Ships and Units

[Edward Campbell]

6 Feb 1943: HMCS Louisbourg

 

[navymich]

The Sailor’s Psalm

They that go down to the sea in ships
and occupy their business in great waters;
these men see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
For at His word the stormy wind ariseth which lifteth up the waters thereof.
They are carried up to heaven and down again to the deep;
their soul melteth away because of the trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

So when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
He delivereth them out of their distress.
For He maketh the storm to cease so that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they are at rest;
and so He bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.

(Psalm 107, verses 23-30)​

 

[observor 69]

FYI:  http://members.shaw.ca/jollytar/WW2%20Ship%20Losses/Louisbourg.htm

 

[Edward Campbell]

Leaving a UK port, just prior to a hasty and partial refit (in Londonderry) to prepare for Op. Torch in Feb 43.

 

[MARS]

LOUISBURG's Captain, LCdr W.F Campbell, RCNVR

 

[Edward Campbell]

HMCS Louisburg: sunk by enemy torpedo bombers during OP Torch, 43 officers and men listed as "missing, presumed killed in action at sea," 6 Feb 43.

 

[mariomike]

HMCS Louisburg: sunk by enemy torpedo bombers during OP Torch, 43 officers and men listed as "missing, presumed killed in action at sea," 6 Feb 43.

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3185/louisburg.pdf
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7370/louisburg1.pdf
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/169/louisburg2.pdf
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/5373/louisburg3.pdf

In memory of all those who never came back, and to those who waited in vain for them to return from the sea:
http://www.navyband.navy.mil/Sounds/eternalfather.mp3

"The Halifax Memorial is one of those erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to commemorate men and women of the forces of the Commonwealth who died in both world wars and have no known grave. It commemorates particularly those Canadian sailors, merchant seamen, soldiers and nursing sisters who lost their lives at sea, and also bears the names of men of the Canadian Army stationed in Canada who have no known grave. The memorial commemorates 274 casualties of the first world war (on panels one to three) and 2,847 from the Second World War (panels four to twenty-three). The present memorial is a replacement built in 1967. It was unveiled in November of that year, with naval ceremony, by H.P. MacKeen, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, in the presence of R, Teillet, Minister of Veterans Affairs."

 

[MARS]

R.I.P Grandfather.

 

[Edward Campbell]

And it is now 68 years since HMCS Louisburg was sunk by enemy torpedoes and bombs, near Oran,  during Operation Torch.

 

[Edward Campbell]

HMCS Louisburg
Sunk by German torpedo bombers
During Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa
6 February 1943

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Act of Remembrance
From "For the Fallen"
By Robert Laurence Binyon

 

[Edward Campbell]

70 years ago, today ...

Source: RCN

_____
Notes:

1. Other sources, including eye witnesses and this one, indicate that it was Italian based German aircraft that sunk Louisburg; and

2. One wishes the RCN's PR branch could master basic English grammar ("... is sunk by an Italian aircraft dropped dropped torpedo in the ...").

Thanks to a friend for the picture.

 

[Edward Campbell]

HMCS Spikenard (K198), Lt.Cdr. Hubert George Shadforth, commanding, was sunk in the mid Atlantic. Seventy-seven officers and sailors were KIA.

 

[Edward Campbell]

HMCS Trentonian (T/Lt. Colin Stinson Glassco) was torpedoed by a German submarine (U1004) off Falmouth, Cornwall, England, on 22 Feb 45. One officer and five rating were KIA.

 

[Edward Campbell]

HMCS Weyburn (T/A/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Maitland Wake Golby) was sunk by a mine, near Tangier, on 22 Feb 43. Three officers, including the captain, and nine others were killed.

 

[Good2Golf]

HMCS Weyburn (T/A/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Maitland Wake Golby) was sunk by a mine, near Tangier, on 22 Feb 43. Three officers, including the captain, and nine others were killed.

Wow, I have a good friend from Weyburn, SK...it's not exactly a large town, so it makes one appreciate how large a fleet the RCN must have had at the time.  RIP to those lost at sea. 

 

[Edward Campbell]

HMCS Esquimalt (Lt. Robert Cunningham MacMillan, DSC and Bar) was sunk on 16 April 1945 by U-190, five miles off Chebucto Head, near Halifax; 44 members of the ship's company were lost with the ship and 26 survived. Esquimalt was the last Canadian warship lost in action.

 

[Jammer]

What is the ship type?

 

[ModlrMike]

Bangor class minesweeper.

 

[MARS]

HMCS Esquimalt (Lt. Robert Cunningham MacMillan, DSC and Bar) was sunk on 16 April 1945 by U-190, five miles off Chebucto Head, near Halifax; 44 members of the ship's company were lost with the ship and 26 survived. Esquimalt was the last Canadian warship lost in action.

Interestingly, to me at least, is the fact that I have had the pleasure of knowing Werner Hirshmann.  He always attended the Mess Dinners I hosted, and IIRC, he is a paying member of the NOAC.  A fantastic man, really. 

A neat audio interview here

 

[Edward Campbell]

A formation rather than a unit, but today is the 98th anniversary of the ANZAC (Australia/New Zealand Army Corps) landings at Galipoli.