Hmcs athabaskan 3rd ships of the royal canadian navy. Hmcs athabaskan g07 was the first of three destroyers of the royal canadian navy to bear this name. Hmcs athabaskan and hmcs crusader, kure, japan 02 apr 1953 side by side at a jetty in kure, japan, are hmc ships athabaskan left and crusader, while their ships companies unite in divisions alongside. Here are a number of photos from different sources, which deal with the last days of hmcs athabaskan, which was paid off in a ceremony on friday. Includes historic photographs and a list of the servicemen on board during her last patrol read more read less. Halifax says goodbye to hmcs athabaskan as canadas last. Hmcs athabaskan halifax marks the battle of the atlantic beginning in september 1939 and lasting until may 1945 the battle of the atlantic last a total 2,075 days. The story of the canadian tribal class destroyer, the hmcs athabaskan.
The story now entered a new phase as hmcs haida approached cautiously and steered for the largest concentration of life jackets and floating debris. Her majestys canadian ship hmcs athabaskan, ddh 282, was paid off during a ceremony at hmc dockyard in halifax on march 10, 2017. We fight as one by cpo1 retd patrick devenish, canadian naval memorial trust this is the first of a twopart series on the 1944 sinking of hmcs athabaskan in april of 1974, a group of survivors, family and friends of the veteran second world war tribal class destroyer. Athabaskan served in the rcn for just over a year and two months and her short career was plagued with damage resulting in many trips to the dockyard. Quotes hmcs athabaskan and her iroquoisclass sister ships served the rcn exceptionally well for more than 40 years. Engineroom dept of hmcs athabaskan g07 when she was hit by a bomb on 27 aug 1943 crows nest newspaper jan 1944. She is the third vessel to use the designation hmcs athabaskan. Hmcs athabaskan, the last of the four iroquoisclass area air defence destroyers, served the royal canadian navy with distinction for more than. She was named for the first nations peoples who make up the athabaskan language group. Her majestys canadian ship hmcs athabaskan departed halifax september 7 to support operation caribbe, canadas contribution to the multinational campaign against illicit trafficking and organized crime in the caribbean and on the pacific coast of central america. In the past, this language family was simply known as the athabaskan language family, which is the name recognized by most speakers of these languages the spelling athabascan is more preferred today, but both spellings are still commonly used, and athapaskan can occasionally be seen as well. Details of the collision and subsequent line ruptures are contained in an investigation of hmcs athabaskans tow to halifax after it underwent a. Navy news hmcs athabaskan departs for operation caribbe.
It needs major repairs to the propulsion system and there are other engine. Unfollow hmcs athabaskan to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Athabaskan was the third ship of her class which is sometimes referred to as the tribal class or simply as the 280 class. Canadas last destroyer, hmcs athabaskan, sidelined by engine. Mar 08, 2017 but the big gun on hmcs athabaskan thundered its final salvos wednesday, as canadas last cold warera destroyer enters retirement after more than 44 years of service. Canadas last cold war destroyer retires after final sail. I first saw this book when my grandfather let me borrow his copy to do a report for school in 1984. Reports on the engine failure in hmcs athabaskan are missing some important aspects of the problems this ancient warship is facing.
Sisters of the space age several times these past weeks, i got close to the spirit of athabaskan. Throwing away canadian history, exhmcs athabaskan to go to. Construction of athabaskan began in 1969 at the davie shipyard in levis. Winner of the newbery medal and the national book award. Hmcs calgary departs pearl harbor royal canadian navy frigate duration. Tweed, consisting of the british frigates hms nene, hms tweed and the canadian corvettes hmcs calgary, hmcs edmundston and hmcs snowberry were deployed to relieve the 40th escort group. Hmcs athabaskan the navys last destroyer has been in service for 43 years and is starting to show its age. Commissioned in 1972, the iroquoisclass destroyer has participated in many nato and international exercises, as well as the gulf war. R 79 dde 219 hmcs athabaskan uk tribal class destroyer escort. Athabaskan was commissioned into service on february 3rd, 1943 at newcastleontyne, england. Its advanced communications capabilities and the large amount of space on board make it an ideal ship for carrying out the command and control functions and tasks assigned to it. She is the third vessel to use the designation hmcs athabaskan athabaskan was laid down on 1 june 1969 at davie shipbuilding, lauzon and was launched on 27. The canadian press was able to get the may 20 report into the tow issues with hmcs athabaskan.
One of the two cruise turbines failed, leaving one other plus the two highspeed turbines. Mar 11, 2017 her majestys canadian ship hmcs athabaskan pulls into port at halifax dockyard for the last time on 10 march 2017 in halifax, nova scotia. It will be recycled by marine recycling corporation in sydney. It was a destroyer of the tribalclass, built in 19401941 in the united kingdom by vickers armstrong of newcastle upon tyne with parsons engine works. I recently had a book published titled all the ships men. Hmcs athabaskan g07 rescues survivors from german uboat that was sunk by a wellington bomber crows nest newspaper jan 1944. Media in category hmcs athabaskan 219 ship, 1945 the following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total. Work is continuing on hmcs athabaskan, though it appears they are only tending to her holes now she has been rotated 180 degrees, and a. Athabaskan was laid down on 1 june 1969 at davie shipbuilding, lauzon and was launched on 27 november 1970. She picked up her pilot at 0500, and was off pier 42 around 0700. Throwing away canadian history, exhmcs athabaskan to go. I will never forget the sound of those engines going away.
Mar 11, 2017 the paying off ceremony itself was open to the public, so a bunch of us headed up and entered the dockyard via the gate at hmcs scotian. The iroquois class destroyer athabaskan was commissioned on september 30, 1972. Hmcs athabaskan, the last of the four iroquoisclass destroyers, served the royal canadian navy rcn with distinction. This assertion became the basis for len burrow and emile beaudoins book unlucky lady. The ship should be able to function with that degree of redundancy and indeed. Before my wifes uncle said he was part of the crew on that faithful night of april 29, 1944, i did not know hmcs athabaskan ever existed. The iconic multimillion bestselling novel from louis sachar.
Hmcs athabaskan approaching hmcs ottawa in a moderate caribbean sea, during caribops in janfeb 1981. I have not seen the report, so the info below is from the cp piece. Hmcs athabaskan sent back to halifax for major engine. Within three weeks of sinking, another athabaskan was laid down in halifax. May 26, 2016 hmcs d 282, wmec 911, hmcs mm 700, hmcs mm 708, lhd 5, ddg 99, and lsd 43. This blog all started in 2009 to pay homage to the sailors of hmcs athabaskan, the unlucky lady. Any old shipmates that recognize my name and wish to get in touch can reach me at.
The vessel and crew left in early september, spending 53 days away from home and 37 days at sea for operation caribbe. Hmcs athabaskan left with 6 punctures after tugboat crash cbc. I have always been interested in the history of ww ii, but mostly about airplanes. When he was transfered to the pow camp, the canadian y. I was therefore able to stake out a spot at the end of the jetty to capture athabaskan s final sailpast from the narrows, taking a salute from viceadmiral ron lloyd, rearadmiral john newton, and commodore craig baines in the process. My grandfather served on the hmcs athabaskan during the. Hmcs athabaskan g 07 was the second tribal class destroyer built for the royal canadian navy rcn. You can find our full coverage of the hmcs athabaskan tow here. Hmcs athabaskan 1st g07 the history of the athabaskan 1st hmcs athabaskan g07 was the first of three destroyers of the royal canadian navy to bear this name. Hmcs athabaskan seamlessly conducted joint operations, supported multiple. The ship was in service clearing the english channel before the mainland invasion, and was sunk by torpedo in april 1944. The last days of hmcs athabaskan more photos ottawa citizen. We fight as one by cpo1 retd patrick devenish, canadian naval memorial trust this is the second of 2 parts. Two weeks ago i was in brest france, not far from a small town called plouscat.
What i want to do in lest we forget is to find as much as possible about the sailors that were on board on april 29, 1944. Athabaskans bow was the last to slide beneath those cold, oilcovered waters of the english channel, approximately three and one half miles off brest, france. The magazine and a boiler blew up in an explosion that was seen 20 miles away. During the cold war, canada designed several classes of ships, all of which are now decommissioned and destroyed. Hmcs athabaskan takes final salute after 44 years of. Above passing the ectug wharfs, photo screengrab from. Nov 08, 2011 we are often reminded of the major events of wars in which canada participated vimy, dday, holland etc but there is one story that is very important to me the sinking of hmcs athabaskan, in. G 07 hmcs athabaskan uk tribal class destroyer royal.
Hmcs athabaskan go7 first of name rcn photo the first two ships were laid down as iroquois and athabaskan but iroquois was delayed by bombing while on the stocks. Her majestys canadian ship hmcs athabaskan returned to her home port of halifax, n. This short film shows the connections that royal roads university and john stubbs memorial school have with the hmcs athabaskan, a ship that sunk off the. Hmcs athabaskan 1st ships of the royal canadian navy. Several canadian naval ships have been named hmcs athabaskan. Or perhaps its better to say i love the way the navy works when it works well. The story on the sinking of hmcs athabaskan is well documented in english and this is why i chose to put links to other websites like jerry procs website. John hamilton stubbs, dso, dsc, rcn was sunk in the english channel northeast of ouessant by two torpedoes from the german torpedo boats t24 and t27. I am formerly a member of the crew of hmcs athabaskan and was a messmate of patrick fusk. Archives archives page 5 of 16 cfb esquimalt naval and.
Hilarious, inventive and wonderfully compelling, this is an unmissable. Commissioned on september 30, 1972, this will give her just shy of 45 years of service. There was an article published in the spring of 1996 edition, vol 5, no. She was the second destroyer to bear the name athabaskan, after the many tribes throughout western canada that speak athabaskan family languages. The ship was launched as hmcs athabaskan on 18th november 1941 after sister ship had been renamed iroquois when launched in september that year. Hmcs athabaskan has returned home after two months away. This engagement was regarded as very successful6 and served to affirm the tactics of the. The report, obtained under accesstoinformation law, says the punctures require 18 square metres of steel to be. Anything we could get our hands on was jammed in the holes.
While this was in progress the ships were attacked at 1415 hrs by 14 dornier do217s and 7 ju88s. Over the course of the next 20 years, as part of the first canadian destroyer squadron she deployed on a multitude of nato and other allied exercises. Athabaskan is the third ship of her class which is sometimes referred to as the tribalclass or simply as the 280class. Last canadian destroyer hmcs athabaskan to be decommissioned. Hmcs athabaskan rei urns to plymouth after the night action of 25 i 26 april 1944. Book is available through chapters and indigo, the war museum in ottawa as of nov2010 and independent stores in eastern ontario, the maritime command museum and. Sometimes the charges would merely blow holes in the casing and the mine. She was christened on may 4th, 1946 and commissioned on january 20th, 1948. Athabaskan was therefore renamed iroquois and launched as the lead ship while the original iroquois was launched as athabaskan. Both this ship and the original hmcs athabaskan were destroyers and thus this one became known as athabaskan ii. Hmcs athabaskan was the first of three destroyers of the royal canadian navy to bear this name.
To honour all the ships that bore the name and as a memorial to those that served in the cold war and into. Mar 29, 2018 hmcs athabaskan was flanked by tugboats as it left the harbour that was its home port for almost 45 year. Dec 21, 2011 fleet week nyc hmcs athabaskan duration. Hmcs athabaskan was an iroquoisclass destroyer that served in the royal canadian navy from 1972 until 2017. During build radar outfits for warning of surface targets and for control of the main armament were installed. Hmcs athabaskan was the first of three destroyers of the royal canadian navy to bear this. G 07 hmcs athabaskan uk tribal class destroyer royal canadian. Navy news hmcs athabaskan returns from operation caribbe. R 79 dde 219 hmcs athabaskan uk tribal class destroyer. The keel of the new tribal class destroyer was laid in england in the fall of 1940, and launched by lady tweedsmuir on 18 november, 1941. Jul 20, 2015 canadas last destroyer, hmcs athabaskan, sidelined by engine problems amid fears for its future the engine problems and other technical issues on the 43yearold vessel caused senior navy.
While we look back on the great contribution made by these vessels and their crews to canadian defence, and the support provided to our allies and partners around the world, we also look toward the future, and ensuring the royal canadian navy remains responsive and. The royal canadian navy rcn has announced that its last remaining destroyer, hmcs athabaskan, will leave service in the spring of 2017. Former hmcs athabaskan being dismantled in sydney, but future canadian navy ships might have different fate. Media in category hmcs athabaskan g07 ship, 1941 the following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. Hmcs athabaskan was commissioned into the royal canadian navy on the 3rd february 1943, under the command of commander g.
The crusader, a crescent class destroyer, has been in korean waters for eight months, while the athabaskan, canadianbuilt tribal class. Hmcs athabaskan was a tribalclass destroyer that served with the royal canadian navy in the immediate postsecond world war era. If you wish to learn more about the athabaskan or the haida go to canadian tribal association. Oct 21, 2009 top 5 weird ww2 german prototypes that actually flew duration. Nov 03, 2017 hmcs athabaskan iii is the sole remaining canadian navy ship from the cold war. She was torpedoed in the english channel and sunk in 1944. Navy news hmcs athabaskan takes final salute after 44. The ships of this class ordered for the rcn were all given the names canadian indian tribes.
It was a destroyer of the tribal class, that served in the second world war. How the navys grim reaper scraps canadas old military ships. For more than 44 years, these ships carried on the proud legacy of their wartime namesake ships that fought with audacity and courage in the. The athabee was an old ship by then but still the fastest in the fleet.