"My reason for saying this," saidDeveau, "is that a sai~or would gen­erally take such things, especially hispipe, if not in great haste."

The windows' of the cabin were bat­tened up with canvas and boards. Thegalley in one corner of the forwardhouse was in a bad state with a greatdeal of water. The door-sill, about nineinches high, prevented water from run­ning out. The stove had been knockedout of place, and, contrary to oft-re­peated legend, there was no. heat in itand no food on it. The kitchen utensilswere all washed up and in their properplaces. The water in the galley wasalmost a foot deep and there was a bar­rel of flour, one-third empty. Thewheel was not lashed and was not dam­aged. ' The binnacle was washed awayfrom its place and the glass was broken.

There were no davits on the vessel'squarter. A spar ,lashed through thesheave-holes of the stern davits, showedthat there had been no boat there, butone could see where a boat had beenlashed across the main hatch. The MaryCeleste had no bulwarks, being a flush-

decked vessel with open rails fore andaft. In his March 4 testimony, Deveaumade· his first reference to the "rails ofthe ship" found on deck when he madethe first trip. It seems probable thatthe rails mentioned had been removedby the crew in order to launch her boatover the side.

The captain's chronometer, sextant,navigation book, ship's register andother papers were missing. The bed-

.clothes and Clothing belonging to thecaptain were wet. On th~ desk in themate's cabin they found the Log Book,which had been regularly kept up toNovember 24; and also a chart showing·the vessel's track up to the same date.A sword with stains was found underthe captain's berth.

On the cabin table there was neitherfood nor drink of any kind, and no signsof preparation of a meal, but it was onthis table that a most significant item ofevidence was found, namely the Log

Slate on which there were three entriesall under the date of (Monday) Novem­ber 25, and which read as follows:

"At 5 o'clock made the Island of S.Mary's." A similar entry was againstthe sixth hour. The third entry read:"At 8, Eastern point bore SSW 6 milesdistant." This, in effect, was the MaryCeleste's valedictory, followed by asilence still unbroken after the passingof 84 years .

T HE FINAL session of the Court washeld on March 4, 1873, and on

March 14 Justice Cochrane announcedthe award of £1,700, then equivalent toabout $8,300, an amount deemed by sev­eral authorities on salvage matters aswholly incommensutate with the charac­ter and importance of the serviCe ren­dered by the Dei Gratia. After receiv­ing the award, Captain Morehouse isreported to have gone to London, whileDeveau continued in command of the

Dei Gratia, which sailed March 17 fromGenoa for Messina, Sicily'.

For more than 80 rears, the facts ofthe case of the Mary· Celeste (includ­ing the almost universal misspelling ofher name) have been so largely ob­scured by the mass of apocryphal litera­ture which has grown up around it,that much uncertainty exists in the pub­lic mind as to what actually occurred.For the sake of historical accuracy, andin the interest of justice, howeverbelated, to persons who have been un­justly maligned, the author has en­deavoured to rectify the record and, inthe classic phrase of Edmund Burke­"to make the truth prevalent."

The fate of the vessel's small com­pany is still an unsolved mystery andseems destined to remain forever unre­vealed until the coming of that Daywhen all whom the sea has sunderedshall be reunited, and all that how lieshidden shall be made plain.

The participation of the Royal Canadian Navy in the dedication ceremo nies of the Alexander Graham Bell Memorial 'Museum at Boddeck, N.S., onAugust 18 recalls an earlier association of the RCN and the great inventor. On September 27 and 28, 1921, the destroyer HMCS Patriot was placed atDr. Bell's disposal to assist him in testing a strange hydrofoil croft he had designed. The picture shows the Patriot towing the hydrofoil, designated theHD.4, over Cape Breton Island's Bras d'Qr Lakes, at a speed of 14 knots. (CN·2947)

A NEW ASSINIBOINE SAILS THE SEASSecond Ultra-Modern DE Bears Honoured Name

H VNDREDS of guests and towns­people watched the impressive

ceremonies which brought the seco.ndof Canada's new anti-submarine des­troyer escorts into service at Sorel,P.Q., on August 16.

The commissioning of the ship, HMCSAssiniboine, under Cdr. E. P. Earnshaw,was unique in that the service was pre­ceded immediately by the christeningceremony which had not been per­formed at the time of launching.

Among the senior guests who pm·tici­pated in the ceremonies was Mrs.Lionel Chevrier, wife of the presidentof the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority,who was sponsor for the christening.

Guest of honour for the commission­ing itself was Hon. George A. Marler,Minister of Transport, while the Chiefof the Naval Staff was represented byRear-Admiral R. E. S. Bidwell, FlagOfficer Atlantic Coast, in whose com­mand the Assiniboine now serves.

Another guest who had, perhaps, themost· personal interest in seeing the As­siniboine go into service was Chief PettyOfficer Max Bernays who was flownfrom the West Coast where he isstationed.

The ceremony was a moving one, par­ticularly for CPO Bernays who, 14 yearsago, won the Conspicuous GallantryMedal for his part in a gallant surfaceaction which saw the first Assiniboineram and sink an enemy submarine fol­lowing a close-range battle with thesurfaced u11derseas craft.

CPO Bernays, who was drafted to theAssiniboine in March, 1942, was coxs­wain of the ship at the time of thehattle. His citation tells the story ofhis gallantry:

"A fire caused by enemy shells brokeout on the flag deck, compelling thetelegraphmen to leave the wheelhouse,leaving Acting Chief Petty OfficerBernays alone. With complete disre­gard for his own safety, with flames andsmoke obscuring his only exit, withenemy explosive shell fragments enter­ing the wheelhouse, this comparativelyyoung rating remained at his post fornearly 40 minutes.

"Appreciating the crucial importanceof his duties in an action, the successof which depended in a large measureon the precise steering of the ship andexecution of telegraph orders, he notonly carried out exactly and effectivelyall the helm orders but also dispatched133 telegraph orders, necessary to ac­complish the destruction of the V-boat.

"The final success of the sinking ofthis V-boat was largely cue to the highcourage and determination of ActingChief Petty Officer Max Leopold Bernayswho, in circumstances of the gravestpersonal danger, carried out not onlyhis own but two other ratings' dutiesin exemplary fashion. His conductthroughout the action added another in­cident of the utmost bravery to theannals of the Royal Canadian Navy."

, CPO Bernays served during the waras a member of the Royal CanadianNavy Reserve' on active duty. He hadjoined in 1930 while employed by Cana­dian National Steamships.

Mrs. lionel Chevrier, wife of the presidentof the St. Lowrence Seaway Authority, who wassponsor at the christening of HMCS Assiniboineat Sorel, P.Q., on August 16, immediately pre·ceding the commissioning of the ship. Mrs.Chevrier holds a silver tray which was presentedto her on behalf of the builders, Marine Indus·ties Ltd., by Mrs. A. L. Simard, wife of thepresident of the shipbuilding company.(ML.4834)

The White Ensign is hoisted and the Red Ensign lowered os HMcs Assiniboine goes into coni.mission ,at Sorel, P.Q., on August 16 to become the second of Conada's new anti-submarine destroyerescorts to go, into service. (ML-4829)

Returning to Canada - in 1945, heserved for two years at HMCS Discov­ery, Vancouver. Discharged on July 31,1947, he enrolled in the regular forcethe next day and has served in theRCN since, including a tour in Koreawith HMCS Cayttga.

This year, as he watched the commis­sioning, CPO Bernays saw a modernship which bore little resemblance tothe old River class destroyer in whichhe won his medal.

The new ship is an electronic wonder­land housed in a 'streamlined hull whiChcarries deadly 'anti-submarine arma­ment-the anti-submarine mortar andthe homing torpedo.

British designers and British yardshad created the first HMCS Assinibc.iine,but this new ship was a product purelyof Canadian design and Canadian work~

manship.Credit was paid to both designers and

the builders by Mr. Marler in his com­missioning -, speech.

"This is obviously an important occa­sion for a large number of people," hesaid, "for those who have ,had a handin the designing and building of thisfine ship, for the officers and men ofthe Royal Canadian Navy who will, take,her to sea a~d for the service to whichthey belong. ,HAs also an occasion ofwhich all Canadians may be justlyproud, for while the Assiniboine is notthe first anti-submarine destroyer escortto, be commissioned in the Royal Cana­

\di~m~Navy ~he is the first to be con­structed in Canaqa from stem to sternand in every detail.

"Both the design and building' havebeen Canadian and both have been ,ofthe highest quality. These things weknow because the trials to which thefirst ship of this class has been subjectedhave all been met with outstanding suc­cess, and highly experienced officers ofolder, navies 'than our own who havehad the ,fullest ,opportunity of inspect­ing this new' claSS of ship hilVeij:leen, un-stinting in their praise. -,-. ,

"Ladies and gentlemen, this' :is aCanadian achievement. I do not meanby this that Canadians are responsiblefor the invention an'd design of thedevice/! and. weapons that have beenincorporated in the ship: we would befoolish indeed not to ,make use of themodern equipment which has been de­veloped by our friends in Britain andin the United States and which is avail­able to us. ~he achievement is Cana­dian however in the sense that thedesign anq construCtion of the ship, andthe manufacture of these weapons anddevices have been undertaken in Canadaand incorporated into a vessel which is,in fact, unique."

Page ten

But apart from the honour of being'the second of a class of ship which isthe most modern anti-submarine vesselafloat, the Assiniboine has anotherhonour, that of her name.

The name which she received on 'Aug­ust 16 gained fame during the SecondWorld War. Commissioned originallyas HMS Kempenfelt, a destroyer of1,400 tons, the wartime, ship was pur­chased from the Royal Navy by Canadain 1939 and commissioned as HMCSAssiniboine.

Early duties saw her in the Caribbeanwith RN forces blockading Germanships caught in the area by the war.

She took part in the capture of theGerman merchant ship Hannover, whichwas set afire by its crew when inter­cepted. After a long battle, the firewas put out by the combined efforts ofthe ship's companies of the Assiniboineand the British cruiser Dunedin, andthe Hannover was saved from destruc­tion to become the first of a long lineof RN auxiliary aircraft carriers.

Following this episode, the Assini­boine began a lengthy period of serviceon the North Atlantic convoy routes.In August,_ 1941, ,she was one of thedestroyers assignep. for escort duties atthe historic Churchill-Roosevelt Atlan-

Salutes mark the christening of HMCS Assiniboine at Sorel, P.Q., on August, 16. From left toright are: Lieut. A. G. lowe, flag lieutenant 10 Rear-Admiral R. E. S. Bidwell, Flag Officer AtlanticCoasl; Commodore Paul Earl, Naval Officer-in.Charge, Montreal; Rear·Admiral Bidwell, who r,epre­sen ted Ihe Chief of Naval Staff al Ihe commissioning; George' A. Marler, Minister of Transport,Ihe guesl of honour; Rev. Dr. E. G. B. Foole, Chaplain of Ihe Fleet (P), and' Cdr. E. P, Earnshaw,commanding officer of the new anti-submarine destroyer escort. (ML·4835)

tic Charter meeting, and had the honorof embarking the British Prime Ministerfor several hours in Icelandic watersduring the return voyage.

A year later, in one of the most nota­ble engagements of the whole AtlanticBattle, the Assiniboine gained fame forherself and her commanding officer, thelate Lt.-Cdr. John H. Stubbs, DSO, DSC,RCN, when she tracked down a surfacedU-boat, the U-210, and, after a heatedaction at close quarters, rammed andsank the Nazi craft. This was the sameaction in which CPO Bernays won hisaward.

The late Dr. Gilbert Tucker, officialnaval historian of that da~', was taking'passage in the Assilliboinc at the time.A veteran of the First World War whohad faced German fire before, Dr.Tucker marvelled at the battle. Hedescribed the contest of weapons andthe manceuvring in the mist-shroudedseas as the destroyer hounded the eva­sive submarine.

The U-boat manned her guns, butthe shortness of the range between theadversaries kept the heaviest armamentof both sides in a relatively minor role.The effective fire came chiefly fromshort-range weapons.

"In the Assinibone," said Dr. Tucker,nothing was left undone which mightadd to the discomfiture of the enemy.Even depth charges were lobbed overthe side, one of the'm actually landing'on the submarine's deck.

"The U-boat was too close for thedestroyer's torpedoes, and too far awayto be smacked with an oar; but e\"er~-­

thing else was tried;"At last, after much manceuvring, the

Assiniboil1e succeeded in ramming andsinking the U-boat.

"Throughout the action," noted Dr.Tucker, "the captain high on the bridge,stood fully exposed down to his knees.Time and again the bridge was delugedwith machine-gun bullets, most ofwhich were probably aimed at him.Yet he never took his eye off the U-boatand gave his orders as cooly as thoughhe were talking to a friend at a gardenparty. (Lt.-Cdr. Stubbs later lost hislife in the sinking of the first HMCSAl1wbasl;an in an English Channelaction.)

The spring of 1944 found the Assini­boine still carrying out Atlantic convoyduties. Later in the year, she was as­signed to duties in support of the landcampaign in Europe. Other tasks in­cluded interception patrols and furtherconvoy duties which took her to everypart of the British Isles, to the NorthSea, Iceland and Gibraltar.

On one of her patrols off the Frenchcoast, the Assi'niboine was hit duringan engagement between Canadian des­troyers and enemy armed trawlers.Fortunate:ly, thel'e were no casualties.

Following repairs and a brief patrol,she returned to Plymouth in time to

sail on August 25 as close escort to HMSWal'spite (battleship), which had beenordered to bombard the enemy-held portof Brest. This was the same day thatParis was liberated,

At the end of the war she was at seaon patrol. On her return to Canada,she began a ferry service from New­foundland to help relieve the pressureon commercial transportation systems.

Finally sold as surplus, she was takenin tow from Sorel, P.Q., for Baltimorefor breaking up. By a trick of fate shewas not to leave Canada.

On November 7, 1945, strong windsparted her from the towing vessel andshe went aground.

She still lies, bows to the west,directly south of the eastern end ofSouth Lake, two and one-half mileswest of East Point, Prince EdwardIsland.

To her successor, the old Assiniboilleleft a heritage of renown and the battlehonours:

Atlantic, 1939-45Biscay, 1944English 'Channel, 1944-45.

Torpedoes NotAimed at Premier

Anyone who sniffed gunpowder andtreason on the brisk prairie breeze wasbarking up the wrong mast.

To unmix ·the metaphor, the refer­ence "is'" to two 18-inch torpedoes,addressed to the Premier of Saskatche­wan. which came to light after some­one finally got around' to clearing outan old government warehouse inRegina. .

Close tab is kept by the Navy onexpensive and potentially dangerousitems such as torpedoes and it didn'ttake Naval Headquarters long to findout that the Regina weapons were lWtdirected against any past' or presel\tgovernment of the province of Sasl{at,­chewan. .

When the two submarines, which'had started off as the "B.C. Navy" in1914 and later migrated to the EastCoast, were paid off at the end ofthe First World War, the RCN of thatday had a lot of obsolete 18-inch tor­pedoes left on its hands, the ,21-inchsize having been adopted as standalld.

Civic administrations were trophy­minded in those days, as rusting, gunsin public squares long testified: andthe federal government seized on thetorpedoes to help publicize the 1919Victory Loan drive. One such torpedois 'said to have have remained on dis­play in Beacon Hill park in Victbriauntil recent years.

The Regina torpcdoes, followingtheir discovery, were transferred toHMCS Queen, the local naval division,and have since been offered to theMaritime Museums on either coast. "

Page e!;cvcn .

OFFICERS AND MEN

outstanding inand athletic

Davies, Mont-

First VentureClass Graduates

Already veterans of thousands of sea­going miles and acquainted with suchfaraway places as Australia, Hawaiiand the West Indies, 97 new midship­men were created in August, and WestCoast naval history was written.

The occasion was the first graduationceremonies for HMCS Venture, trainingestablishment for junior naval officersat Esquimalt, B.C.

Vice-Admiral H. G. DeWolf, Chief ofthe Naval Staff, before an audience ofmore than 500 witnessing the graduationof cadets of the first two-year course,told· the new midshipmen that "Fromnow on you will be on your own to anever increasing degree. Your progresswill very largely be dependent on yourability and willingness. I am confidentthat you will meet the standards re­quired of you."

The ceremony included an inspectionby Admiral DeWolf and the command­ing officer of Venture, Captain R. P.

Welland, after which the cadets carriedout intricate drills they had been prac­tising for two months under Lieut. R.A. Smith, parade officer.

A single feu de joie was fired and thenthe seniors marched through the ranksof the juniors yanking the lanyards fromthe latter's necks, marking the momentthe juniors became seniors and theseniors became midshipmen.

The midshipmen marched from thefield and changed into new uniformscarrying out additional drills.

Following these c·eremonies AdmiralDeWolf presented 17 awards:

Officer of the Watch telescope forhighest standing in scholastic and pro­fessional subjects and officer-like quali­ties: Cadet C. G. Gudgeon, Lynn Lake,Man.

Pullen trophy, cadetprofessional scholasticachievement: Cadet K.real.

Officer's sword, cadet outstanding inofficer-like qualities: Cadet C. M.Thomas, Gibson's Landing, B.C.

Hampton Gray shield, cadet outstand­ing in athletic ability and sportsman­ship: Cadet W. J. Fuoco, Ottawa.

Rowland cup, cadet judged by hisfellows as outstanding in leadership andsportsmanship: Cadet D. C. Briggs,Ottawa.

Naden trophy, highest standing, exe­cutive cadets: Cadet J. C. Carruthers,Carp,Ont.

Venture trophy, highest standing, exe­cutive (air) cadets: Cadet Fuoco.

WEDDINGSAble Seaman Raymond T. Chantal, Micmac,

to Miss Lillian Jobin, Quebec, Que.Leading Seaman D. Joseph Corrigan, Mic­

mac, to Miss Margaret M. Walker, GlaceBay, N.S.

Leading Seaman James Galbraith" AlbroLake Naval Radio Station, to Miss· ShirleyAnne Herd, Montreal.

Able Seaman Donald Horrell,. Albro LakeNaval Radio Station, to Miss Eleanor MarieLevelton, Toronto.

Sub-Lieutenant (S) E. B. Larkin, Corn­wa!!is, to Miss Robin Grant.

Able Seaman Raymond J. P. Leclair, Mic­mac, to Miss Melina M. Brake.

Petty Officer Ronald S. Taylor, Micmac, toShirley M. Small, Aylesford, N.S.

Lieutenant (S) J. D. Toogood, Portage, toMiss Mary Elizabeth Pryce, Toronto.

Cadet (E) C. G. Gudg~on, of Lynn Lake, Mon., is shown above recelvong the Engineer Officerstrophy from Vice-Admiral H. G. DeWolf, Chief of the Naval Staff, during the graduation ceremoniesfor the first closs of naval cadets from HMCS Venture to enter the RCN as midshipmen. The trophy,presented by th.e engineer officers of the Pacific Command, 'is awarded to the Venture cadet whoobtains the highest standing among the graduating cadets of the engineering branch. Cadet Gudgeonwas also presented with the Officer of the Watch Telescope for .the midshipman of any branchwith the highest standing in scholastic and professional subj'ects and officer-like qualities. (E·37207)

PCLge twelve

BIRTHSLeading Seaman Jack W. Brown, Albro

Lake Naval Radio Station, and Mrs. Brown,a son.

Leading Seaman ·Donald Carpenter, AlbroLake Naval Radio Station, and Mrs. Carpen­ter, a son.

Leading Seaman Alvin Church, Albro LakeNaval Radio Station, and Mrs. Church, a son.

To Commissioned Electrical Officer DouglasW. S. Cooke, Naval Headquarters. and Mrs.Cooke, a daughter.

To CPO F. G. Cunningham, Naden, andMrs. Cunningham, a daughter.

To· Lieutenant (SB) T. E. M. (Monty)Everett, Ca1·leton. and Mrs. Everett, a son.

To Lieutenant (L) James O'N. Fitzgerald,Naval Headquarters, and Mrs. Fitzgerald, adaughter.

To Commander G. H. Hayes. Naval Head­quart1!rs, and Mrs. Hayes, a daughter.

To Petty Officer Bruce I. Hewitt, Donna­cona, and Mrs. Hewitt, a son.

To CPO :R. B. Pennington, Naden, and Mrs.Pennington, a daughter.

To Able Seaman Lucien Provencal, Micmac,and Mrs. Provencal, a son.

'1'0 Petty Officer William Redford, Stada­cona, and Mrs. Redford. a d.aughter.

To Leading Seaman J. R. Roach, Niobe,and Mrs. Roach, a son.

To Petty Officer W. C.. Shaw. Cornwa!!is,and Mrs. Shaw. a daughter.

To Major J. M. Smith, RCDC, C01'nwa!lis,and Mrs. Smith, a son.

To Able Seaman.Thomas Spence. Micmac,and Mrs. Spence, a daughter.

To Able Seaman John Stevens, Micmac.and Mrs. Stevens, a daughter.

To Leading Seaman John Tilley. Micmac,and Mrs. Tilley, a daughter.

To CPO K. A. Toll, Naden, and Mrs. Toll,a daughter.

Petty Officer Frank Woodward; Albro LakeNavill Radio Station, and Mrs. Woodward. ason.

Lost spring Chaplain (Re) Richard Word, Assistant Chaplain of the Fleet (RC), broke the sad fora new chapel at Shannon Pork, naval married quarters near Dartmouth. A few days later he waskilled when a jet aircraft crashed into a rest home where he was serving as chaplain. His memoryis to be honoured by the installation of chimes in the new chapel. (HS'451 82)

Engineer Officers' trophy, higheststanding, engineering cadets: CadetGudgeon.

Supply Officers' trophy, highest stand­ing, supply cadets: Cadet B. A. King,Ottawa.

Engineer-in-Chief prize, engineeringcadet, outstanding in professional sub­jects, officer-like qualitIes and sports:Cadet J. E. Green, Farnham, Que.

CNP Pays VisitTo Labrador

Rear-Admiral H. S. Rayner, Chief ofNaval Personnel, paid a flying visit dur­ing August to the Arctie patrol shipLabradot at the scene of her northernactivities and on one occasion saw hersmash her way through an Arctic straitnever before used by shipping.

His visit was one in the series ofannual visits made by members of theNaval Board to outlying ships and es­tablishments of the Royal CanadianNavy.

Accompanied by his secretary, Cdr.(SB) A. O. Solomon, Admiral Raynerflew to Foxe Basin where the Labmdorwas operating.

Lieutenant GovernorVisits Outports

The frigate Buckingham sailed inearly August for Quebec City to embarkHon. Gaspard Fauteux, LieutenantGovernor of Quebec; for his annualvisit to ports in the Gulf and St. Law­rence River.

The eight-day cruise began August 5,and the ports visited include Ste. Annedes Monts, Mont Louis, Magdalen Is­lands, Port Menier, Sept nes, Tadoussacand Bagotville.

Cl1imes to HonourFather 'Dick' Ward

The memory of a naval padre whowas known intimately and affectionatelyby thousands of officers and men in theRoyal Canadian Navy will be honouredby the installation of chimes in a newchapel now under constr,uction at thenaval community of Shannon Park,across the harbour from Halifax.

Chaplain (RC) Richard Martin Ward,42, of Toronto and. Ottawa, who hadbeen Assistant Roman Catholic Chaplainof the Fleet since the fall of 1954 andwho served the longest of anyone withthe Canadian forces in Korea, was killedon May 15 when a jet aircraft crashedinto a rest home of the Grey Nuns of theCross, near Ottawa, where he was alsoserving as chaplain.

Father Ward turned the sod for thenew Shannon Park chapel, to be knownas Our Lady of Fatima, on April 19last and it was considered by a Father

R. M. Ward Memorial Fund committee,established at Naval Headquarters, thatchimes for the new .place of worshipwould be an appropriate memorial tothe beloved priest.

The decision was in line with in­formation that the Magnificent was do­nating a $3,000 set of chimes to theProtestant chapel at Shannon Park, tocommemorate officers and men lost inthe Second World War. A similarmonetary target has been set for theFather Ward Trust Fund.

The committee behind the fund is in­ter-denominational in recognition of theservices rendered cheerfully and sym­pathetically by Father Ward withoutregard to creed.

Per~onal support was lent to the pro­posal by Vice-Admiral H, G. DeWolf,Chief of the Naval Shiff, and the follow­ing acting on -the committee:-

Rear-Admiral H. S. Rayner, .Chief ofNaval Pers'dPn.eI, honorary chairman;Commodore· (5) c. J. Dillon, SupplyOfficer in C~ief, chairm~f:l; Lt.-Cdr. J.N. Bathurst, secretary~r Captain (S)Donald McClure, ltr~asurer; Chaplain(RC) J. A. McLe{a;n, Lt.-Cdr. A. A.Turner, Lt.-Cdr. Harry McClymont andCPO D. H. Gillis.

It was intended that donations shouldbe widespread· rather than large andthe committee suggested a limit of 50cents for gifts from men and, $1 fromofficers. Donations are being received

Page thi,·teen

The Supply Officer-in-Chief, Commodore (S) C, J. Dillon, presents tf,,, Safe-Flying Award foLt.•Cdr. R. A. Laidler, commanding officer of VF 871, Sea Fury squadron. The! trophy was donatedby officers of ,the Supply Bran'ch for annual competition. (DNS·16116)

Page fourteen

by the treasurer at 132 Albert Street,Ottawa.

It was hoped that the Father WardMemorial Fund 'would reach its objec­tive so that the chimes may be installedIn. the', chapel before its completion anddedication about November 15.

Safe-Flying AlvardGoes toVF 871

An' official· visit of inspection ofShearwat~rby Commodore (S) C. J.Dillon, ~'upply'Officer-in-Chief,v,i,las theoccasion 'for: 'the ahnual presentation ofthe Safe-Flying Award, donated by offi­cers of the Supply Branch, to"the squad­ron w,ith the best" accident record.

At ceremonial di..Jisiorts on July '13,Commodor~ Dillon, p'r~sented the awa'rdto Lt.-Cdr. (P) R; A.Laidler, command­ing officer of V:F 871,.:- and took thesalute' at a mll:rch past' of the ship'scompany. '.

In the course of his inspection of thestation facilities, Commodore Dillon wastreated to a flight in a B~ll helicopter.

Five Chiefs LeaveLower Deck, "

Five chief petty officers of: the RoyalCanadian Navy have bee'~ pr,oIIJ.ot~d tothe rank of acting commissioned,engin­eer; They are Douglas Stewart"'Tyre,Thomas Albert Parkinson, HerbertRoland Percy, Gerald Alexander Dawesand Charles Albert Phillips.

The five officers in October were tobegin a six-week divisional course at

Cornwallis, and then will take up aI)~

pointmeI)ts in the 'fleet. ., All are graduates of the RCN Prepara­tory School at Naden, where they quali-

, fied academically for commissionedrank.

CO Appointedto New Ottawa

Cdr; Charles Rodger Parker, of Tor­onto and Victoria, has been appointedto take command of the anti-submarinedestroyer escort HMCS Ottawa whenthe ship commissions later this fall atthe Canadian Vickers Limited Ship­yards in Montreal.

The Ottawa will be the third of theCanadian-designed-and-built destroyerescorts to be completed. She followsinto service the St. Laurent, commis­sioned last October, and the Assiniboine,which commissioned in August.

Reserve OfficerNow Commodore

Captain Robert Ian Hendy, VRD, ofToronto, has been promoted to the rankof commodore, RCN(R), and appointedSenior Naval Officer, Toronto Area, andas Honorary Aide~de-Camp to His Ex­cellency the Governor General.

Commo9,ore Hendy will be responsibleto Naval Headquarters for ,the co-ordi­nation of naval matters in the Torontoarea, for the organization and efficiency,of naval activities with respect to thefunctioning of Toronto as a port, for

the operational control, of HMC shIpsbased in or passing through his area andfor the organization of naval control ofshipping when required. He wIll alsorepresent the RCN at official functionsand prepare programs for visitingCanadian and foreign men-of-war andnaval officials.

The post, a new one, was created inorder to permit efficient fulfilment ofnumerous naval responsibilties in theToronto area. These duties formerlywere performed by the commandingofficer of York, the Toronto naval div­ison, but in recent years had increasedto such an extent that it became impos­sible for him to devote sufficient timeto his division-and his civilian occu­pation-if he was to meet all outsidenaval commitments. '

A similar organization exists inMontreal, where Commodore Paul W.Earl is Senior Naval Officer, MontrealArea.

Commodore Hendy was born inToronto, on December 4, 1916, andbegan his naval career in August 1936w.hen he entered the RCNVR as a mid­shipman. Shortly after the outbreak ofwar he was appointed to the Assiniboineas a lieutenant, following which, inSeptember 1940 he went to the de­stroyer Annapolis.

In March 1941 he was appointed toStadacona for a gunnery course, and onits completion served at Naval Head­quarters on the staff of the Director ofNaval Ordnance.

He subsequently served for two per..;iods in the anti-aircraft cruiser PrinceRobert, attended a staff course in theUnited Kingdom and was Staff Officer(Gunnery) on the staff of the Directorof Warfare and Training at Head­quarters. He was confirmed in the rankof lieutenant-commander in 1944.

Commodore Hendy returned to civil­ian life in October 1945 and enteredthe active list of the Royal' CanadianNavy (Reserve) in August 1947 atYork. He served there as training com­mander until July 15, 1951, when he tookcommand with the acting rank of cap­tain, RCN (R) . He was confirmed inthat rank on January 1, 1952. Commo­dore Hendy relinquished command ofYork in July 1955.

Commodore Hendy is a barrister incivilian life.

Promotion forCdr. Clemens

Cdr. (S) Steven Albert Clemens,Naval Secretary and Secretary to theNaval Board, ' Naval Headquarters,Ottawa, was promoted to the actingrank df eaptain (S) on August 13.

PIONEER SUBMARINER LEAVES SERVICEHDickie" Pearson Shared Tribulations of Early HeN

The undisputed dean of the Roya~

Canadian Navy's civil sel'vants cleal'edout his desk at Nava~ Headqual'tel's l'e­cently and headed fol' l'et1.l'ement ~eave.

Behind him st1'etched a l'ich and val'ied42-1Jeal' hitch with the seniol' sel'vice.

An a1Jpl'entice nav(t~ U1'chit:ect, amal'ine engineer, a pi,oneel' submarinerand a bu~wa,l'k of the RCN as an engin­eer, administrator and font of inf01'1na­tion on things Navy-he has been allof these things.

The story of "Dickie" Pearson thatfollows shows a few glimpses of his lifeof sel'vice, in and out of unifol'm. As aman who ~iterally "grew up" witlt theCanadian Navy, he has nevel' wavel'edin his ~oya~tv to the sel'vice as the bestgoing.

What the stOl'!} does not l1WaS1t1'e isthe host; of fl'iendships he has stl'1/,c1c up,The U 1l1wlbel' ilL the t1lOusaJl(~s fl'oll/,coast to coast, especially in the seapol'tsand .~hipyal'ds,

Fol' Dickie Pearson's Cal'eer in Nava~

Headquarters, wll,ich began in 1919, isnot that of a dweller in an ivory towel'.He has a~ways been on the move to seehow the many projects assigned to himpl'ogl'essed.

The sea still asserts its pull, too, andhe pLans to desel't goLf and modeL-mak­ing Long enouglt to take his wife on anextended hoLiday tOUl' of remembel'ed1J01'ts by t1'amp steamel'.

RICHARD "DICKIE" PEARSON, anengineer with the Royal Canadian

Navy for nearly 42 years, retired fromthe Federal Civil Service on August 31of this year.

Before his retirement Mr. Pearson wasDirector of Technical Services Person­nel and executive assistant to the Chiefof Naval Technical Services. In thisposition his duties embraced the gen­eral supervision of technical personnelmatters, and advice on major labourquestions. He also was responsible forthe ordering of all machinery purchasedfor use in naval dockyards and, in hiswords, "any other special problems theChief of Naval Technical Services likedto throw at me."

A familiar figure at Naval Head­quarters, "Dickie" Pearson is a small,excecdingly active man who looks adecade younger than his 67 ycars. Hislong and busy association with the ser­vice has caused him to be known amonghis friends as "Mr, Navy".

Mr. Pearson was born in Morpeth,Northumberland, England in 1888. Heplanned a career as a naval architectand accordingly entered into appren­ticeship with the firm of ArmstrongWhitworth at Newcastle-on-Tyne in1908. Latcr his interest switched tocngineering and he moved to the Haw­thorne Leslie Company, manufacturersof marine engines. It was while he wasemployed here that he joined the RoyalNaval Reserve in 1911.

He left Hawthorne Leslie for theBritish Merchant Service shortly afterthis and served as an engineer in deepsea freighters. At the outbreak of the

RICHARD PEARSON"NIl'. Navy" l'etires

First World War he was in Mexico and,in accordance with instructions, left hisship and reported to the nearest BritishConsulate. Specific instructions as tohis disposal wcre not held by the Britishconsular officials in any of the nearbyports in Mexico or United States sohe made his way at his own expense toNcw York. He was givcn passage toHalifax with instructions to join HMSGood Hopc.

Luckily, hc arrivcd in Halifax toolate to join thc ill-fated cruiscr whichwas lost with all hands at the Battleof Coroncl on Novcmbcr 1, 1914, takingwith hcr five RCN midshipmen-the

first battle casualties of the youngNavy.

It was at this time that he transferredto the Royal Canadian Navy. His firstdraft was to HMCS Earl Grey, a formergovernment icebreaker commissioned asa naval vessel, although completelyunarmed.

The ship sailed from Halifax undersealed orders which subsequently werefound to direct her to the Russian portof Archangel, taking "evasive action" toavoid contact with enemy.

"The vessel was a coal burner andnever have I seen stokers work so hardslinging slice bars and shovels aroundto keep up the steam whenever evasiveaction was necessary," Mr. Pearson re­calls.

On arrival at Archangel the ship wastaken over by the Russians and theCanadian members of her crew returnedto Halifax. There, Mr. Pearson foundthat a call had gone out for volunteersfor submarine service.

"It didn't say where or what subma­rines," he said, "just for 'submarine ser­vice'. However, I volunteered andfound myself out in Victoria, B.C."

THE TIME was January 1915 andthe British Columbia government

had just acquired two submarines builtin Seattle for the Chilean government.When Chile was unable to take deliveryof the boats, Hon, Sir Richard McBride,then premier of B.C., entered into nego­tiations with the Seattle Constructionand Drydock Company for their pur­chase.

Having acquired the boats, the nextproblem was to man them. In allCanada, only four persons, two officersand two men, all former Royal Navypersonnel, could be found who had hadprevious experience in undersea craft.

With the two officers, LieutenantsAdrian Keyes and Bertram E. Jones, incommand, the boats were mannedmainly with inexperienced volunteersand taken to sea. However, Mr. Pear­son states, enthusiasm and initiativemore than made up for inexperience,and the two submarines of the "B.C.Navy," known simply as CC-1 and CC-2,patrolled the West Coast for more thantwo years.

Mr. Pearson recalls vividly his firstdive in one of these submarines. Hisposition was in the after machineryspace. The boat had reached a depth ofabout 40 feet when something hit him

Page fifteen

When bubbles appeared, indicating aleak, the necessary repairs were made.

During the first actual diving trial,the boat attained a depth of about 30feet when it "started leaking like abasket". The leaks were chalked frominside the hull and the boat went backfor further work. It took eight dives,going deeper each time, before all leakswere. stopped.

On the last dive, a 200-foot trial, anincident occurred which tested not onlythe boat but its crew also. The sub­marine had reached the 180-foot levelwhen it suddenly sank; like a stone. Itwent down to 240 feet before, with allballast tanks, blown, it began to rise tothe surface.

"This deep dive revealed no new leaksso we accepted the boat," Mr. Pearsonsaid. He explained the sudden dive bysaying that the submarine had run intoan area of water of lesser density thanthat above it.

After storing at Quebec City, the boatheaded for Halifax and thence to Eng­land. However, on arrival at Halifax,Mr. Pearson found himself drafted backto the West Coast and further servicein the submarine in which he hadstarted his undersea career.

He recalls that in 1916 a Royal Com­mission appointed to investigate thepurchase of the boats by the B.C. gov­ernment arrived in Victoria. Rumourshad been· circulated to the effect thatthe boats were unable to dive andarrangements were made to take the

flasks, one low pressure for inflatingthe life belt and one higher pressurefor maintaining a balanced supply inthe helmet, were provided.

A small receptacle containing oxylatecrystals with a pipe leading to themouth and one to the top of the helmetand a clip for the nose completed theequipment.

"We had no diving instructors or div­ing towers as provided by the RN orUSN", he recalls, "so instruction con­sisted of going to the Victoria publicbaths, donning the rig and walking fromthe shallow end to the deep end, re­leasing the weights, and coming to thesurface. We were then supposed toinflate the life belt, open the front scut­tle and float until rescued.

"Some forgot to inflate the belts be­fore opening the scuttle and had to befished out quickly.

"After two successful trips to the deepend, we were passed out as qualifiedescapists. I often wonder what wouldhave .happened if we had been requiredto use them in earnest."

After a few months on the WestCoast, Mr. Pearson went east to Mont­real, where 10 submarines were beingbuilt for the Royal Navy. He was as­signed to H-10, the last in the program,and for several weeks assisted in thefinal stages of its construction. In July1915 H-10 started diving tests, the firstof which was the "soap suds test". Be­fore launching, this consisted of soapingthe hull and, then pumping air into it.

More than· 40 years have gone since the creW of the' "B.C. Navy" submarine CC.2 sat for this. picture. Yet Richard (Dickie) Pearson, who recently relinquished his status of the Navy's most seniorcivil servant and retired, recalls the names of all but two members. In some cases he has rememberednicknames rather than rarely-us~d Christian names. Left to right, the names as recalled by Mr.Pearson are: Front row, ERA1 Richard Pearson; PO G. Purvis, coxswain; lieut. Barney L. Johnston,commanding officer (holding bulldog); Midshipman "Boy" Edwards; CERA Jim Hunting, ex-Shearwater,and ERA3 Pete Conroy; second row, Stoker "Ginger" Lee; AB Herrod; Stoker Tom Flannigan; nainesof No.4 and No.5 in this row not recollected; Stoker Jack Sutherland; third row, Ldg. Stoker DickWarner; Stoker 'PO Roberts,. ex·RN, with previous submarine experience; LTO John Moulder; AB"Shorty" Lock; Stoker uSimmo",. Simmonds, ex·Shearwater, and Stoker Finmore. (CN·30304)

--No', .'

with considerable force on the back ofthe neck. Turning around to investi­gate, he was met by a stream of water.A leaking bow cap of the after torpedotube allowed the pressure to build up inthe tube. A corroded stud in the firingvalve gave way under this pressure andhit him in the back ·of the neck. Hisgasp of surprise and alarm quicklybrought the boat to the surface and, likethe legendary little Dutch boy whosaved Holland, he kept his finger and awiping cloth in the stud hole to avoidany further wetting.

"The embryo 'submariners were akeen lot," Mr. Pearson recalls.

Conditions in Esquimalt were totallydifferent from conditions existing today.There was no Naden barracks with itsmodern recreational facilities. Therewas one recreational field with a can- .teen of limited facilities.

HMS Shearwater, an old RN sloop,was the parent ship of the submarinesand it invariably lay in the harbourmoored to a buoy. The Shearwater hadno heating facilities, was overcrowdedand a favourite pastime in off-dutyhours encouraged by the training offi­cers was what they called "tubbingclasses".

Members of the crew would choosesides and each would try to stump theother with questions on submarineoperations, machinery and equipmentand the correct course of action undervarious circumstances.

"We became a very efficient crew,"he says.

One of the reasons he joined the sub­marine service was to obtain experienceon diesel engines, then in the earlystages of development. The Canadia.nsubmarines each had two diesel enginesof the old blast-injection type whosereliability, according to Mr.· Pearson,left something to be desired. In fact,he says, if the run from Esquimalt toComox, a distance of about 125 miles,was completed without a major break­down it was a matter of congratulationsfor all concerned. Luckily, he reports,the two engines of his submarine neverbroke down at the same time, althoughon one occasion the engineroorri staffworked more than 24 hours continuouslyto put one engine back into service aftertwo major breakdowns in one day.

H E' RECALLS with amusement thethe escape helmets which were

supplied. These consisted of a helmetwith a front scuttle attached to a jacket.The jacket was equipped with an in­flatable life belt, a four-pound leadweight at the back to keep the wearerupright and a two-pound weight, de­tachable, at each side.. Two small air

Page sixteen

commISSIon members to sea to provethe rumours unfounded. The divingdemonstration was carried out withoutincident.

PROMOTED to the rank of warrantengineer~ Mr. Pearson went again

to I-Ialifax, wher.e he spent a short tilneas chief engineer of a small supply ves­sel. He then was appointed engineerofficer of lIMCS Grilse, a former luxuryyacht with the lines of a Slnall destroyerand one of the first turbine-engined,oil-fired vessels built. I-Ie served in thisship on c.oastal anti-submarine patrolsoff Nova Scotia. Until the end of the•war, he remained in charge of her ma-chinery and that of two H-class subma­rines, the CH-14 and CH-15, taken overby Canada from the British government.

The Royal Canadian Navy was re-or­ganized in 1919 and was to include thecruiser A uro'fa, two destroyers, the Pat­rician and Patriot~ all of them RoyalNavy ships being taken oveJ; by Canada,and the two submarines. Mr. Pearsonwas given the option of remaining in theNavy, with reduced rank, and joiningthe ship's company of the Auro1'a, orof leaving the RCN for a civil serviceposition with the Navy in Ottawa.

Given a week to decide, he had chosento remain with the Navy and was onhis way to inform his superior officerswhen he ·received a telephone call fromhis wife: She. would like to "giveOtta~a a try."

"And that's how I came to join theCivil Service," he relates.

In Ottawa, Mr. Pearson found him­self an assistant engineer under thethen Conf?ulting Naval Engineer. Thetwo made up the entire naval engin­eering staff at headquarters. His duties,which remained almost unchanged untilthe outbreak of the Second World War,consisted of assisting in administrativework in' connection with :r;epair andmaintenance of ships of the fleet andbuildings in shore establishments; thepurchasing of all dockyard machineryand the early planning work in the con­struction of new buildings.

He also kept a roster of all engine':room branch personnel and assisted inthe preparation of the annual navalestimates.

In addition to the Fleet the Naval De­partment also controlled the Radio Ser­vices and the vessels of the FisheriesProtection Service, and HydrographicSurvey.

In 1921 a change of government tookplace and to the dismay of all con­cerned the estimates were severelyslashed.

To meet this reduction the fleet wasreduced to one destroyer and two mine-

sweepers on each coast and the Fish­eries Protection Service, HydrographicSurvey and Radio Services were trans­ferred to other departlnents. Arrange­ments were n1ade for the Departmentof Public Works to be responsible forthe construction of new buildings andrepairs to wharfs and existing buildings.A period of austerity had set in anddark days were ahead.

ONE GLEAM of sunshine, however,was that in order to maintain a

national naval spirit the RCNVR wasborn and arrangements made to form18 companies and half companies in theprincipal cities across Canada.

The first Director of Naval Reservewas Lieut. II. J. F. I-libbard, RCN, andMr, Pearson was detached in additionto his other duties to assist him in ob­taining necessary buildings through theDepartlnent of Public Works. As herecalls, "We got some gelns of buildings,an old disused warehouse in Hamilton,a disused shop on Wellington st. inOttawa, and in the case of Montreal, aresidence on Sherbrooke St. with aChinese laundry in the basement. It be­came immediately known as 'HMCSHong Kong'. Each COlnpany was alloweda 3-pounder gun and carriage whichcaused more trouble than anything elsein providing the necessary accommoda­tion.'~

A chief petty officer instructor, RCN,was the only permanent member of eachcompany. To operate, each companywas allowed $50 a month for petty cashand $125 a quarter as a contingent fund,which were very, very carefully con­trolled. It was suspected that many ofthe company commanding officershelped matters out from their private *funds.

The engineering staff remained attwo until 1928, when it was decided tobring junior engineer officers from thefleet to Ottawa in turn for headquar­ters experience. Thus, during the next10 years Mr. Pearson found himselfworking side by side with many of hisformer shipmates, men who have sincerisen to high rank in the Navy's en­gineering branch. Rear-Admiral (E)J. G. Knowlton, who retired early thisyear as Chief of,Naval Technical Ser­vices, and his successor Rear-Adlniral(E) W. W. Porteous, were among theseyoung officers whose introduction to"headquarters routine" was through"Dickie" Pearson.

During the early months of the war,Mr. Pearson found things Iittle differ­ent.

"Money was still tight, expendituresstill rigidly controlled," he stated. How...ever, when France fell, "the Treasury

floodgates were opened. Money was noobject as long as the war was won."

Looking back on the austere days of1923, when the Navy's estimates wereslashed to $11 millon and the fleet con­sisted of one destroyer and two mine­sweepers on each coast, Mr. Pearsonmarvelled at the amount of money,which suddenly became available in1940 and the ease with which largeexpenditures were approved.

"Will it help win the war?" becamethe only yardstick for measuring costs.

E ARLY in 1940 the Canadian gov­ernment decided to construct a

number of Fairmile motor launches foranti-submarine coastal patrols and otherduties. The specifications were obtainedfrom the British Admiralty, which hadalready embarked on a building pro­gram of small ships, and tenders werecalled from Canadian boat builders.

It was found, however, that theBritish specifications called for certainmaterials, fittings and equipment notavailable in Canada, while others weredescribed by trade names unknown inthis country. The Canadian programwas making little progress when it washanded over to Mr. Pearson. Given acompletely free hand, not only in thematter of propulsion machinery but inhull construction and all other phasesof the building program, Mr. Pearsoncalled a meeting of all interested ship­yard operators. In that one rpeetingthey 'threshed out the details 01 theships as they were to be constructedand accepted by the Canadian Navy.Construction problems were settled anddecisions taken as to the materials andequipment to be used.

"It turned out to be one of the mostsuccessful of any of the wartime ship­building programs," says Mr. Pearson.

Later, Mr. Pearson's duties were ex­panded to incl~de supervision of allsmall-boat building for the wartimeRCN. The program included 75-footpassenger craft and 48 and 46-footharbour craft. With a naval lieutenantof the special branch as his assistant,Mr. Pearson carried out these dutiesthroughout the war, in some casesactually designing his small ships "fromkeel up".

For his "outstanding services" Mr.Pearson was awarded the Order of theBritish Empire (Civil).

Looking back over his 40 years ofservice, Mr. Pearson recalls many eventsin the history of the Canadian NavalService in which he had a part.

He tells of the circumstances whichled the Canadian Government to orderthe first two destroyers to be builtspecifically for the Canadian Navy.

Page seventeen'

On his retirement, Mr. Pearson was presented at Naval Headquarters with nylon luggage anda purse and his wife received flowers. The presentation to the "dean of naval civil servants" wasmade by A. R. K. Anderson, Director of Civilian Personnel, Department of National Defence. and theflowers were presented by six·year.old Kit Collins. (0·8872)

The Navy carried on during the"twenties" but in 1928 it was found thatthe boilers of the destroyers then inservice, the Patriot and Pat?'ician, haddeveloped "wrapperitis" or, in otherwords, a cracking of the wrapper platesof the bottom drums of the boilers. Thiscreated quite a commotion as it meantlaying up the entire destroyer strength(two ships). The engineers wereaccused of being alarmists but they re­fused to retract as men's lives were atstake.

The Canadian government made a re­quest to Admiralty for the loan of twofurther destroyers to replace the Patriotand Patrician.

The Admiralty, in order to keep alivethe. naval spirit of Canada, agreed toloan two ships providing Canada wouldbuild two new destroyers. Two des­troyers, HMS Toreador and HMS Tor­bay, were transferred to Canada andrenamed Vancouver and Champlain.

Arrangements were then made tobuild two destroyers in England andthus the' Saguenay and Skeena becamethe first two destroyers built to Cana­dian account and -specifications. Theywere commissioned in 1931.

THE BUILDING of the Saguenayand Skeena is recalled by Mr. Pear-

son with happy memories. .As stated previously, the engineering

staff at Headquarters then consisted oftwo naval engineer officers, himself anda stenographer.

Page eighteen

The RCN did not like the square, up­right, bridge superstructure of the typi­cal RN destroyers of that day so it fellupon Mr. Pearson to sketch a form ofstreamlining which was accepted inprinciple. The RCN also decided to re­place the old coal-burning stoves usedto heat the mess decks in British des­troyers with central heating, a radicaldeparture in those days.

The wardroom refrigerator which wasthe only cold storage in contemporarydestroyers was superseded by a properly

•.constructed refrigeration space, and last,as a special brain wave, it was decidedto install a salt-water shower in "B"gun trunk for the benefit of the crews.

These improvements, taken forgranted today, were enough to causeone British admiral to refer to the newvessels as "those de luxe Canadian des­ti·oyers".

The shower, however, as Mr. Pearsonrecalls, was never enthusiastically ac-

'claimed by the ships' crews and whenthe new destroyers. arrived in Canada"we found the shoWer space used as apotato locker."

With the arrival of the Saguenay andSkeena, the fleet had now increased tofour destroyers as the Navy "forgot" toreturn the Champlain and Vancouver tothe RN and in turn the Admiralty bene­volently "forgot" to ask for their return.

By 1933, the depression was at itslowest ebb and a suggestion was madethat the sums spent on the Navy couldbe used to better advantage and aid

unemployment by. using the money tobuild roads and flying fields.

I N 1936, it was decided to build athree-masted schooner, the Venture,

for training purposes, and a contractwas placed with a shipbuilding firm inNova Scotia. Eventually, the firm gotinto financial difficulties and the shipwas seized before it was delivered.

Mr. Pearson was detached to go downto the builders' yard in company withother officers to check accounts and gen­erally to get the ship "out of hock".

It was at this period that a new com­~anding officer, Lt.-Cdr. K. F. Adams,now a rear-admiral and Flag OfficerNaval Divisions at Hamilton, was ap­pointed tempprary CO of the Venture,and after many hectic days the Navyfinally got possession of the ship, but notuntil the CO was duly sworn in as De­puty Sheriff of Digby County, as otherclaims against the ship were still pending.

To sail the ship a scratch crew had tobe obtained from the RCN TrainingBarracks, Halifax, the RCNVR, etc.Many of them had never been to seabefore, to say nothing of the fact thatthey knew nothing of sailing vessels.

The hour for slipping was set forSunday morning, and the news that theRCN was going to sail a three-masterschooner was widely publicized. Thewharfs and roads were blocked with oldmariners, who had arrived by buggy,oxcarts and Model "T" Fords to witnessthe show.

At the very moment arrangementswere being made to cast off, the localchurch bells commenced to call thefaithful to their devotions. Many men­tal conflicts arose among the spectatorsregarding religious devotion or the lureof the sea, and in the end, it must beconfessed, that in the majority of casesthe latter won.

To satisfy them, the commandingofficer shoved up every pieces of canvasthe spars would carry, and with the helpof the diesel engine, as there was littlewind, sailed about 10 miles up and downthe coast before coming around andmaking for Halifax, which was eventu­ally reached with the diesel engine stillchugging along.

Mr. Pearson has never regretted hisdecision to "try Ottawa". He ignoressolicitous friends who have pointed outthat he very likely would have risen tohigh rank in the Navy and that he prob­ably has lost considerable money in payover the years.

"It is not the amount of money youreceive," he feels, "but the best use ofyour experience in the service of theNavy. I prefer to work in the capacitythat makes the best use of my services."

Sick and thoroughly unhappy, an Eskimo child is the subject of consultation between Mrs. BessieParsons, of Lake Harbour, Baffin Island, and Surgeon Lt.·Cdr. D. A. Maciver, the Labrador's medicalofficer. Mrs. Parsons, who is a registered nurse and the wife of RCMP Constable Bill Parsons, hadradioed a call for assistance at the very moment Surgeon Lt.-Cdr. Maciver had packed his bag topay a call to the Eskimo settlement. (LAB·1621)

A corner of the sick bay in the Labrador. (LAB-766)

Petge nineteen

which has been much appreciated andin some cases life-saving.

In one instance this summer whenmedical aid was required ashore, theradioed call for assistance came at thevery moment when the ship;s medicalofficer, Lt.-Cdr. Maciver, was about toclamber into a helicopter with his bagto make a routine visit to the nearbyEskimo village.

The message had come from Mrs.Bessie Parsons, a registered nurse andthe wife of RCMP Constable Bill Par­sons, of Owen Sound and Toronto. Thespeed with which the request for aidwas answered came as a welcomesurprise.

Permanent equipment in the ship isdesigned to make her as independent asany small hospital ashore. An opera­ting table of the hydraulic pedestaltype with all fittings is carried plus theusual anaesthetic apparatus and a setof surgical instruments 3dequate tohandle any surgical problem which itis practical to deal with aboard ship.The facilities of an excellent smalllaboratory are available with PO R. H.Applejohn, of Dartmouth, 'the seniorpetty officer in the sick bay, in charge.

A new powerful X-ray diagnostic unitwas fitted, before the present cruise.This is operated by PO T. E. Dalgleish,of Kingston, Onto Both he and POApplejohn have passed the examinationsof their respective civilian technicalsocieties.

Ldg. Sea. C. A. Inglis, of Toronto, hasas his particular job the care and the

Medical stores are provided on agenerous scale from the RCN MedicalDepot, Halifax. Since medical aid toEskimo women and children is occasion­ally given, drugs and instruments notnormally carried by RCN ships must beavailable in sufficient quantity to leavereasonable supplies should a patient re­quire prolonged treatment. On each ofthe northern cruises the Labl'adol' hassupplied this service to various Eskimosettlements, and this has been a service

LABRADORKEEPS 'EMHEALTHY

I T MAY BE lonely up there, but it'shealthy.

This has been the experience of per­'sonnel serving on board the Labmdol'during her summer and fall operationsin the Canadian Arctic.

A few days out of port and head coldsand other common, annoying ailmentsthat plague civilized people tend todisappear as the sources of infection areleft behind.

A thorough medical check before theship goes north also assures that thestandard of health of the ship's companyis high. Chronic infections which mightflare up are hunted down and takencare of by shore drafts.

Just the same, the Labmdol' has tobe prepared to deal with accidents andcases of sickness which might occurwhile the ship is operating in areashtmdreds of miles from the nearesthospital. Then a heavy weight of re­sponsibility falls on Surgeon Lt-Cdr.D. A. Maciver and his staff.

The medical department must mai').and equip the sick bay on board to dealwith routine illnesses and any foresee­able emergency, as well as render aidashore if that is called for.

"Caught it right over there'~

"Well, goodbye. Good fishing!"

sterilizing of. equipment for which twosmall modern sterilizers are fitted inthe sick bay. AB S" Gaulier, of Halifax,the fourth member of the team, isborne as a spare man to fill the breachif some emergency should arise. Alltake part in the routine running of thesick bay and each learns something ofthe other's specialty, so that should theneed arise at least simple procedurescan be done by anyone man. , Duringthe cruise AB Gaulier has also spentmuch of his time as either a seaman orshipwright and has made an excellentimpression in both departments.

The sick bay has accommodation forfour cot cases, which in a vessel ofthis complement is generous and, dur­ing the present cruise never fully occu­pied-a reflection of the usual findingin the Arctic that health is good.

Should evacuation of sick or injuredpersonnel become necessary while in'northern waters, the ship's helicopters,for which special stretchers of the wirebasket type have been designed at theNaval Air Station Hospital at Shear­water, can carry them to 'tm intermedi­ate point for further air, lift. In thisway a recent accident victim arrivedin RCNH Stadacona' approximately 30hours after injury.

Marines to ServeIn RN Friga.tes

Their name long- associated withcruisers and capital ships, the RoyalMarines may in the future find them­selv~s serving in much smaller vessels.

When HMS Loch Killisport sailedfrom Portsmouth on' August 15 ..for ser­vice on the East Indies Station, 20members of her ship's company wereRoyal Marines.. Two. other frigates areto be similarly manned.

Commenting on the embarkation ofRoyal Marine detachments in frigatesin lieu of seamen, the AdmiraLty. NewsSummary says:

"This is a departure from the tradi.tional sea' service of, noyal Marines.which hitherto has been normally re­stricted to ships of the size of cruisersand above." '

If any persons think that words have been putin Rear-Admiral K. F. Adams' mouth. how rightthey are. What really happened was thatCanadian' National Exhibition 'officials asked theFlag Officer Naval Divisions to move his GreatLakes squadron closer to the Exhibitiongrounds br!lakwater so that the crowds' couldhave a better look. On board an RCMP patrolboat at the' time. the admiral did not haveradio or signal lamp. He dug deep into hisnautical memory. came up with a half-forgottenskill and passed the message by semaphore tothe Wallaceburg. It was read. acknowledgedand acted upon. "Haven't done thai in many.many. years." SQid the admiral. (Photos courtesyFederal Newsphotos of Canada, Toronto)

AFLOAT AND ASHORE

Three Wrens of Toronlo's naval reserve air squadron joined Ihe Magnificenl for Ihe final day ofIhe squadron's flying Iraining off Ihe Nova Scalia coasl. Shown as Ihey prepare 10 climb inlo ahelicopter for Ihe flighl from Ihe naval air stalion to the ship are (left 10 right:) Wrens DawnDowney, Joyce Wright and Maisie Sounders. The air squadron, firsl 10 qualify in deck landing inIhe history of Ihe naval reserve, spenl len days in Ihe Magnificent.

ATLANTIC COMMAND

HMCS StadaconaOn Saturday afternoon, August 25,

McNab Island was the scene of delightas kiddies and adults, full of ice cream,pop and hot dogs, had a wondfl'ful timeat the picnic held for members of theship's company at StadacollQ, theirfamilies and friends.

Although originally scheduled forFriday afternoon, August 25, theweatherman was not at all co-operativeon that day. However, the sun shonethrough brightly and the weather waswarm on Saturday.

Races for all ages, crawlers to teensand one for the ladies, were held, withdelightful prizes for the winners.

The committee for the picnic wasformed from volunteer members of theElectrical School and, with the able as­sistance of the MTE, Gunnery Schooland Supply Depot, provided a memor­able outing for all who attended.

HMCS Quebec

At 1453 on June 13, 1956, the alertsounded, followed by the still; the guardpresented arms and to the strains of"God Save the Queen" and "0 Canada"the White Ensign was lowered on boardHMCS Quebec.

This was the climax of a brief cere­mony marking the paying off of theship into reserve after four years and103 days in commission during whichtime she steamed 154,662 miles, burned553,438 barrels of bunker fuel and vis­ited 58 ports, aside from her home portof Halifax. She averaged just one lessthan 100 miles a day, week in and weekout during the whole time she was incommission in her travels which tookher from Esquimalt to Mombassa, andNarvik to Capetown.

During this time hundreds of newentries came to know the ship as theyexperienced sea-going life for the firsttime. Hundreds of other trainees, offi­cers and men, technical and non-techni­cal, passed through her hands in ever­varying numbers-about 300 UNTDCadets, for example, during the sum­mer of 1955.

Total sales in the canteen amountedto $457,079.24 and donations to charityby the ship's fund totalled over $18,000,derived from the net profits.

Superimposed on her role as a train­ing ship were many other activities.On a number of occasions she wasprivileged to wear the flag of Rear­Admiral R. E. S. Bidwell, Flag OfficerAtlantic Coast. During May and June1953 she was flagship of the RCN squad­ron representing Canada at the Corona­tion Review at Spithead. In August

1952 she broke out the Vice-RegalStandard as His Ex cell e n c y TheGovernor General embarked for anofficial visit to Newfoundland.

In August 1954 she escorted the RoyalYacht, HM Yacht, B1'itallllia, from Lab­rador to mid-Atlantic when His RoyalHighness, the Duke of Edinburgh wasreturning after opening the British

Page twenty-one

These "before and after'" ,pictures show the' transformation undergone by Ihe members of Rainbow VIII division at Cornwallis between the time theystepped off t,he train last spring arid their completion of new entry training 20 weeks later. (08-6684; 08-7627)

Empire gaines in Vancouver andsubse­quently touring parts of Canada.

During early 1955, she became thefirst Canadian warship to circumnavi­gate the continent of Africa, calling inat West. Africa, So'uth Africa, EastAfriCa and various' Mediterranean ports.

In 1955, she became "Cock of theFleet" i~ 'the largest Regat~a ever heldby the RCN.

Althoaghnot fitted 'AS an operationalship' the Quebec ,', p~~'tidpated in two:NATO exerdses and a number of purelyReI'{ ories, the last series 'of these beingwith the com,blned East Coast and WestCoa,st fleets off St. Thomas in the West·Indies in late March and earlY" AprilJ956. , "

perhaps her most unusual task, as acruiser was, when she took 'on the dutyof plane guard for the Magnificent inOctober and November of 1954.-E.S~lVI.

~70 SquadrQn,

During the recent Army exercises atCamp Gagetown, New Brunswick, the, . .. . . .

Royal Canadian Navy's first jet squad­ron, VF 870, flying McDonnell F2H-3Banshee jets, was put to the test in itsfirst operational exerdse'.

In the four', exerdses, Argus I, ArgusII, Matrix and Morning Star, the Ban:­shees were used for support of ,groundtroops, using imaginary rockets, bombs,and cannon fire, and for tactical recon­naissance, as well as to secure air super-

, iority for their "friendly forces".A total of 103 sorties were flown for

a grand total of 153 hours. This kept'the pilots busy from morning to night,not to mention the ground crew who

, had to be on hand'long before take-offand long after the last landing.

While the first' three .exercises werenot as important or as large as the last,the pilots gained a great deal of experi­ence carrying out tactical reconnais­sance and armed support, mainly at­tacking small Concentrations of troops,tanks and vehicles. Vehicles and troopsmoving along roadways were easy tofind and easy to attack but those that

were camouflaged were a different storyaltogether, and everyone found it wouldtake a great deal ,of practice to ,find awell camOUflaged tank or truck.

It was, during the 'last exercise,"Morning Star", that the previous train­ing proved of value. Not only werethere numerous ground targets to at-,tack and "destroy", there was also stiffenemy air opposition in the form of F86Sabre Jets from RCAF Station, Chat­ham, N.B. At times the sky over Gage­town took on the appearance of "MiGAlley", and the "Battle of Britain" com­bined; 'with S'abres and Banshees goingin all directions,not to mention SeaFuries, T-33s, 'and numerous small air­craft.

The squadron has two large rolls ofcineg:m ,film, authentic proof of thenumber of "enemy aircraft" shot down.There was also a good amount of filmshowing the strafing and rocketing' ofground units.

A.ll in all, it was a lot of fun for all'concerned, and excellent training value

A trophy has been presented by Lt.-Cdr. Peter H. Skelton, former executive officer and trainingofficer of Cataraqui, to be awarded annually to the most proficient chief or pelly officer at theKingston naval division. The first award was posthumous, honouring the late PO William F. Newman,who died suddenly on August 25. Lt.-Cdr. Skelton (right) is shown presenting the trophy to Cdr.John G. Chance, commanding officer of Cataraqui. (Photo by Wallace Berry, Kingston)

for the pilots of VF 870, in their sec­ondary, but vel-y important, role ofground supporL-G.L.E.

PACIFIC COMMAND

HMCS New GlasgowOn July 14, the New Glasgow acted as

guard ship for the International PowerBoat Race from Seattle, Washington, toNanaimo, B.C., a distance of 147 miles.

The object of the race is to pass speci­fied check points at a predicted time,said time to be submitted by the boatowners at least 12 hours before the com­mencement of fhe race. The ownerstates the exact speed to be used andthe ETA at each check point. The win­ner is selected as the boat owner withthe least errors in his predicted times.

The New Glasgow's assignment dur­ing the race was to patrol BoundaryPass and act as guard ship for any boatexperiencing difficulty. At 1330 thepower boat S1Jartan stated she had asuspected case of carbon-monoxidepoisoning. The New Glasgow was thenapproximately 2() miles away. A U.S.Coast Guard cutter and the New Glas­gow answered the call, both ships arriv­ing at approximately 1430.

The Spartan secured alongside andLdg. Sea. G. W. Espin administeredoxygen and first aid to the crew. CPOFrank Galley and CPO R. V. McMurtrieexamined the power boat for leaks inthe exhaust system. No defect couldbe discovered but it was thought thatthe structure of the canopy and thefollowing wind caused exhaust fumes tobe blown into the boat.

After all personnel had been exam- ,ined and found fit to proceed, the crewreturned to their boat and, escorted bythe Coast Guard cutter, proceeded toFriday Harbour. The New Glasgowreturned to station and then proceededto Nanaimo, B.C., to witness the endof the race and the selection of the win­ner.-S.J.F.

NAVAL DIVISIONS

HMCS CataraquiThe Kingston naval division honoured

one of its members at the opening ofthe new training season when the entireship's company of Cataraqui paidtribute to the late Petty Officer WilliamF. Nevvman, RCN (R), with specialprayers and with the posthumousaward of a new shield, "The SkeltonTrophy for Proficiency, Chief and PettyOfficers".

The trophy was presented for the firsttime by Lt.-Cdl·. Peter H. Skelton,former executive officer at Cataraqui,who said: "Pro ficiency mearl;' many

things. It does not mean just the bestpetty officer. Petty Officer Newmanwas the man who contributed most tothe working of the ship and to hisfellow seamen through his work andcharacter. He showed the most inter­est and the greatest improvement".

Cub Decides It'sTime to Re·Tire

It's sometimes hard to bear with abear, as members of the Royal Cana­dian Navy Mobile Recruiting Unitbased at ottawa will tell you.

On the morning of August 11 theunit's station wagon was being drivenout of Kapuskasing, Ont., by Ldg. Sea.Donald Burgess. With him was Lieut.John Sigouin, both attached to themobile recruiting team.

Driving slowly along the highway afew miles out of the scenic Ontariocommunity. Ldg. Sea. Burgess saw alarge bear cub stray onto the road.The driver swerved to avoid the ani­mal. The bear swerved too-but thewrong way. The vehicle strucJ{ andbowled him over.

With his fur ruffled, the cub tooka vicious swipe at the front left wheelof the station wagon.

It proved one point. Station wagonsshouldn't go knocking cubs around.The left front tire was ripped from itswheel.

With a snort and a growl at theresultant explosion, young Bruinturned and disappeared into the woods.

With similar snorts and growls Ldg.Sea. Burgess and Lieut. Sigouin setabout to apply the spare.

Cdr. John G. Chance, commandingofficer, spoke briefly of the work doneby PO Newman while he was with thenaval reserve and praised his servicehighly.

PO Newman died suddenly on August25, following a heart attack. He wasborn on January 8, 1911, in Kingston,and before entering the RCNVR as asick berth attendant in September, 1940he was employed by the Ontario Hos­pital.

"During the five years that followed,"it was noted in The Crowsnest of April1953, when PO Newman was chosen byhis shipmates at Catamqui as "Man ofthe Month", "he had a variety of ex­periences. His first ship had a hand inthe most novel U-boat capture of thewar and in a rescue mission when aBritish corvette blew her boilers in theAtlantic. Later, he was the trainer forContwallis' famous wartime hockeyteam which included several playersfrom the National Hockey League>'

It is recounted in that issue, too, thatPO Newman was demobilized inNovember 1945 and returned to theOntario Hospital as a physical instruc­tor.

He entered the RCN (R) in July 1951,this time in the P&RT branch, and, inaddition to keeping the boys in condi­tion, he coached the division's hockeyteam.

He gained fame around Kingston asan entertainer at children's parties and

Page twenty-tllree

SMALL BOAT NAVIGATIONIN NORTH CAN BE TRICKY

coached and helped manage severalboy's hockey and baseball teams in thecity.

The article concludes, "Just whenhis wife and three little girls see him,nobody is 'quite sure, but around Cata­raqui, PO Bill Newman is known as theman who will take on any job that isin the interests of the division and hisshipmates, and who will do it well".

HMCS ChippawaChippawa has been more than holding

her own among naval divisions in thematter of winning prizes and awards.

Although completely landlocked,there is no lack of seamanlike ability inthe Winnipeg naval division. In thepast year Chippawa had the honour oftying with York as winners of the Inter­divisional Efficiency Trophy, awardedto the best all-round naval division inCanada. As a co-winner of the award,Cliippawa will be in possession of the

OWING TO the shortness of theArctic summer, the Labrador's

work must go on whenever conditionspermit. Thus, fog is no deterrent toboatwork as long as there is relativelyopen water, and boats' crews must ferrymen and equipment to and from the,shore when visibility is down to a fewhundred feet. It is often necessary,too, for the ship to lower a boat andthen proceed about her other tasks be­fore returning to tl).e original positionsome hours later. The coxswain mustbe able to find his way to the rendezvouseven when the "visibility is nil.

Orphanage ThanksQuebec for Gift

The following letter has been re­ceived by Rear-Admiral R. E. S. Bid­well, Flag Officer Atlantic Coast, fromthe treasur~!, otth~HCl~ifaxProtestantOrphan's Home:

"Dear Admiral Bidwell: On behalfof the Ladies' Committee and childrenof the Protestant Orphanage, I wouldlike to ask you to convey to the ship'scompany of HMCS Quebec, our mostsincere thanks for their recent gener­ous donation.

"Had it not been for the CanadianNavy, with their interest and gener­osity, the children would have beendeprived of many parties and treats inthe last few years.

"To the officers and men of theQuebec, we would like to extend,through you, our very best wishesand thanks."

Page twenty-four

trophy for six months-a mountedsterling silver model 'of St. Laurent.

Nearby in the trophy case will be theJohn Labatt Trophy for ·22 rifle shoot­ing-awarded this year to the men andwomen of the small-bore team at Chip­pawa. This is a trophy given by theDominion of Canada Rifle Associationfor the highest team score for the year1955-56 among naval divjsions. Also inthe trophy case is the Eaton Marchingand Firing Team Trophy, won againstcompetition from all reserve and militiaunits in the Winnipeg area.

Winning awards is not new to theChippawa gunnery division. In 1954 itwon the Herbert Lott Memorial Prizefor being the most efficient reservedivisional department 'in the RCN (R).In its annual recruiting programme,(the Resdrive) Chippawa showed itsproper spirit in another field by not onlyobtaining the highest percentage overthe quota, but also the highest numberof recruits enlisted.-W.B.D.

Boat navigation in high latitudes infog is severely hampered by the ab­normal unreliability of the boat's com­pass, which is more of a delusion thanan asset. Frequently, a boat has beenseen on the ship's radar as tracking ina southerly direction when the coxswainhas set a northly course. Moreover,sometimes the compass is fairly true onthe run in to the beach from the ship,but over 90 degrees out on the recip­rocal course for the journey back. Ap­plication of the variation for the areais not worthwhile since the errors in thecompass appear to be random owing tothe loss of horizontal directivity.

Several methods have been evolvedby the Labrador for) overcoming thisvirtual lack of a boat's compass.

The simplest is for the coxswain tonote· the direction of the wind relativeto the track he has to make good andto keep the wind blowing ,on a constantrelative bearing to his boat. This methodis rough and ready but does give abearing reference to which the ship canrefer if the boat is held by radar andan alteration of course is required.

It is often' the case in fog, howeverthat there is no wind. Under these con~

ditions the primary course, referenceavailable to the coxswain is his ownwake. Provided that he set off fromhis origin on the correct course, he isenabled to keep it within certain limitsby glancing over his shoulder fre-

quently, but he is quite likely to pursuea steady curve to port or starboardnevertheless.

Radar control by the ship is severelylimited. The boat is often working itsway in to shore through ice floes whichgives the radar operator an identifica­tion problem which' can only.be solvedby watching closely the relative move­ment of the contacts. If the ship isstopped, the relative movement of theice floes is also stopped, or much re­duced, and it is usually possible to pickout the boat provided that it is movingat almost full speed. Having once de­tected the boat jt would seem an easyproblem to order "Steer 10 degrees toport", etc., but in practice it has beenfound that most coxswains tend to ex­aggerate the amount of turn orderedand have to be conned gently back tothe correct course.

Electronic Position Indicator homing,by use of a radar beacon in the shipand a portable directional receiver inthe boat, has been must successful outto a range of about six miles, and canbe used for both outward and homewardtrips.

By a combination of the above meth­ods, and by taking the ship to the boatwhenever the depth of water allows it,there is small likelihood of a boat get­ting more than temporarily lost. How­ever, it seems that there is a require~

ment for a small gyro directional indi­cator for fitting in boats, similar tothat found in aircraft.

GAS TURBINESBOOST SPEED

Steam turbines for cruising and gasturbines for speed are incorporated inpropulsion machinery under productionfor frigates and fast escort vessels ofthe Royal Navy, according to an Ad­miralty announcement

In the new system, highly efficientsteam turbines and gas turbines aregeared to the same propeller. shaft. Thepowerful and compact gas turbines willbe used to boost the steam turbineswhen high speed is required.

The machinery is described as lightin weight and requiring less space thanconventional installations, permittingwarships to carry more fighting equip- ,ment than would otherwise be possible.

The steam-gas turbine combinationrecalls the design of the German battle­ships Scha'rnhorst and Gneisenau whichwere equipped with diesels as supple­mentary economical power for cruising,with steam turbines for speed.

SUPREME VALOUR //SUPREME SACRIFICEFewer than Half Naval ves Lived To Receive A ward

COIJRAGE-the kind of courage thatit takes to win the Victoria Cross

-is a gift of the gods which is notgranted to all luen. It is a blend of

,single-minded determination, selfless­~ ness, a powerful sense of duty and theIability to thrust. into the b.ackground the1paralyzing physical symptoms of fear.; The qualities of courage may be ex-

Ihibited in one fierce, blazing moment oftime or they may be expressed over

; weeks or months of preparation for thej eventual accomplishment of some great

deed. The two types of courage can be

Icompared, to the. bravery involved inplunging into a torrent to rescue a

I drowning child or to that of the plannedefforts a rescue party searching gas­

I filled tunnels after a mine disaster.Why is one man courageous and

another a coward? Physiologists tellus in moments of emergency adrenalinis poured into the blood stream to keythe body up to meet the crisis. But, inone case, the horn10ne can be a stimulus~o the panic and flight; in another it willinspire the individual to stand and con­front the peril, whatever it may be.

Some will attribute the difference inreaction to "conditioned reflexes", othersto "character'" and they may both besaying the same thing in different words.In ancient Sparta a boy was taught thathe must above all be brave-an empha­sis which could produce foolhardiness aswell as· true bravery.

It is may be that courage is not anatural attribute of man, the animal

Iportion of his being sharing the instinctjof self-preservation which pervades allliving things. However, he differs tramthe rest of the animal kingdom in that

'he has a storehouse of spiritual values,,) which he may add or from which

'he D1ay subtract by following the\example of others.

The worth of the Victoria Cross does':not lie simply in honouring an indi­!vidual for an act of valour. As often!as not, during the Second World War,,the naval officer or man so honouredIhad passed beyond praise and' blame.~The award served rather as a reminderito those 'still living that high courageis not a thing of the past nor the at­tribute of any particular class or walkof life.

The stories of 24 officers and menhvho won the Victoria Cross while serv­:'ing with the Royal Navy during the'jSecond World War are told in a newI

book by John Frayn Turner, "VCs ofthe Royal Navy". Twelve of the 24died in winning the Commonwealth'shighest award for bravery and one waskilled only a few days after winning theVC. Thus more than half the awardswere posthumous.

Two Canadian names appear in thelist, those of Captain Frederick Thorn­ton Peters, RN, and Lieut. RobertHampton Gray, RCNVR, both of whoselives had shown a persistent pattern ofcou,rage.

The narratives range from an accountof the Battle of Narvik during whichCaptain Warburton-Lee won the firstVC of the Second World War to thestory of how "Hammy" Gray won thelast in the closing days of the waragainst Japan.

The familiar story of Fogarty Fegen

BOOKS for theSAILOR

is recorded here.' Described at lengthis the epic storming of the lock gates atSt. Nazaire, which won three VictoriaCrosses for the Royal Navy. Morebriefly there are tales only a few hun­dred words in the telling, such as thatof Acting Leading Seaman Jack Fore­man Mantle, who stood by his porn-pornas waves of dive bombers attacked hisship, continued to fire the gun afterhis left leg had been shattered andfinally died at his post.

It is not possible to list here all thedeeds of valour which are recorded inthis book, but it might be observed that,in the reading, the sense of wondergrows that so few awards were made.

There is a reason for this. The statusof the Victoria Cross as a means ofrecognizing the highest 'acts of courageis jealously guarded and, if it is notawarded as often as it might be, thereis at least no danger of it ever degenera­ting to the status of a campaign ribbon.

The occasion of the publication ofthe book is the 100th anniversary of theestablishment of the award and thelist of winners throughout that 100years is proudly studded with the namesof those who won the honour whileserving their Sovereign and country atsea. In the annals of these heroes rests

the assurance that, come what may,there will continue to be men sailing theoceans or flying above them who willdefy impossible odds as a matter ofsimple duty.-C.

"VCs of the Royal Navy", by ,John FraynTurner; Clarke, Irwin and Company Limited,Toronto; 192 pages, illustrated; $2.00.

Navigation ManualReaches Completion

With the publication of Volume I inJune, the new three-volume AdmiraltyManual of Navigation has been broughtto completion, superseding the old two­volume manual issued in 1938.

Volume II of the new manual, deal­ing with nautical astronomy and off­shore navigation, and also with meteor­ology, was published in 1954, and Vol­ume III, concerned largely with, ad...vanced subjects for officers qualifyingin Navigation and Direction, was issuedlast year.

The latest to be published, Volume I ,is designed to be a practical guide forexecutive officers. It covers the sylla­bus laid down by the Royal Navy forexamination in Navigation and Pilotagefor the rank of lieutenant, except fornautical astronomy and meteorology.

The new volume contains 536 pageswith nearly 300 diagrams and illustra­tio:p.s, many of which are in colour.

Yearbook RelatesProgress at Venture

A compendium of. reminiscences, goodfun and the records of a successful year,the Venturian for 1955-56, year-book ofHMCS Venture., has made its appear­ance.

Venture, with two full years of train­ing completed and the first class ofcadets graduated as midshipmen, haspassed the trials and adjustments of thefirst few months of operation to become,it ~ould appear from a study of thesepages, an efficient, integral part of theRoyal Canadian Navy.

One of the contributors, a member ofthe senior, graduating class, observes:

"All in all the training received herehas not merely brought them up tosenior matriculation level (indeed,academically they have passed beyondthat sta~) but has changed a largenumber of high-school boys into mature

Page twenty-five

THERE'S NOTHING LIKEA PERSONAL CLOUD

young men, confid~nt in themselves andtheir future."

If the editorial content of the Ven­tU'l'iwn bears any relation to reality,VentU'1'e would appear to be turning outa group of capable, well-adjusted andbroadly trained ljunior officers.

With. the first cla~s gone and manystaff changes made, an "Editorial Fare­well" has this to say:

"This business· .0£ fashioning Vent1t'1'ehas been an enthralling job, and a great

RCJne1nbc1' the Al Capp c011~ic st1'ipCha1"acte'l', Joe BpstfIk (? }-a sc?'awn'y,dejected little guy who shuffled his wa'Yacross the countr'!Jside 'Lvith a s?nallblack cloud hovering above hin~? Itnoto appears that a ship in the RoyalCanadian Navy has established a si1nilctrcosy 1"elatio'nship 'Lv-ith a elottd, 1nin:nsthe disaste?'s that dogged the heels ofJoe. Fa?' an ope'1"ational 'l'epQtt of theRCN cloud's· activities, Crowsnest ?'ecLd-'ers are fj'efe'1'?"ed to the account p?'epareclby Cadet (now Midship'1HCLn) Albe?·t T.H01'ner fo?' The Venturian, yeCt1'-book ofHMCSVenture.

T HE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY is. the only navy in the world to havea rain cloud as part of its fleet. Thiscloud is based in Esquimalt and is con­sidered part of the equipment· ofHMCSOntario with whom it usually travels.It has remarkable statio~. keeping quali­ties and may .be found at any timee'xactlyfivecables above and ahead ofthe Ontario.

On the'first Venture cruise, 1955, itrained the day we left Esquimalt. Itwas two days after we reached Hawaiibefore 'the rain caught up with us. Thiswas attributed to an increase of speedof which the cloud waf; not informed.In Suva, Fiji (dear old Suva), it rain~d

the day the Onta'1"io came in sight of theisland. It is. believed in .this instancethat the cloud increased speed withoutnotifying the Onta?Oio. On the way toPlatypus Bay, Australia (where inci­dentally· there·· are no platypusses oreven platy-kittens), the cloud main~

tained its proper position and ··mooredtwo minutes after Ontario, dropped herfirst anchor.

As may be expected,the cloud pro­ceeded in company with tb-e Onta?Oio toBri'sba'ne. Somewhere along the line,however, it wandered drastically out ofstation. vVe heard a '~'buzz" to the effect

Page ttventy-si;x;

work·for good. It.will probably·alwaysbe an outstanding experience in ourlives. From Captain to quartermaster,we have been a band of brothers, work­ing for one common purpose. When ourturn does come, we shall turn over withpride to our successors, and carry awaywi~h us a very preci,ous memory-thememory of the birth· and early years' ofenterprise . which we' have little doubtwill prove to be both an ornament and ~

an asset of permanent ,> value to theService."

that the cloud, much perturbed at this,.became very angry and vented its rageon the Sydney area; there' was a floodof sizeable proportions.

After resuming station outside ofAuckland, New Zealand, the cloud andthe Ontario proceeded to Suva and thento Pearl Harbour again~ Since it didnot rain after the first day alongsidein Pearl Harbour, we reached the con­clusion that the cloud had found anAmerican submarine or destroyer toplay with. In fact, the cloud must haveforgotten some of its .navigational prin­ciples because it didn't rain again untiltwo days after Ontct'rio had returned toEsquimalt. No doubt the local nativesthought this was just the usual Van­couver Island weather, but we knewbetter.

However, a "buzz" went C;lround thatthe Flag Officer had planned newmanreuvres for the Ontario and hercloud,80 off they went to Eurone, thecloud in station five cables above. Un­fortunately the cloud beqame weary ofthe Onta'1'io's company and after look­ing around Panama ancl the surround­ing area, rained once to say goodbyeand went on leave.

As a matter of fact, it didn't get backto Esquimalt until the late fall of 1955,

COllllnon,vealtllPersonllel in Yacllt

An officer and·' four 111.en of the Royal'Australian Navy· an.d two n1en of theRoyal New Zealaritl Navy will belnelnbers of the ship's company of HMYacht B1'itannia during the Duke ofEdirtburgh's auttnnn tour of Australia;where he win attend the OlynlpicGanles, New Zealand and Antarctica.

The COlnnlonwealth personnel 'willreniain in the B1'itannia until shearrives back in the United KingdOlTIin the early Inonths of 1957, accord­ing to the Acl1n,i1'CLLty Netvs StL1n1nwry.

looking rather weary and ..not a littlebattered. It went into refit to haveits rain tllbes and lightning generatorsremodelled at about the same time asthe O'J'7,tcL1°io left on the third Ventu?'ecruise, ~anuary, 1956, The Flag Officer,somewhat annoyed at the devil-lnay­care attitude of the cloud, would notallow it to sail with the Ontwdo.

Well, after much bickering, manyconferences and much rain over thearea, the cloud sailed and caught theOntcL1"io and Sioux in the vicinity of180th meridian. In fact, the cloud wasso happy to see the Ontct1"io, it raineditself silly for a \veek.

vVhen we finally reached Yokohalna,the CIOllcl was sent over to Russia tocheck on the world situation. It re­turned after the fourth day with a loadof snow from· the cold war. This washeavy work, however,so the cloud hadto· rest by just shipping 'along with theOntario until we reached Pearl Harbour.While we were there it held trials andpelted down the occasional drizzle tolet the Captain know it was about andhealthy. Finally we set out on the lastleg of the journey and· the cloud becameso excit€d at the prospect of returning,it rained allover the place. The nightbefore' we entered Harbour it had afield day. With the Ontario and Siouxmanreuvring, it managed to soak themboth liberally, and went on a few vectorcourses to say hello to Cape Flatteryand the' Swiftsure Light vessel.

Since the Onta'l'io and Sioux werebound for the Caribbean within theweek, the Flag Officer decided the cloudcould go with them. It did,and forwell over a month British Columbiahad the best weather in Canada. Infact, it Was too good! The' odd- forestfire broke out and· there was talk ofhaving some rain-makers come in tf?hose down the province. \

This. turned out to be unnecessarybecause the Onta'l'io returned just intime with the little cloud 'in company,but not in station. It appears theOnta'rio wanted to shoot her guns. to letpeople know she .. was coming, and thecloud, knowing an easy job when itsaw one, offeted to be a target. Well,as the cloud expected, it was the safestjob it had had. since bringing Cartierover from France and right away itbegan t() look like the usual. VancollverIslandweather. It rained,

The Admiral thought enough wasenough and sent' the Onta'l'io and hercloud off to rain some ROTP Cadets onanother southern cruise. The peoplearound ViGtoria and Esquimalt are· stillwondering where all the sunshine camefrom so suddenly.

LOWER DECK PROMOTIONSFollowing is a further list of promo­

tions of men on the lower deck. Thelist is arranged in alphabetical order,with each man's new rating, branch andtrade group shown opposite his nalue.

ALLISON, Robert S .. , LSARlAMYO'I"TE, George R LSEMlANDERSON, Alfred E P2EM2APPLEYARD, Robert C .. ",., .. P2RN3ARSENAULT, Magclla G LSSWlASI-I, Maurice , . I •••• P2CR.2Al'I(INS, Lorne G,., " , " LSCRlAl"rWOOB, Ronald A .. , .. , ,LSSWlAUST'IN, Gerald B , ,' .. P2LR3

BADIOU, Lionel J , P2EM2BAILEY, Douglas G LSCVlBAI(ER, Carl R. to •••••••• , ••• , •• P2EM2BALDWIN, Douglas l-I .. , , , .P2CS3BAI<'R.El'T, I~aynlond F , , .LSA02BARR, John L , ,.,." .LSEMlBARRON, Willianl V. , .. , , . , ..... LSSW2BAR'fRAM; Vincent J . '.' . , . , , .. ,C1EI<'4BA'fES, Alan W , P2RN3BECI(S'rEAD, Glenn E, .. I •••••• LSCI(lBEEI(, Willianl A , , .. LSAOlBELLAMY, Paul A I' •••• P1EM4BENOIT, Roberl V I ••• , ••••• LSNSlBERGERON, Paul J LSEMlBIDDLE, John N LSCS2BLACI{, Andrew J I •••••••••••••• LSAP2BOUCHARD, Joseph R P2BD3BOUCHER, Laurie L LSAClBOUDREAU, \Villianl A , P2EIVI2BOUFFARD, Rene J I· ••••• P2EM2BOWLES, Robert S LSRD3BOXELL, Wilfred LSEMlBRAND, David R LSEMlBRASSARD, Francois J ' LSRClBREEN, Reynold J .........•.... P2EM2BRISTER, Charles E P2BD3BROWN, Alvin E LSCI{lBROWN, Williatn C P2EM2BROWN, Williatn D LSEMlBUCCI, Joseph C2CI{3BUCHANAN, Alexander G P2CS2BURI(E, Wallace F LSEM 1BURRELL, Janles R.~ LSAP2

CANNON, Sylvan L LSVSlCARR, Willard J LSCVlCARROLL, Michael E LSVSlCARROLL, Newton H P2AF2

, CASE, Charles T LSRT3CASEY, James A P1NS3CASSIDY, Bernard J P2EM2CASSIDY, Williatn J LSTDlCHALMERS, J atnes H P2EM2'CHARNEY, Michael G LSAP2CHRISTMAS, George S LSSWlCI-IU, Michael Y LSOM2CILLI, Herbert F P2TD2CIZ, Miroslaw M LSVSlCOLEMAN, Ross G LSAFICOMEAU, Leroy J LSPWlCONNELLY, Edtnund J LSCRI

. CONTOIS, John W LSEMlCOOI{, \\lillianl J LSRD3COOI{E~ Harvey B C2EM4COOPER, David B LSEMICOSTELLO, William F P2AF2COVE, Leslie T LSAM2COX, Douglas L , P2CS2CRANT, Joho P2EM2CREPEAU, Jules A LSEMlCROFTS, Douglas T LSRD3

CROOI<:S, Ellis T P2EM2CI<'Ol'EAU, Claude J LSEMl

D,A\YIDSON, Peter C LS,AC2DEACON, Frederick H LSOM2DEVLIN, Nonnan D LSAAlDE\TLIN, ]<'onald J LSAP2DeWOLFE, Earl A C2SI-I4DONOI-IUE, Gerald 1<. C2El~4

DOUCE'I"I'E, ]{aynl0nd J P20M3DOUCE'I'l'E, }{oy J LSAP2DUBOUI<'OIEU, Cyril P2EM2DUNCAN, Alexander B LSSWlDYCI<:, Abralll LSRPl

EASTON, Charles G LSEMlELLIS, \Ternon W , LSEMlEME]{Y, \Valter E P1EM4EMPEY, H.oy F LSNSlESPLIN, Archie E LS'1'02ESTABROOI{S, Rex R P2EM2EVANS, Robert L LSTD2FAIRBANI{, George E C2EM4FAULI(NEI{, George A LSH.l'3FELL, Willianl B LSAP2FERGUSON, Jack LSEMlFERGUSON, Williatll LSCI(lFISI-IER, I-Io\\rard E LSARlFITZGERALD, David S LSl\P2

FLETCHER, Richard J , LSRT3FOOTE, Peter P2CR2FORNATARO, Raytnond J LSEA3FORTIN, Jean-Claude J LSMAIFORTIN, joseph J LSEMlFOSTER, Bruce R LSCI{lFRANCIS, Darryl C P2EM2FRANI{LIN, Edward FlO LSBD2

GALLAGI-IER, Brenton A LSEMIGARDNER, Thoillas W P1RP3GAREAU, Bernard J LSNS2GARRETT, Jalnes C LSEMIGAUDET, Edgar P2RP2GEORGE, Robert G LSAP2GIBSON, Douglas A LSOM2GLANFIELD, Wil1ialn T C2EM4GORDON, Dennis C LSAP2GOULD, Roy E LSAOlGOWANLOCI{, Frank G LSRW3GRACE, I-Iarold J C2EM4GRAHAM, Ivan E P2CS.3GRATTO, WiJlialn A P2AF2GREENWOOD, Richard G LSNSlGRENIER, Francois J LSEMlGRIMSTER, Donald J LSARlGUNDERSON, Donald L LSAM2

HALL, James R LSEMlHAMBLY, James Eo 0 o.LSAWl

I-IANSELIVIAN, Gerald W.. 0 • 0 ••• LSCI{lI-IARDY, ])onald R LSEMlI-IARPI-IAM, Barrie A , LSRClI-IAI<.RIS, J{enneth I-I 0 •••••• P2I<'W3I-IAUI<:AAS, AlL I ••••••• LSMA2I-IAWJ(INS, Clifford 1<. 0 •• ,P2EM2I-IAY, Nonnan L 0 0 ••••• LSBD2I-IAYWARD, Arthur E 0 •••••• LSAP2I-IEASLER, Bernard H 0 •• LSCJ(lI-IEA'l'I-I, John M , P2CS3I-IEFFERMAN, J{arl R 0 I •• LSARlI-IEFI{EY, I{obert J ... I •••••••• 0 • P2ED3I-IENDEI{SON, Colin E .. " 0 o. o.. P2CI(2I-IENOERSON, I-Iarvey W 0 ••••••• LSAP2I-IENI)EI~SON, 'Tholuas A LS'rDlI-IILL, I(enneth M 0 • LSEM 1I-IILL, Michael J 0 •• LSAP2I-IILL, Peter E P2GA3I-IILLABY, vVillianl G , P2CS3I-IILLYER, Willianl E , PIEI{4I-IOPI{INSON, Giffen If, 0 •••••••• LSAM2I-IO\VES, Wayne L , LSAAlI-IUGI-IES, Patrick E 0 0 • LSEM 1I-IUGI-IES, Richard E 0 •••••• LSEMlI-IU'rCI-IISON, George Mo 0,•••••••• P2CS3

IRVINE, John 0 ••• 0 •• 0 •• C1ER4IRWIN, Robert F " .. 0 •••••• LSAP2IVANI(O, Anthony. 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 • 0 ••••• P2EF3

JACI{SON, Robert L .. 0 •••••••••• P2CS3JAMIESON, Williatn CIER4JESSUP, I(enneth J LSCRlJINI{S, Beverly D LSEIVI 1JOI-INSTON, Ed,vard \V LSCI(2JOHNS1'ON, Salnuel Lo LSAFlJONES, Edward T LSEMljUULSEN, Robert H 0 • 0 •••• 0 • LSAP2

I{ACHALlTBA, RaYlnond F P2EMz}(ANE, I{enneth E 0 • 0 •••••••• C1SH4I{AZIMIR, Theodore 0 ••••• LSCVlI{AZMIRUJ{, George D o.. P2EM2J(ELLY, Douglas A 0 •••••••••• P2GA3I{ENT, Ronald F LSEA3I{ERR, Ronald H o P1EM4J{EWLEY, Daniel G LSARlI{IRI{HAM, John D LSAAlI{LOOSTERMAN., J al11es .. 0 • 0 •••• LSAAI

LAATSCH, Howard D ... 0.000 •••• P1GA4LAFRANCE, Joseph A. 0 ••••••••• LSAClLAING, Wilfred LSEMlLAMING, Carl D P20M3LAMOTHE, Charles-Elnile LSEF3LANNAN, Marvin Boo 0 •••••• LSEMlLAPOIN'rE, Paul A P2EM2LAPORTE, Daniel L LSRPlLAROSE, Joseph J LSARlLARTER, Eugene. - 0 ••• LSVS2LAUZON, Rudolph J LSAP2LAVALLEE, Maurice J LSSW2LAVERDURE, Denis Y. 0', 0 ••••• LSCI(lLAWSON, I(enneth C LSNSlLAWTI-IER, John A 0 ••••• 0 • P2CS3L'OISEAU, John P LSARlLEBLANC, Louis E P2AF2LEBLANC, Leo G 0 0 o.. LSEA3LEFEBVRE, Ira D 0 •• LSMA2LEM IRE, Adelard J LSSW2LESAGE, Marcel R LSNSlLINDSAY, Ronald P 0 0 •••••• LSAP2LYLE, Peter D 0 ••• 0 •••• LSSWl

MacDONALD, Colin D 0 • 0 • 0 •• P2MAZMacDOUGALL,Vernon J{ P2CS2MacLAUGI-ILIN, Robert J LSEMlMacLEAN, I{enneth 0 00 ••• P20M2lVlacLEOD, Marshall E 0 •••••• LSEMIl\1acWILLIAMS, Dugald S P2EM2McALLIS'rER, George K 0 ••••• P2EA3McARDLE, I{evin Fo 0 •• 0 ••• 0.00 oLSEMl

Page twenty-seven

McCLYMONT, Roy A J ••••• LSEM1lVlcDOUG.ALL, Donald J LSAA.1lVlcFAH.LANE, Jalnes R LS -\.R1McGILLIS, Leo P P2·ElVI2lVlcI<'ONE, Bruce A P2ElVI2lVIcLAUGHLIN, Donald H LSQlVI2lVlcLAUGHLIN, Earl E LSCH.1lVlcN.AUGH'I'ON, George vV LSR.D3lVlcPHEE, Francis R LSCI<'1lVIAR.SHALL, Alan T LSA02lVIAH..'I'IN, Edward A LSEM1Mi\UD, Robert lVI LSElVIllVIAYHEvV, lVl ilton M LSA.F1lVIEI, George Coo P2BD3lVIEH.I<.L, Frank N LSElVIllVIILLlVIAN, Hugh A LS~-\P2

lVII'TCHELL, Donald F LSCK1lVIIT'CHELL) jari1es L LSQH.llVIONDOH., joseph H LSElVIllVI00H..E, Allan E LSOlVI2lVIOOR.E, Douglas lV1. LSQlVIllVI00RE, Jack LSi-\.\\'1lVIOH.ASH, \JVillia111 A P2ElVI2lVIOH.ENCY, Ste\vart J C2SH4lVIOH.LEY, Ernest A C2ElV14lVIO H.'TLOC1<', Douglas H LSL-\R 1lVIOUNEH., Gustave J C2ER4lVI0USSEAU, Joseph G LS4-\ H.1MH.OZINSI<'I, Joseph E ; LSRD3lVICISE, Peter K oo LSL-\CllVIUH.PHY, Claude L LS4-\C2lVIURPHY, jack W LSI{D3lVIYH.i-\, Douglas J LSBD2

NASH, lVIichael P C2EM4NICHOL, Howard A P2GA3NILSEN, I{aare G LSE.A3NOA, HO'ward E LSEM1

PACI<.ER, \Villian1 H LSARIPAUPsrr, I{enneth R LSAF1PEARSON, John E LSARlPElVIBER, George H LSAFlPLEDGE, Frederick R LSAAlPOI<rrEH., JVlelvin C2ElVI..J:posrr, Neal A P2ElVI2PO'I'T'S, Donald G P2CR2POvVELL, J an1es B C2 EM.:1POlvVERS, H.obert J LSRT3PH.ILL, Arthur E LSNSi

QUICI<, Ronald Vv LSAP2QUINN, Richard F 0 ••••••••••• LSAP2

READ, Ernest A o •• LSEMl!{EDDING, RaY1110nd L LSS\VlREID, Edward 0 0 •• P2CK2REILLY, Harold \V LSC\!lREYNOLDS, lVIorris H P2BD3ROE, Douglas C C2SH4ROSS, \Villia111H ~ LSRPlR01'H, Ronald C LSEM1ROWLEY, Alan 0 0 .P2CV2ROY, Gerald J LSElVllRUlVISA.lVI, Jack LS.-\ClRUrrLEDGE, .Frederick L LSP\Vl

SALTER, Brian \V LSCS2SCANLAN, Basil C P2CS3SCHEUER, Karl H LSB 1)2SCHH.OPFER, George W C2ER4SCHvVAGER, Vernon B P2G4-\3SCOTLAND, Douglas B P2AR2SCOTT, Hugh A LSAFlSCOTT, \Villian1 G 0 ••••••••• LSP\V2SEI'TERINGT'ON, Richard 1\1 LSAP2SHEEH.-\~, DonaldG : LSAP2SHEEHY, \Villiam R o •••••••• P2NS2SHIELDS, Allan L LSCV1SIGL~LErr, John \V 0 •••••••••• P2EM2SINCLAIR, TholnasE P2EF3SIREN, Donald K o ••••• LSARISI{IFFINGTON, William B P2ElVI2SI{IRTEN, Harold .. 0 •••••••••••• P2EM2SLACI<, Lloyd S ~ LSRP2SlVlrfH, Martin J . 0 ••••••••••• 0 •• LSCRl

Page twenty-eight

SMITH, Philip H '.' .. LSAP2SMITH, RobertG P2CS3SMrrH, Robert L , LS L\R1SPEAREY, Earl M LS4L\lYI2SPRING, Ernest Wo LSElVI1SQUI RE, Bruce H , LS~-\P2

srrARR, \Vilbert J LSCR1srrEEPE, Harold W 0 •••••••••• LSEMlSrrEVENS, Charles \"'AI . •.••....••. LSEA3srrEVENSON, H.onald C PIEH.4STE\VAR1', Carl R P2RS.3SUlVINEH., I~obert H C1ER4

TAYLOR, Gary J LSCV1TAYLOI{, Garry S P2ElVI2TEH.RY, lVIelville H LS.-\FlTROlVIAS, Leonard L LS4-\FlI'HOMPSON, Carol I{ P2CI<.21"'HOlVIPSON, Harry H P2CD2'fHOlVIPSON, Norluan H C2ER4THOlVISON, George H LSCI{lTl{INDER, \Villianl R LSAI~1

lTMPHREY, Verne N ' P24\F2URQlTHAI{rr, Carl J LSOM2UH.QlTHAH.'l', Ian L-\' LS..-\P2

"ANSICKLE, Donald C LSTDlVEIN01"', V'ernon I) P2CS2VICTOH., Reginald ;:\ LS..\I{l

WAI<lTNICI(, Gerald 0 •••••••• P2EM2\VALTERS, Eric LSENI1WALT'ON, Bernard R LS4\F2WAL'rON, Joseph IVI e ••••••••• LSVSlWEBB, Jack P P2NS2WHEELER, Robert U o •••• LS4-\P2WHITE, J{eith Doo LSElVI1WHITEHOUSE, Edward G CIER4vVICI<.srrROlVI, De\vain C P2NS2WILD E, lVlarnon !<. P2ElVI2WILLL-\lVIS, vVillian1 E PIER4WILlVIO'f, \Villianl J LSElVllWILSON, I-Iughie C.: LSTDl\VIL'l'ON, George R .. 0 ••••••••••• P2CS3\lVOOD, Joseph o LSElVI1\VOODWARD,Frank A P2CR2

XUEREB, Jo·seph. 0 • ~ •••••••••••• LSS\V2

YOUNG, Fabian J LSS\VlYOUNG, Gerald E LSSvVlYAvVOH..O\VSKI, R0111an LSP\Vl

ZURA\:VEL·, Thonlas LSElVI1

r- -;;ETTER TO EDITO;'- 1Sir:

I, read the article on HMCS CapeBreton's pipe band in the July issue ofThe Cro1.vsnest with great interest. Inthe last paragraph there is the hint ofan, opportunity, so far ignored, to r£­verse a tendency has been operatingover the last century; the tendency formale dress to become dull in colour.With the reorganization of the RoyalMarines in 1922, and the consequent dis­appaarance of the Light Infantry scarletjacket from Her Majesty's'Ships, sea­men now wear only blue, white and,even duller, khaki; relieved with a littlegold or red.

May I take the liberty of suggesting,through your columns, that the band ofHMCS Cape B'1°eton, and the much more

ancient one of HMCS Brunswicker,should be clothed in a fashion· befittingpipers? Four courses seem to be open:

The chieftan of some clan might grantpermission for his tartan to be worn;

With the concurrence of Provincialauthorities, that of Nova Scotia mightbe adopted;

Her Majesty's permission to wearRoyal Stuart might be sought; or,

Taking our time (for once) from thejunior service, an RCN sett might bedesigned.

I suggest that the first course mightnot be desirable on several counts; asto the second, while the Novia Scotiatartan is handso"me, it would not achievethe brightening of nautical dress. RoyalStuart, on the other hand, is gorgeousstuff but Her Majesty might not permitits use (and that is a matter entirely inthe Royal Prerogative). So I think thatit lnight be best to set out right awayto design a new sette

Naturally I have a suggestion for this,or I would not be writing this letter.My design incorporates the three whitestripes from the seaman's collar and thecross from the admiral's flag. I enclosea rough sketch and hope that you can'adapt it for reproduction.*

Having said "Let the pipers wear'kilts" we must complete the costume.On' dress occasions the piper, by Scot­tish tradition, is a very dres,sy personindeed-he should have a blue doubletwith gold buttons ( irrespective of rank) ,blue and white argyle stockings withred garters, and buckled shoes or whitespats and boots. And on his head lethim wear a blue Glengarry with a captally, but not tied pusser fashion-itshould be sewn ori, name on the port'side and ends free at the back. Pettyofficers could wear their cap badge witha plume of gulls' pinion feathers. Andover the doublet goes the plaid securedwith a cairngorm brooch. For NumberThrees the pipers could wear the phila­beg with battl~ blouse, stockings, lacedshoes and Glengarry.

As for who' is going to pay. for all thisfinery, I have no suggestions whatever.But, with a constant stream of piperspassing through Cape Breton and goingto the fleet, I think that the opportunityshould be seized to establish the _posi­tion of ship's piper-one piper .per shipcan do for a small ship navy as muchas the Royal Marine Bands can for theRoyal Navy.

Yours truly,(signed)

PHILIP CHAPLIN.Manotick, Ontario.

*Sorry!-Ed.

Naval LoreCorner

NO. 40SUBMARINE EPISODES

,

THE SU6MARINE THATSI\MK ITSELF TOESCAPE THE NAZIS...

.I."';:';~:::;;O-~..'. __

~J~~~~~~:~~; ......./~..::~~ ~.",'S..".t'~ "t" ...~ "'>"" .---..,=;- ............. ....,"~"~ ~~ lltE NORWEGIAN SUB '6-1 WAS AT~ NARYII( WItEN THE HAZIS INVADED NORWA'{.

SHE REGULARLY SU6MERG-ED To REMAlH HlPI>£H 1>URIHGAIR RAIDS. MOYIN& To thE BAVOF B06UN,IHE SU8~

BALLAST TAMKS WERE SlOWLY FLOOOE1) AND f>HE.............. SANK. TIfE CREW ESCAPED OVER THE MOUHTAlttS BY

~~~~~~~i~is!;' §..~ - SLEIG-H TOSER'JE A&AlN&T THE GERMANS. ONE MONn~ LATER,.....~,-.!!!..--:' NARVIK WAS RECAPTURED 6'1' THE ROYAL NA"I" ANP PI'IERS WENT

-- POWN AMI> BLEW THE a-Is 6ALLAST TAl'tI(S To ~uRFAcE HER. AFTER....;;;,;~IIIjj/'l-..::... REPAIR& HER O\.D tREW RETURNEJ) To MA~ HER Ai'll> F\GMT WITtt

i~ RO'iAL NAV'/... ti-THE A\RC.RAFT THA1 CAPTURED A U-BOAT! ~\ _ _--:/ X. ,"

THE U570 WAS CAUGHT SURfACED BY A HUDsoN ill , _?~~=?,,:_.I(\: 11-:--

BOM8ER ON HeR FIRST VO'{A&E. 1'HE AIRCRAFT ~~ .-:~::~._~J J. --=-~.::.PROPPEJ> DE'~ CHARGES WITH SUCH ACLURAC.Y TH~T I~ /,/ -~;: .r:~-?~~;;-:5:iJ;.~THE U-BOATS CREW CAME ON DE(.t( AND SHOWED ~~}.- i-- __:;:::;;~-e - - - - - -

A W~UTE FLAb. 1141: HUD~N C.IRCLED THE U-BOAT :.~, ~:~~-UNTIL SURFACE FORCES ARRNED To "TOW "THE U-BOAT _":::.:;;z-=-=-=.:~- ~,0 lCELAMt>. S~E WAS THE FIRsT U-BOAT CAprUReJ> -\N WOQ\.D WARIl ANI> WAS LATER RePA,REP ANDRec.OM""SS\ONEO H,N\~. GRAPH ...

11,000-9..56N.P. 575..1373

OTTAWAEDMO~D'CLOUTIER

Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty1956