Remembrance Day 2024 - Natural Hazards of the Battle of the Atlantic

Eighty years ago the Second World War was still in full swing, and the Port of Halifax was humming with wartime activity as convoys and their escorts came and went during their efforts to supply Europe in the face of attacks by U-boats. The enemy wasn't the only hazard, as the North Atlantic had a few tricks up its sleeve as well. 

These photos of HMS Leamington entering what I believe is Halifax Harbour illustrate the natural hazards that the ships were subjected to. These photos were scanned and supplied to me probably 20 years ago by Bill Croshaw, and we believe they were all taken by Gord Condie who provided them to Bill. Gord served in HMCS Gananoque, which coincidentally was commanded for a time during the war by a relative of mine. 

HMS Leamington returning to port covered in ice. The rail of another ship is visible in the bottom of the image.

Ice build up on warships in the North Atlantic was a serious problem, as it could lead to stability problems, and sometimes the capsize of the ship. Leamington was one of the First World War era "flush deck" destroyers given to the RN and RCN under the US Lend/Lease program, similar to the ships of the RCN Town-class, and these ships already suffered from stability shortfalls especially after some of the new equipment (like radar) was installed to modernize these ships for service in the Second World War. The Type 271 radar especially would have contributed to the added topweight issues where it was installed so high in the ship, above and behind the bridge and just ahead of the mast.

Closeup of Leamington's bridge superstructure covered in ice.

As Leamington pulls alongside the jetty you can see that the entire bridge superstructure is encased in ice, and presumably the crew have been active with axes to keep the bridge itself habitable. The 4" gun on the foc'st'le is rendered unserviceable by ice, sections of railing have collapsed due to the weight of the ice, and the cable running from the deck up to the bridge has greatly increased in diameter through ice buildup. The RDF antenna on the front of the bridge is also encased in ice, and even the lantern of the Type 271 radar above and behind the bridge is encased. All of this would have impacted the operational readiness and effectiveness of Leamington as a warship trying to defend a convoy against Uboats. 

The crew works to remove ice from the foc'st'le of Leamington while preparing to secure lines as the ship comes alongside the jetty. 

The view of the bow shows more damage to the railing from the weight of the ice and possibly the action of the seas. Interestingly, the lantern for the Type 271 radar above the bridge and just forward of the mast appears to be most heavily encased in ice on the forward 180 degrees with less buildup on the aft 180 degrees - and the cables behind the bridge are protected and bare. The North Atlantic could be unkind to ships in various ways as the rust and paint issues around the bow indicate. 

Just image trying to shepherd a convoy of freighters and tankers across the Atlantic and trying to keep them safe from Uboats while also battling elements that are simultaneously trying to sink the ship. 

Lest we forget.

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday 2019

As a trustee with the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust (CNMT), the group that looks after HMCS SACKVILLE, I try to head out each year for the service and committal ceremony on the first Sunday in May. Although partly out of self interest because of the different perspective on the harbour, I am ostensibly there to take photos of the service and ceremony for the Trust, in particular to ensure that families unable to make it for the committal have some photos of the event. This year we were hosted by HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC.

Padres giving the service.

The ship's Executive Officer (XO), LCDR Hodgson, stands on the flight deck during the service.

Crew "fall in" on the flight deck during the service.

A bell is rung as the name of each ship lost during the Battle of the Atlantic is read.

The ship's Cox'n, CPO1 Dan Savard, and CO Michael Eelhart salute during the service.

The ship's Cox'n, CPO1 Dan Savard, and CO Michael Eelhart throw a wreath over the side during the service.

During the service, we received a flypast by one of the new CH-148 Cyclone helicopters based out of CFB Shearwater. 

In the foreground is the wreath thrown over a few minutes before by the CO and Cox'n.

The Cyclone flies in front of the lighthouse on McNab's Island.

The Cyclone hovers in front of the sailor's memorial in Point Pleasant Park and the Battle of the Atlantic service being held there in order to drop a wreath.

After the service, the ashes of veteran's are brought out onto the flight deck for the committal ceremony.

The containers of ashes are placed on a board under the flag of their service, and slid over the side.

The first container of ashes slide over the side.

Ashes and a wreath just after hitting the water.

The monkey's fist and messenger line are thrown to the jetty in order to pull across the larger mooring line.

Two messenger lines have made it to the jetty.

VILLE DE QUEBEC's ensign.

The service and ceremony were once held onboard SACKVILLE herself, but in recent years the Navy has provided a frigate for this event, which provides much more space for families, catering facilities, the availability of medical staff if necessary, and generally greater flexibility in the event of poor weather. This has been much appreciated over the last five events.

The 2019 event benefited from beautiful sunny weather, and I left with a considerable sunburn on my neck and face. I'll never learn, it appears.

The entire gallery can be found here. 

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday 2018

This is the 5th year that I have photographed the Battle of the Atlantic service and committal ceremony, so I will not go on at length about this year's edition, except to post the photos - especially where it is more than a week later and I have not even completed processing the photos yet!

This year, HMCS HALIFAX was assigned to take the families out for the service and committal ceremony off Point Pleasant Park.

A Glen tug approaches as we prepare to depart the jetty.

Sailors lined up on the quarterdeck with the ship's ensign flying.

Once HMCS HALIFAX was away from the jetty, the two Glen tugs dropped their lines and headed out to the west of George's Island while HALIFAX headed out on the eastern side.

As we approached the designated spot off Point Pleasant Park, the crew brought up the containers of ashes of those to be committed later in the morning, so that they could be arranged in order.

Trustees of HMCS SACKVILLE organizing the containers of ashes.

Trustees of HMCS SACKVILLE organizing the containers of ashes.

Commander Scott Nelson, CO of HMCS HALIFAX, stands in the centre of the flight deck during the service.

Battle of the Atlantic Service.

Battle of the Atlantic Service.

Commander Nelson and the ship's cox'n, CPO1 Gerry Doutre, prepare to deposit a wreath in the harbour.

It is difficult to find unique angles and images from year to year, but each ship does things slightly differently. This was something new that I didn't capture in years previous.

Saluting as ashes are committed over the side of the ship.

Committal of ashes.

A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter drops a wreath off the sailors memorial in Point Pleasant Park where another service was taking place. 

Piping of ashes during the committal ceremony.

Crew preparing lines prior to our return to the Dockyard.

The Canadian Coast Guard's Cape Roger heading out with an RCN sailor silhouetted in the foreground.

HMCS HALIFAX upon our return to the jetty.

The entire gallery of photos can be found here.

For previous years, please see the following:

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday 2017

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday 2016

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday 2015

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday 2013

Flying from, and landing on, HMS BATTLER

A number of years ago, I was provided with photos from the collection of Warren Walker, by his son Wayne. Mr. Walker served in a number of ships, including HMS BATTLER. BATTLER was an ATTACKER class escort carrier (I will provide a number of Wikipedia links here), which was the Royal Navy's class name for ships of the US Navy's BOGUE class that were provided under Lend-Lease. These ships were converted into small aircraft carriers from the hulls of merchant vessels to alleviate a shortage of aircraft carriers, and bridge the Atlantic air gap, during the Battle of the Atlantic. BATTLER was commissioned into the Royal Navy in November 1942 and served the Royal Navy for the remainder of the war. She was broken up in 1946.

The Historic Naval Ships Association (HNSA) has put a set of layout plans online for BATTLER here.

Not all of the photos shown here are clearly labelled as being taken onboard BATTLER, but I have assumed that they were - they certainly appear to have been taken aboard an escort carrier, and I haven't seen any indication that Mr. Walker served in another ship of that class.

Unfortunately, the only external photo of BATTLER in Mr. Walker's collection was this one on the front of a Christmas card. Although a Fairey Barracuda is pictured on the card, and there is a photo below of this type of aircraft having "landed" onboard (the quotation marks will be understood when the photo is viewed), I'm not aware that BATTLER actually operated the Barracuda.

BATTLER operated a number of different aircraft over her short service life, starting with the Fairey Swordfish. As will become apparent, Mr. Walker liked taking photos of aircraft prangs - in some cases, there are no photos of a particular aircraft type in one piece.

A crashed Fairey Swordfish. Caption on back reads "Swordfish on its nose on the (unreadable). Caught in barrier."

A crashed Fairey Swordfish. Caption indicates "Pilot shook up." The undercarriage appears to have suffered greatly, and I assume the black object with the white centre is one of the wheels.

The Swordfish was followed by the Supermarine Seafire, which was a not entirely successfully navalized version of the more famous Spitfire. Where the Swordfish was a torpedo bomber, and the Seafire a fighter, this would suggest that BATTLER transitioned into a new role (though it appears that both aircraft types may have been carried simultaneously during the transition period). 

A Supermarine Seafire landing on the deck of a carrier. Caption reads "Seafire coming in for a landing. Misses all arrestor wires and crashes into barrier." I believe I can see at least two arrestor wires running across the deck here.

The following photo purports to feature a German U-boat in the background, which would make this quite the action shot. The photo above displays an "R" on the fuselage forward of the roundel, which is missing on the lower aircraft, which would indicate that the two photos (above and below) are not of the same aircraft.

A crashed Royal Navy Supermarine Seafire on the deck of a carrier. Caption reads "Seafire crashed into barrier. Pilot OK. In background German submarine." From the running crewman, I'm assuming this was taken right after the aircraft came to a stop. These types of landings were presumably rather hard on the deck and aircraft propeller. The anti-aircraft gun mounting in the background, under the plane's tail, appears to be a twin 20mm Oerlikon. The mountings were later converted with a single 40mm Bofors to become the "Boffin" mounting, variations of which the RCN used until after 2000.

After the Seafire, or possibly in conjunction with the earlier aircraft, BATTLER took on the well-regarded Grumman Wildcat (which were known in the Royal Navy as the "Martlet"). Despite this latter, I will refer to the aircraft as the "Wildcat", because that is how the photo captions read.

Caption reads "Wildcats ranged and waiting for orders to take off." The small craft to the right of the photo appears to be a Fairmile motor launch.

Grumman F4F Wildcat. Caption reads "Wildcat awaiting take off orders." The canopy was left open presumably so that the pilot could more easily egress from the aircraft if there was a problem during takeoff.

Wildcat taking off. No caption was on this photo, and it does not appear to be the same aircraft as the photo above. The canopy is also open on this plane. BATTLER's "B" is visible in this photo at the forward end of the flight deck (under the tail of the aircraft).

BATTLER apparently also played host to some other aircraft types during her service life, even if only for a short time.

Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber taking off from BATTLER. Caption reads "Avenger taking off. Just leaving the flight deck." BATTLER's flight-deck "B" also makes an appearance in this photo.

The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a development of the earlier Wildcat.

Caption reads "Hellcat being signalled in for a landing."

The Fairey Barracuda was a British torpedo bomber.

A crashed Royal Navy Farey Barracuda. Caption reads "Barracuda in the cat walk. No one hurt."

Finally, another aircraft that doesn't appear to have actually operated from BATTLER, but apparently landed on board at least once, is the Vought F4U Corsair.

Fire fighting operations on a Vought Corsair, presumably on HMS BATTLER. Caption on back of photo reads "Corsair into barrier. On fire. No one hurt. June 8th 1800". Note the bent propeller. The pilot obviously had some incentive to exit the aircraft quickly.

I have a number of other photos from the Warren Walker collection, mostly of ships, that I will present in a separate blog post at some point in the future. Many thanks to Wayne Walker for making the photos available to me for scanning purposes.