HMCS CRUSADER

A “Crescent” Class destroyer, HMCS CRUSADER was built in John Brown’s Shipyard, Clydebank, Glasgow.  Commissioned in November 1945, she was completed too late to take part in the Second World War, but made up for the loss of service in this upheaval by joining the allied ships in Korea, during the war there, and making a name for herself for her accurate shooting.  Since her return to Canada from the Far East in 1954, she has done the work of an evaluation and trials ship for testing new equipment.

The genesis of the move to acquire CRUSADER as well as her sister ship, CRESCENT, may be traced back as far as December 1942 when a request was made in a personal communication from the Canadian to the British Prime Minister that Canada be permitted to purchase fourteen escort destroyers from the Royal Navy.  Six “River” Class destroyers presented to the RCN in 1943 were held to be a partial answer to this request.

Eight destroyers remained to be acquired and the Naval Board in August 1943 decided that they should be of the fleet rather than the escort type.  Anticipated destroyer requirements for the Pacific campaign and the post-war navy prompted this change of policy.  The decision was premature and had to be postponed, but the general scaling down of escort requirements and the cancelling of frigate and corvette building programmes decided on during the last months of 1943, led to the final alteration of policy in favour of fleet destroyers.  In January 1944, the Director of Plans recommended that these should belong to the “Crescent” Class.  Ships of this class were the latest of a number of flotillas of intermediate-sized destroyers being built by the Admiralty.  They differed from the Canadian fleet “V” Class destroyers for the time – – ALGONQUIN and SIOUX [1] in having more up-to-date equipment, one instead of two sets of torpedo tubes, and the new 4.5” calibre guns on single mountings in place of the 4.7” carried by the “V” Class ships.

In January 1945, the Admiralty offered to lend a flotilla of eight “Crescents” to the RCN for use in the war against the Japanese.  Conditions of transfer were that the ships should be transferred on a loan basis.  The offer was accepted by the Cabinet War Committee in February.  None of the “Crescents” was, however, in commission when hostilities with Japan ended, and only two, CRESCENT and CRUSADER, ultimately joined the Canadian Navy. [2]

By November 1945, the war had been over for several months, but a clearing-up period remained, with mines to be swept and troops to be carried back to their homes by transports, aircraft carriers and other returning ships.  Men were trying once again to settle down into the ways of peace.  It was during this period that CRUSADER joined the Royal Canadian Navy.

At 1530, 15 November 1945, the Head of the Canadian Naval Mission Overseas, Acting Captain P. Barry German, RCN, and members of his staff, together with the Commanding Officer HMCS NIOBE, Commander C. E. M. Donaldson, VD, RCNVR, several of his officers and various shipyard officials, arrived for the commissioning ceremony which opened at 1600 with prayers.  In a short speech, the Commanding Officer of the ship, Acting Lieutenant-Commander Michael G. Stirling, RCN, thanked the shipyard staff for the job they had done and made reference to the earlier CRUSADER who later became HMCS OTTAWA and was torpedoed on 14 September 1942 at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic.

At 0830 the 17^th, the destroyer proceeded down river to the Tail of the Bank, the anchorage off Greenock.  On the 28^th, after undergoing trials in weather which, but for a light fog, would have been ideal, she steamed to Portland.

On 2 December, CRUSADER had an opportunity to test the accuracy of her gun-fire, for which one day she would be particularly notable, when she was ordered to sea to sink a section of “Mulberry”, [3] then in tow of HM Tug Bandit.  This section was to have been scuttled off the Channel island of Alderney, but the weather had been too severe to enable the demolition party in Bandit to be transferred to it.

CRUSADER weighed at 1155 and proceeded at twenty-six knots.  At 1355, Bandit was sighted with her tow.  Tow was slipped at 1409 and fire opened at 1443.  Hits were obtained with the sixth salvo and the target sank at 1511.

On the 15^th, two Canadian army officers and ten other ranks were embarked and CRUSADER left British shores.  Once she was clear of Portland harbour, speed was increased to twenty knots and course set to the south-west.  At this point, the weather began to deteriorate.  Hourly it became worse until at 2359 the 16^th, the wind had risen to forces seven to eight. [4]  Speed was reduced at 0928 the 16^th, to twelve knots and to eleven at 1539.

On the 17^th, the barometer continued to fall and there were intermittent high winds with increasing sea and swell.  Speed was further reduced to nine knots and from there to slow ahead for periods when it was deemed advisable.  At 1155 the 18^th, the sixteen-foot motor boat broke loose and was resecured under difficult conditions.  At 1245, a particularly heavy sea broke on the flare of “B” gun-deck, carrying away an exhaust ventilation trunk on the starboard side of the forward petty officers’ mess.

At 1200 the 18^th, the barometer began to rise.  Speed, however, could not be increased above twelve knots until 1405 on the 19^th.

Because of these conditions, CRUSADER did not reach Ponta Delgada until 1801 the 20^th.  During the afternoon, the heavy cruiser USS Portland also arrived in the port.  Three men in the cruiser were dead and there were twenty stretcher cases, all having been made casualties when the heavy seas had smashed in a bulkhead which had been erected temporarily in her hanger to provide living space for troops being repatriated from Le Havre to the USA.

Each man in CRUSADER was given the opportunity of going ashore during the two-day stay.  The destroyer sailed on the 23^rd, setting great circle course for the Windward Passage. [5]  Christmas Day was celebrated at sea.  The rest of the voyage was uneventful.  Fine weather happily was the rule.  At 0725 the 30^th, South-east Cay was abeam and course was altered to sail through the passage. The ship entered Kingston, Jamaica, the next day.

CRUSADER weighed anchor on 2 January 1946.  On the morning of the 4^th, she arrived off the entrance to the Panama Canal.  At 0945, the pilot came aboard.  This man, despite his jaunty jockey cap and informal habit of calling the Commanding Officer “Cap”, was an extremely competent ship handler.  At 1835, the transit of the canal had been completed and the ship emerged from Miraflores Lock into Balboa on the Pacific.

A patient in the sick bay developing a dangerously high temperature obliged CRUSADER to return to Balboa to land him after she had slipped on the 8^th.  Resuming course, she piped hands to clean ship and make good the damage suffered from the December gales.  On the 17^th, she arrived in San Pedro, California, and on the 19^th, resumed her course to the northward.

During the night of 20/21, the weather, which had been so fine up to this time, began to deteriorate.  A wind blew strongly from the south-east.  In the quartering sea, some difficulty was found in steering the ship, but once Cape Flattery at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca between British Columbia and the State of Washington was reached, a lee was obtained and, but for rain squalls, there was no further trouble.  At 1000 the 21^st, CRUSADER entered Esquimalt harbour.

Since it was not feasible or advantageous at the time to keep CRUSADER in commission, she was paid off into the reserve fleet immediately after arrival.  The process of laying-up began on the 22^nd.  On the 25^th, she proceeded under tow to Berth No. 5 refitting jetty where on 1 February 1946, she was allocated to the reserve fleet.

On 15 April, she was taken in hand for an annual refit.  Nearly three years had passed when in March 1949, she was docked for four days.

On 25 June 1950, North Korean communist troops crossed the 38^th Parallel in Korea and war broke out in that country.  The Security Council of the United Nations voted in favour of going to the aid of the South Koreans and, on 2 July, American troops first appeared in Korea.  Canada took her first step in fulfilling her obligations to the UN Charter when, on 5 July, the destroyers HMCS ATHABASKAN, CAYUGA and SIOUX left Esquimalt and, on the 12^th in Pearl Harbor, came under the operational control of the United Nations command.

In this year also, CRUSADER was taken in hand with the intention of commissioning her in November.  The month was amended later to read March and then April 1951.

HMCS CRUSADER began her second commission at 0940 2 April 1951, her Commanding Officer being Commander Harold V. W. Groos, CD, RCN.  The men on draft to the ship assembled on the RCN barracks parade ground, then marched down the hill to the ship preceded by the band from HMCS NADEN and followed by trucks containing their kit.  Proceeding on board, they mustered on the quarter-deck while the band remained on the jetty.  A short religious ceremony took place, after which the band played “The King” while the Ensign was hoisted and “O Canada” with the hoisting of the Jack.  The commissioning pennant was then broken from the mast-head.

It might be observed here that two destroyers bearing the name of “Crusader” preceded the ship of our narrative.  The first was a turbine torpedo-boat destroyer launched at Cowes in 1909. [6]  The second was the Royal Navy destroyer who was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS OTTAWA on 15 June 1938 and was lost in action on 14 September 1942.

The name “Crusader” owes its origin to the name applied to one who took part in a “crusade”, one of those military expeditions undertaken by the Christians of Europe in the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Mohammedans.  “Crusade” itself is derived from the mediaeval Latin cruciata (cruzata) past participle of cruciare: to cross, through a blending of the French croisade and Spanish crusada.  The cross was worn as a badge by those taking part in these enterprises.

Both the ship’s badge and motto follow the crusader motif.  In the case of the former, a crusader’s shield of white bearing a red cross is placed on an azure field.  In the upper left quarter of the shield a red maple leaf is borne.  The motto “By This Sign Conquer” is that originally used by the crusaders, it having accompanied the Vision of the Flaming Cross which is supposed to have brought about Constantine’s conversion. [7]  The colours of the ship are white and red.

After undergoing trials and storing ship in the waters about Vancouver Island, CRUSADER sailed to join HMC Frigates BEACON HILL and ANTIGONISH who were about two hundred miles off shore taking part in the RCN/RCAF exercise “Seagram”.  While proceeding to the exercise area, the ship had to drive into a heavy sea and swell produced by winds up to a force 8. [8]  For the exercise, the ships together went by the designation of Task Group 214-6.

Beginning with 12 May 1951, training of UNTD [9] cadets began.  Seventy-five went to CRUSADER with slightly lesser numbers going to BEACON HILL and ANTIGONISH.

During the next two weeks, the group sailed out for exercises off Bedwell Harbour.  The presence of a submarine having been reported, CRUSADER was ordered out to investigate.  Although nothing was seen of the underwater craft, advantage was taken of the incident of bring the ship to a state of operational readiness.  Live ammunition was brought up and depth-charges were primed and hedgehog loaded.

On 28 May 1951, the group sailed from Esquimalt.  Sailing southward into a strong south-west wind, CRUSADER detached the frigates off Cape Flattery to permit them to proceed via an in shore route for the purpose of facilitating pilotage training, while she herself steamed some one hundred miles off the coast so that third year cadets could be given astral navigation training.

The task group arrived at the US naval base at Long Beach, Los Angeles, on 1 June and departed on the 3^rd, returning to Esquimalt on the 7^th.

In Esquimalt on the 16^th, the first group of cadets was disembarked and a second came aboard to replace them.  On the 26^th, all ships sailed in company to Sidney on the east coast of Vancouver Island to take part in that community’s anniversary celebrations.  From this town on the 28^th, the group sailed for Pearl Harbor.  En route, numerous exercises and evolutions were carried out.  Arriving on 6 July, they departed on the 10^th, reaching Esquimalt on the 19^th, after a passage characterized by very fine weather.

On the 28^th, the second class of cadets disembarked and a third came aboard.

Leaving Esquimalt on 2 August, CRUSADER made another voyage to Pearl Harbor, this time in company with HMC Destroyer ATHABASKAN who acted as Senior Officer.

CRUSADER returned to Esquimalt on the 22^nd.  During the month of September 1951, she remained alongside in Esquimalt preparing for the visit made to British Columbia during their tour of Canada by HM the Queen, then HRH the Princess Elizabeth, and the Duke of Edinburgh.

On 19 October in Vancouver, Their Royal Highnesses, along with party and Rear-Admiral W. B. Creery, CBE, CD, RCN, were embarked, and the destroyer hoisted the standard of the Princess Elizabeth.  At 1220, CRUSADER proceeded out of harbour, escorted by the motor launch, ML 124, and a large number of yachts, tugs, fire-boats, fishing boats, etc., all of which had dispersed by the time the ship passed Point Atkinson.  After she had steamed through Active Pass, BEACON HILL and SAULT STE MARIE took station on her bows.

At 1700, in Victoria, Their Royal Highnesses disembarked.  CRUSADER met them again in Esquimalt on the 22^nd, when she dressed overall in their honour, while on the 26^th, she conveyed them from Nanaimo to Vancouver.

November 1951 was a month of gales.  The bad weather continued into December 1951.  While rounding the northern part of Vancouver Island, south-west winds of hurricane force were encountered by CRUSADER, BEACON HILL and ANTIGONISH.  Exercising nevertheless went on and a much-enjoyed visit was paid to Bellingham, Washington.

During the next five months, CRUSADER remained in the dockyard at Esquimalt making preparations for operational employment abroad.  It is to be noted that the Korean War had been going on since the summer of 1950 and the Canadian destroyers had been engaged in the fighting from practically the first.  It was decided to prepare CRUSADER to sail to the Far East as a relief for one of the other destroyers.  Included in the refit that followed this decision were many “alterations and additions” designed to improve the ship’s fighting efficiency and habitability.

A change of command took place on 3 April 1952, when Lieutenant-Commander John H. G. Bovey, RCN, relieved Commander Groos.

At 1100, Sunday, 25 May, CRUSADER sailed independently for Korean waters.  On the 31^st, she arrived in Pearl Harbor.  From this base she went out for two days with a US naval team to carry out bombardments.

On 8 June, she sailed in company with the Second US Destroyer Squadron, US Destroyer Barton Senior Officer.  On the 11^th, the destroyers made a fuelling visit to Midway Island and sailed out the same day from the lagoon into continuous and very heavy rain which reduced the visibility at times to less than a cable.  In a force 4 wind, [10] which was enough to blow up small waves and fairly frequent “white horses”, the division commander formed his ships in column and ordered speed at five knots while all waited for the fleet aircraft carrier Bon Homme Richard to join.  In this kind of manoeuvre, CRUSADER found it difficult to steer.  Her companions, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble, aided as they were by twin rudders.

The weather further deteriorated during the last stage of the voyage.  Wind force rose to 8 and 9 [11] forming very high waves with long overhanging crests.  CRUSADER now had the advantage.  While her US counterparts were rolling up to forty-four degrees and were suffering considerable weather damage, she experienced no difficulty or serious pounding although a fairly high speed was being maintained.  The force arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on the morning of 18 June, 1952.

After a visit to Sasebo, Japan, CRUSADER effected a rendezvous with HMC Destroyer IROQUOIS and the small fleet carrier, USS Bataan.  The three ships sailed to Korea and passed up the west coast [12] of that country to relieve the Commander Task Element 95.11 in the light aircraft carrier, HMS Ocean.  On the 25^th, the three ships were joined by the US Destroyer Bradford and the escort vessel USS Marsh.  Together, the ships formed Task Element 95.11, the carrier striking force of the west coast.

On the 26^th, so that she could carry out a night’s patrol off Kerrin-do and Chanrin-do [13] in the Paengyong-do area, [14] CRUSADER was temporarily attached to Commander Task Unit 95.12.2.[15]  The night though thick with fog was uneventful except for the interception of a small fishing-craft.

By the 27^th, the ship had rejoined Task Element 95.11 and for the rest of the month she helped screen Bataan while the carrier conducted air operations against the enemy.[16]

On 2 July 1952, CRUSADER picked up another junk while on the patrol in shore of Kerrin-do near Changrin-do.  She discovered it by and illuminated it at one hundred yards with her 20-inch projector.  It proved to be flying none of the accepted recognition signals.  Two men were observed standing in the after part frantically waving white handkerchiefs.  A burst of Bren gun-fire over the top of the junk flushed out other occupants.  These people – – ten men and one woman – – were embarked and taken to Paengyong-do for investigation.

On the 8^th, coming under the orders of Commander Task Unit 95.12.1 [17] in HM Frigate Cardigan Bay, CRUSADER was occupied with patrols which had as their end the defence of Cho-do and Sok-to. [18]  In the day-time, the ships anchored west of the northern tip of Sok-to, in such a position that they were able to pour harassing fire, if required, on the anti-aircraft batteries on Am-gak [19] on the mainland between the two islands.  At night, CRUSADER was stationed at anchor between the south-western tip of Cho-do and the enemy coast.  Nighttime generally provided a spectacular view of mainland bombing and raids by guerillas but, except for firing an occasional star-shell, the destroyer’s role was “the quiet one of a sentinel”.

There was more junk trouble on the 13^th, when fire was opened on two such craft which were sighted close in shore of the enemy mainland.  Fire was stopped when Corsair aircraft reported them as “friendly”.

Another characteristic task of the time came up on the 15^th, when CRUSADER with Cardigan Bay and US Destroyer Henderson supplied gun-fire support for two minesweepers, USS Redhead and USS Swallow, who were checking the northern channels in the Taedang Estuary near Sok-to.  The following day, Redhead and Swallow accompanied by CRUSADER, checked and re-swept the swept-channel coastal route known as “Cigarette” between Cho-do and Choppeki Point.  The destroyer temporarily left her companions when she opened fire on troop concentrations on the mainland in support of Corsairs which were attacking with rockets and cannon.

In the opening days of August 1952, CRUSADER paid a visit to Kure, Japan.  Sailing on the 7^th, she arrived in the operations area on the 9^th, in company with Ocean and HM Destroyer Charity.  The first sortie of aircraft from Ocean returned to the carrier with the news that six MIG-15 aircraft had attacked Firefly planes over the Tae-dong [20] estuary.  All UN aircraft escaped, although one Firefly had to land on Paengyong-do, which, of course, was in UN hands.  In an encounter with Ocean’s Fury aircraft, one MIG-15 was destroyed and another was reported to have been shot down by the Island Defence Commander on Sok-to.

Still another junk was intercepted on the 13^th, CRUSADER encountering the vessel south of Sunwi-do which is below the Parallel and near Paengyong-do.  Three men were aboard the vessel, one of whom was armed.  Between them they had vast sums of won, the Korean money, and some rather suspicious-looking old UN passes.  The junk was taken to Yongpyong-do, an island below the Parallel.

At dawn the next day, fire support was given to a large American-led guerilla raid north of the Parallel.  Ordered to open fire on a village containing enemy troops and anti-aircraft guns, CRUSADER fired seventy-eight rounds.  The results of the bombardment were not visible from her decks, but CTU-95.12.2 in HMNZ Frigate Rotoiti, who was spotting from the flanks, reported it to be the most accurate he had ever witnessed.

On the night of the 16^th, CRUSADER picked up another junk in shore off the north-east corner of Kerrin-do.  The three men, who composed her crew, were armed and emphatic in their insistence that they were guerillas who were out for the purpose of making a raid on the North Korean mainland.  They were taken aboard as prisoners and, as the junk proved not capable of being towed, it was left at anchor in seven fathoms.

Ongjin, a town south of the Parallel and then in the hands of the enemy, was shelled when dawn came up.  The destroyer had the satisfaction of seeing her 4.5” shells bursting first on the area outside of the town and, later, in the town itself.

On the 21^st, after a visit with the carrier element to Sasebo, CRUSADER with HM Destroyers Concord and Charity, sailed for exercises in the area north-east of Tsushima Islands between the Korean east coast and the north coast of Honshu, one of the islands of Japan.

After a visit to Sasebo to undergo repairs to her starboard feed pump, CRUSADER returned to the Cho-do area on the 9^th, joining TU 95.12.1 with the CTU in Cardigan Bay.  Enemy guns and aircraft had become more active during CRUSADER’s lay-over in Sasebo and air-raid warnings had become a daily occurrence.

The next day, a US Marine Corps Corsair was shot down over Sok-to by MIG-15 aircraft.  During the engagement of which this was a result, a MIG was also shot down.  The Corsair pilot was recovered.

Had she ever doubted the perilous nature of the waters on the west coast, CRUSADER ceased to do so after an unpleasant experience she had on the 12^th.  She was proceeding from North Blackburn anchorage [21] to North Players anchorage near Sok-to.  She realized the necessity of reaching her day station before daylight.  She also realized that if she lingered she would be caught by the gunners on the coast.  When, however, the Commanding Officer rang for power on the engines, little came.  In the meantime, the currents slowly began to grip the ship and to thrust her out into the bay and toward the nearby shore.  The ship then directed her bow toward a narrow passage leading between Cho-do and some outer rocks.  This passage was characterized by a cross tide and swirl but, providing that speeds of eighteen to twenty-two knots could be maintained, difficulty was not usually experienced in negotiating it.  This needed power was not to be had and the destroyer, at the mercy of tides and swirls, began to drift closer and closer to the coast of Cho-do and the rocks.  Somehow, after some very tense moments, she was coaxed out of danger.  Later investigation revealed that seaweed and jelly-fish had clogged the cold-water intakes of the engine’s cooling system, with a resultant over-heating and a loss of power.

South of Sok-to, the Wolsari Peninsula received some unenviable attention.  North Koreans had for some time been active there.  They had erected dug-outs and mounted guns in caves.  These emplacements were camouflaged and difficult to get at.  Considerable fire was directed against these emplacements.  On the 19^th, CRUSADER fired four rounds on a junk beached on the peninsula.  One hit was registered.  As the range was over 14,000 yards this was considered to be excellent shooting.

CRUSADER made a short voyage to Sasebo, arriving on the 21^st and leaving the 23^rd.  Sailing out for exercises and patrolling in company with HM Destroyer Constance, the escort carrier USS Sicily, and the escort destroyer USS Sproston.

On 3 October 1952, CRUSADER proceeded to Kure, arriving on the 5^th.  On the 7^th, the Commanding Officer with four other officers and forty-nine men proceeded to Tokyo to take part on the following day in funeral ceremonies held in honour of casualties suffered in HMCS IROQUOIS. [22]

After a visit to Sasebo lasting a few hours on the 13^th, CRUSADER steamed toward a part of the operational theatre new to her, the east coast of Korea. [23]  She had been sent to relieve IROQUOIS, and consequently joined Task Element 95.22, the Commander of which had been in IROQUOIS.  He was now in the high-speed minesweeper USS Carmick.  Other members were US Destroyer Yarnall, the escort vessel, USS Marsh, and the auxiliary motor minesweeper Redhead.

Joining in the so-called “Windshield” patrol on her first night, CRUSADER had an excellent opportunity to survey a large part of the North Korean coast from Hungnam above Wonsan, north to Yang-do.  At 2030, the ship was brought to a stop 3,000 yards off the railway cutting known as “Package Four”. [24]  The target was illuminated continually.  When lights ashore became visible they were immediately fired at.  After the well-remembered treacherous western coast, CRUSADER found it a novel pleasure to be able to operate so close in and yet still be in deep water.

“Package Four” formed CRUSADER’s station again on the night of 16/17.  As on the pervious occasion, a position was taken some 3,000 yards off the railway embankment and the engines were kept running at sufficient speed to keep the ship on her station.  Nothing was seen, but the railway embankment was fired upon several times during the night as a deterrent to enemy activity.

On the coast north of Hungnam is the town of Tanch-on.  On the 19^th, the ship shelled a warehouse and rail yard in the town.  The high-speed minesweeper, USS Carmick, was in company to provide counter-battery fire.

Railway establishments, a transformer station and warehouses in Songjin in the north, provided targets for the ship and Carmick on the 21^st.  Spotting aircraft reported the target area hit, box cars damaged and fires started.

After this action, ships of the task element went alongside the tanker, USS Caliente.  There was a freshening wind and when CRUSADER, after fuelling, tried to move away from the tankers side, she had great difficulty owing to Caliente’s faster drift.  By going astern she eventually succeeded in drawing clear, although not without damaging a forty millimeter loading tray and causing slight buckling to some frames and plates on the port side of the forecastle.  The damage was not serious and in no way affected the seaworthiness of the ship.

On the 23^rd, CRUSADER tried her luck again off one of the railway cuttings, this time choosing “Package Two”. [25]  Unfortunately, a train, which was sighted at 0345, was not seen by the layers and trainers of the guns.  Several rounds were fired, but it escaped.  CRUSADER returned to the “package” on the 25^th.  Guns, director and control system were kept manned all night.  At 0124 in the morning, a train was sighted and fire opened.  The director crew were convinced that they had seen rounds strike the two end box cars and knock them off the track.  The conviction became fact when it was confirmed at a later date that two box cars had been seen on the side of the track by aircraft.

With US Destroyer Dehaven providing counter-battery support, CRUSADER bombarded the town of Kyongsong in Chongjin Bay on the 27^th.  Supporting aircraft appeared later over the target.  This town was noted for the accuracy of its shore batteries which, it was believed, were radar controlled.  CRUSADER stood off at 14,000 yards and began shelling at 0734.  Spotting aircraft later reported that severe damage had been done to a warehouse and that extensive fires had been started.  Dehaven complimented CRUSADER on the accuracy of her shooting and her very rapid rate of fire.

In the evening clear bright moonlight flooded the coast.  CRUSADER sailed from Yang-do and proceeded to her position at slightly over 3,000 yards off the cutting at “Package Two”.  The director and guns were trained on the northern tunnel.  A south-bound train, it was held, would make a more valuable target than one going north, since the former would likely be conveying food, stores, equipment and even troops to the front line, while the latter might well contain nothing.

Six minutes later, at 2020, a cloud of white smoke was observed to be pouring out of the northern tunnel.  Fire was opened.  As the train emerged, it was struck by the fire and its whole length, save for the locomotive which was seen to reach the shelter of the south tunnel, stopped, filling up the embankment.  Fire was held back until the locomotive emerged to the south of the “package” when it was reopened.  It was believed, however, that it escaped safely.  After this, with star-shell illumination, CRUSADER began to “work over” the wreck of the remainder of the train with her guns, causing fire and explosions.  At 2035, she was brought in to a range of 1800 yards.  Dehaven was called in to give support.  The US destroyer proceeded in shore of CRUSADER, using her 40-mm. and 5” guns.

The two ships remained off “Package Two” for the rest of the night, Dehaven keeping up illumination and firing every ten minutes both to complete the destruction of the wreck and discourage opposition from the shore batteries.

With daylight, the wreck could be clearly seen.  It extended the whole length of the cutting.  The box cars were thirteen in number and they appeared to have been reduced to broken flat cars.  To the south, the rails were hanging down the embankment.  What made the affair a complete success was the discovery at 0830 by four Skyraiders from Task Force 77 of the locomotive which had not escaped after all.  It was sighted lying on its side down the embankment.  The planes bombed and rocketed the target and, with a thousand-pound bomb, sealed the northern tunnel.  The aircraft also reported that the gun positions in the area were empty of equipment and men.  Before leaving the area, CRUSADER closed to 5,000 yards to view the damage and fire a few farewell salvoes.

The destruction of the locomotive and its train of thirteen cars was a significant victory for CRUSADER.  It was the first of a series of successes which was to make the destroyer the “champion train-buster” of the UN navies.

CRUSADER visited Sasebo and Yokosuka, the latter port for the purpose of having repairs made to her asdic equipment.  On her passage back to Sasebo on 3 November 1952, some very wet and miserable weather was encountered, this being the advance guard of Typhoon “Agnes” which was at the time prowling in the vicinity of Okinawa.

After leaving Sasebo, CRUSADER returned to the west coast of Korea, arriving in the “North Players” anchorage in the Cho-do, Sok-to area on the 7^th.  Here she became a member of Task Unit 95.12.1, Commander in HMA Destroyer Anzac.  In these waters, “South Players” was normally her anchorage.  From it she customarily fired rounds at the guns whose muzzles bristled from caves just south of Wolsari Peninsula, both to obtain the range and to harass the crews at the enemy guns.

The “Cigarette” route from Cho-do to Choppeki Point coming in for considerable attention from accurately firing enemy guns during the day, sweeping in the area had to be done by night and it was one of CRUSADER’s tasks at this time to supply gun-fire support to US Minesweeper Condor while she operated in these waters.  It was the destroyer’s practice to follow Condor to her sweeping area and then proceed to anchor in a position from which she could give her companion maximum fire support during both northerly and southerly sweeps.  When a light showed on the enemy coast it was always fired upon with the 4.5” gun, as it was thought that it could belong to transports bringing mines down to the beach.

At 1850 the 8^th, close in shore of Wolsari Peninsula, the two ships were fired upon by an enemy gun.  Twenty-one rounds of 4.5” shells were sufficient to silence it.

On a complaint of a US guerilla commander of troublesome fire from enemy guns on Am-gak, CRUSADER lobbed shells into the peninsula and enjoyed excellent results, two independent observers reporting the target area saturated and the guns hit.

CRUSADER joined Task Element 95.11 on the 12^th CTE in the light aircraft carrier HMS Glory.  At 1230 the 16^th, she left the screen around the carrier to join Task Unit 95.12.1.  On arrival at point “Capstan”, which was west of Cho-do, she altered course to 050 degrees.  Her speed was twenty-three knots and there was a drizzle.  None of the ships in the area was visible.

A voice message was intercepted from HMA Destroyer Anzac indicating that the Australian was under heavy fire from four guns on the Wolsari Peninsula.  CRUSADER increased to thirty knots.  As she rounded the north side of Tok-som, [26] which is north of Cho-do, Anzac was sighted firing rapidly.  She was proceeding north-east at about twenty-three knots and was being repeatedly straddled with shells.  Indeed it was amazing to the onlookers that she was not hit.  The enemy position was hidden in a shroud of smoke and dust.  CRUSADER opened up with four guns at a range of 18,000 yards.  The first salvoes were on target.  Others followed, remaining on target, until the battery ceased fire.

CRUSADER then went on at thirty knots to reduce the range to 12,100 yards, proceeding at an angle due to the excessive shoal water.

Her arrival had been timely as Anzac’s guns had been out of sector.  Due to the shoals, the Australian could not alter course and so was virtually helpless.

A visit was paid to Sasebo on the 20^th and the destroyer was back in Cho-do on the 30^th, when she joined Task Unit 95.12.1, Commander in HM Destroyer Cossack.

The weather began to deteriorate in December 1952.  While CRUSADER acted as gun-fire support for two minesweepers, USS Mocking Bird and Gull, in the “South Cigarette” route on the 1^st, the temperature dropped and snow began to fall.  The next few days in Cho-do were unpleasant, with high winds, rough seas and a low temperature.  Thick vapour rose in plumes and this, with the fairly heavy snow, obscured the islands and the hostile mainland during most of the time.

On the evening of the 2^nd, CRUSADER had a brush with the enemy when four hostile aircraft intent upon bombing Cho-do and Sok-to appeared over her anchorage south of the former island.  When the first came within range the ship’s 4.5” guns opened fire.  The plane immediately altered away and the guns were brought to bear on a second aircraft which also turned away.  A while later, two more aircraft, apparently homeward-bound from the raid, were engaged by the destroyer.  On being fired upon, they also altered away.

On the 8^th, CRUSADER joined Task Element 95.11, the Commander being in the escort aircraft carrier USS Badoeng Strait.  There was some fear at this time of an attack on Cho-do and Sok-to as enemy forces were gathering on the nearby mainland.  One of CRUSADER’s duties was that of maintaining a watch between these islands.

On the 18^th, CRUSADER in company with ATHABASKAN who was also a member of the element, visited Kure and spent Christmas Day in this port.  Sailing independently from Kure on the 28^th, CRUSADER found little change in the Cho-do area although enemy batteries had been busy the week before.  She joined Task Unit 95.12.1 in which she was relieved on 1 January 1953 by ATHABASKAN.  She then joined the carrier unit TU 95.1.1, Commander in Badoeng Strait.

On the 4^th, while the destroyer was accompanying the light aircraft carrier, HMS Glory, the latter had the misfortune to lose three pilots and four aircraft over the enemy coast.

After a visit to Sasebo on the 12^th, CRUSADER steamed on to Hong Kong, arriving on the 16^th.  The harbour was filled with shipping and once the ship was secured alongside, she was invaded by a host of tradesmen.  Leaving on the 25^th, the destroyer encountered poor weather conditions in the East China Sea.  After a visit of a few hours duration in Sasebo, the ship sailed for the east coast of Korea.  Toward midday of the 29^th, the weather improved.  By 1400, the shores of Eastern Korea were so clear in detail that it was difficult to believe that they were forty-eight miles away.  It was cold, however, and there was ice on the upper deck and forward part of the ship.

At Yang-do, high up on the east coast, in the Songjin area, CRUSADER assumed the duties of Commander Task Unit 95.2.2.  Since the principal aim of the unit was the defence of Yang-do from invasion by the North Korean army, it was necessary to keep two ships in the vicinity of the island during the night or when the daylight was obscured by low visibility.

On the night of 2 February, CRUSADER paid a visit to “Package Two”.  The damage which her guns had wrought on the previous visit was still visible in the moonlight.  She was disappointed to learn that no more trains were running.  In company with the high-speed minesweeper, USS Carmick, she opened fire on the cutting and slide [27] area, scoring repeated hits.  However, despite the declaration that the supply route through the “package” had been cut, Carmick on the 4^th reported that a train had passed through in the early morning.  Although she had fired at it, she was unable to hit it.

On the night of 4/5 February 1953, CRUSADER and Carmick closed “Package Two” and “Three” to 1000 yards, but visibility was low and, in spite of the near approach to the coast, nothing was seen.

CRUSADER handed over her duties as Commander of the unit to the high-speed minesweeper USS Thompson.  HM Destroyer Cockade was to relieve her and, while she awaited her coming on the 9^th, she observed a truck moving along a road on the mainland.  She immediately opened fire with one 4.5” gun.  Troops caught by the fire emerged confusedly from the vehicle.  A few quick air bursts dispersed them.

After a few days in Sasebo, CRUSADER sailed with the light fleet carrier USS Bataan, the ships pounding along through foul weather.  On the following morning, they were joined by the destroyers HMAS Anzac and USS McCord.  CRUSADER obtained an asdic contact which, although it was non-submarine, made an interesting and valuable training exercise.

On the 23^rd, the ship bombarded North Korean troops and two guns on a small hillock.  Afterwards, spotting aircraft reported that the area had been well-covered by the shells and direct hits had been made on the gun emplacements.

Sasebo and Kure were visited.  CRUSADER sailed from the latter port on 5 March and effected a rendezvous off Sasebo with Bataan.  Both ships proceeded to the west coast.  CRUSADER was relieved on the 19^th by HM Destroyer Charity.  She sailed then to Sasebo and from there, on the 19^th, to Okinawa.  En route, visibility was limited by a very low cloud base.  South of Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on the 24^th, she met the escort destroyers USS Epperson and Renshaw and US Submarine Sterlet.  For two hours, she exercised with the submarine.

CRUSADER sailed from Okinawa as part of the screen for the escort aircraft carrier USS Bairoko on the 27^th.  Exercises were carried out until bad weather temporarily interfered.  On 1 April 1953, the screening destroyers detached from the carrier and proceeded in column to Yokosuka.

Departing on the 8^th, CRUSADER sailed for the east coast of Korea.  Off Yang-do, she became the Commander of Task Unit 95.2.2.  Besides patrol duties in these waters there were commando-like raids along the coast to be supported.  The object of the raids was to obtain prisoners for intelligence purposes and to impress upon the minds of the enemy that UN naval forces were capable of raiding any part of the coast at any time.  One such group of raiders which CRUSADER escorted, consisted of sixty Republic of Korea (ROK) parachute troops under the immediate command of a ROK army captain and under the overall command of a USMC major.  The raiders went ashore in rubber boats which were launched from the tow of two drifters.

On the 14^th, CRUSADER turned over the command of the task unit to US Destroyer Owen and proceeded to “train-watch” at “Package Three” [28], just south of Tanch-on.  On the following morning, at 0040, while CRUSADER lay 2800 yards off the track, a train was sighted travelling toward the north.  Fire was opened immediately with all guns and fifteen cars to a stand-still in the cutting.  The remainder of the night was passed in firing shells into the wreck of the train to discourage attempts to clear the track.  At first light, the destroyer withdrew to a distance of 10,000 yards.

After fuelling, CRUSADER came back to take up a position at 12,000 yards and carry out a short air-spotted shoot.  At 1300, an attempt was made by the North Koreans to remove the smashed train.  Air support was requested and the range was closed at twenty-nine knots.  By 1325, the situation was once again in hand.   Unfortunately, a locomotive brought down by repair men on the line, withdrew into the security of the tunnel before it could be attacked.

At 1745, “while interdicting the package”, as the attempt to block the line was called, another train was sighted inland moving northward toward Tanch-on.  Range was closed to 14,000 yards by taking the ship in at high speed to the in-shore edge of the swept water, which was 3,000 to 4,000 yards of the coast.  The ship opened fire.  The train was hit and it stopped.  No sooner did it do so than another train appeared.  Fire was shifted to the new-comer and it suffered the same fate. [29]

As fire continued to be directed upon the last two trains, a fourth was sighted close to Tanch-on.  The range, however, was too extreme to permit attack.  Fire was kept up on the stopped trains until the fading light made spotting impossible.  After this, the ship decided to return to “Package Three” [30] and pass the hours left to her by pouring in more destruction on her first victim.  Between 2000 and 2200, four more cars were destroyed.  Two of them burned with brilliant orange flames.

At 2200, the ship detached to effect a rendezvous with the fast carrier force, TF-77. [31]  As she approached it at 0430 the following morning, a voice was heard on the voice radio:  “Casey Jones, Casey Jones: [32]  this is Jehovah.  Over.”  The speaker turned out to be Rear-Admiral R. F. Hickey, USN, Commander Task Force 77.

For six days the Canadian destroyer operated on the screen of this carrier force whose Panther jets extended the naval blockade far inland by striking enemy gun positions, supplies and communications behind the front lines, as well as providing ground troops with close air support.  She had to operate at top speeds and to steam more than 500 miles each day, all of which proved a strenuous workout for the communication and engine-room personnel.

No sooner had CRUSADER returned to Task Unit 95.2.2. than she was detailed to proceed to another “train-watch session”.  On this occasion, however, no trains were sighted.

After this the destroyer gave support to troops of the First Republic of Korea (ROK) Corps when, on relieving the heavy cruiser, USS St. Paul, Commander Task Unit 95.2.8., on the Bomb Line,[33] she opened fire on enemy gun bunkers and trenches.

Another visit was made to a “package” on the 24^th, when the fourth [34] of these cuttings was chosen.  Almost immediately after her arrival, a train appeared moving southward.  The destroyer opened fire, but the train disappeared safely around the corner of the mountain.  The Commanding Officer then decided that he would race the train to “Package Five” [35] to the south.  On arrival, the ship waited, but did not see the train.  At midnight, a north-bound train was sighted.  Fire was opened and it was stopped south of the “package”.  Shortly afterward, the train, which consisted of a locomotive and two cars, started up again.  Moving at high speed it raced through the “package” and, although it was subjected to heavy fire, succeeded in escaping behind a heavy pall of smoke and dust caused mainly by CRUSADER’s falling salvoes.  Hits had been scored, however, and there had been an explosion on one of the cars.

CRUSADER proceeded to Sasebo on the 26^th and left the port on 4 May.  She now returned to the west coast Korean operational area as part of HMS Glory’s screen, along with the US Destroyers Southerland and Thomas.  ATHABASKAN later joined the screen.

On the 7^th, CRUSADER received a request for assistance from a ROK minesweeper who was being fired upon by an enemy gun battery.   Altering course, the destroyer opened fire at a range of 18,000 yards.  A few well-placed rounds were sufficient to cause the enemy to cease firing.  CRUSADER then continued to close the battery at high speed and keep it under fire until the minesweeper was clear.  She then proceeded to her night anchorage east of Paengyong-do, having shown once again the accurate long-range fire of her 4.5” guns.

The next day, the destroyer proceeded to a position near the south shore of Choppeki Point and fired several shots at enemy troops and their mortar battery.  On the night of 15/16, she shelled enemy gun batteries in the Ongjin harbour area and on the 21^st, guns on the north side of the Taedong Estuary.  These latter guns had been constantly firing upon friendly islands in the vicinity and were too remote for most destroyer or frigate guns to reach.  CRUSADER opened fire at 18,800, 19,500 and 21,300 yards.  Bursts were seen to land on the shore, but at the distance she could hope for little more than a harassing operation.

On sailing for Sasebo on the 24^th, CRUSADER was instructed to close the wreck of the motor vessel Lady Wolmer who had gone aground a few days previously on the north shore of Quelpart Island, [36] and determine whether her cargo, one of alcoholic beverages, had been looted.  CRUSADER had no difficulty in finding the wreck although her master, who had abandoned her, had reported her as being two miles to the westward of her actual location.  She was close in shore, had not been looted and appeared to be in good condition.

After a stay in Sasebo, CRUSADER returned to the west coast of Korea and joined Task Unit 95.1.1., Commander in Bairoko.  CRUSADER anchored west of Sok-to.  Earlier in the day there had been firing from the guns on Wolsari Peninsula; in retaliation, the 80 and 90mm. mortars on Sok-to kept up a day-long bombardment of the peninsula.  The destroyer joined in the bombardment.

Preparatory to returning to Canada, CRUSADER sailed to Sasebo on 13 June 1953.  Entering the harbour, she found it almost empty, nearly all the UN ships having left for Korean waters to be ready for the impending cease fire. [37]

En route to Yokosuka on the 18^th, CRUSADER fired several depth-charges which had become corroded through disuse.  On the 20^th, she sailed from Yokosuka for the Aleutian Islands.  Throughout the passage, from the time the ship cleared Tokyo Bay until she passed through the Adak Channel in the Aleutian chain, she encountered head winds, rain and fog.  A fuelling stop was made in Sand Bay on Great Sitkin Island.  She was fortunate in having moderate easterly winds for Sand Bay is completely open to the westward.

Slipping from Sand Bay, the ship proceeded through the islands directly out into the Pacific, using blind pilotage as the fogs closed in.  She arrived in Esquimalt in the forenoon of 1 July 1953.

CRUSADER’s record in Far Eastern waters could hardly have been bettered.  She had received very farvourable reports on her performance when with US Carrier Task Force 77.  By others it was noted that she could best be described as a “smart ship”.  It was noted that she had always shown initiative when on her own and her record as “champion train-buster” attested to her “excellent fire-control and gun system and the high state of training of the officers and men”.

The ship began a refit on 6 July 1953, being taken in hand by HMC Dockyard, Esquimalt, on this date.  From the 8^th to the 20^th, she was under the command of Lieutenant-Commander John Husher, RCN.  On the 20^th, Lieutenant-Commander H. H. Smith, CD, RCN, assumed command and on 29 August Lieutenant-Commander W. H. Willson, DSC, CD, RCN.

The refit was officially completed on 18 September.  Trials followed.  On 10 October, a working-up programme was finished in Nanoose Bay.  On the 18^th, she sailed from Esquimalt for the Far East.  After making a rough passage, she arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 24^th, leaving the naval base on 10 November in company with three destroyer escorts of the 13^th Escort Division and four destroyers of the 152^nd Destroyer Division.  During the voyage to Yokosuka, all ships were under the command of Captain C. J. Mackenzie, USN, in US Escort Destroyer Jenkins.  Days and nights en route were passed in almost continuous exercising.  A fuelling stop was made at Midway Island.

From Yokosuka, where she arrived on the 20^th, CRUSADER proceeded to Sasebo, which port she left on 2 December in company with HMC Ships HURON and IROQUOIS, and other UN destroyers.  On the west coast of Korea, CRUSADER went out on patrols on the 8^th and on the 27^th.  There was little to break the monotony on these patrols, all warlike activity having ended with the cease fire.

A visit was paid to Sasebo and to Okinawa on 2 January 1954 to take part in an exercise.  After the completion of the exercise and a visit to Yokosuka, CRUSADER on the 22^nd sailed to Hong Kong.  A severe storm was encountered in the East China Sea and Formosa Strait.  Heavy seas swept inboard and the ship’s skimmer and the jeep, both lashed to the deck, and a carley float rack, were damaged.

CRUSADER left Hong Kong on 7 February and proceeded to Sasebo, from which port she steamed out for exercises and patrolling.  Visits were also paid to Yokosuka and Tokyo in company with CAYUGA and HAIDA.  In the latter port, they had the opportunity of extending a Canadian greeting to the Right Honourable Louis St. Laurent who was then visiting the Japanese capital.  On the 25^th, CRUSADER and CAYUGA engaged in exercises off Okinawa.

In April 1954, CRUSADER proceeded to Sasebo for repairs and there were more exercises.  On 2 May, she steamed to the west coast of Korea to relieve the Netherlands frigate Dubois at Yongpyong-do as Commander Task Unit 95.1.6.  One of the destroyer’s duties was observing the movements of fishing craft.  From watching the movements of junks in the vicinity, she concluded that they endeavoured conscientiously to comply with the instructions given them.  Such violations of the truce line that were made were ascribed to lack of navigational facilities, fast tides and lack of power.

When a strong wind sprang up on the 9^th, some 300 junks entered the inner harbour at Yongpyong-do.  Owing to their lack of strength in these waters, it was not possible for the UN forces to keep as firm a control over these craft as they would have liked.

Visits were paid to Sasebo and, in June, CRUSADER, CAYUGA and HAIDA proceeded to Okinawa and Yokosuka for exercises.  During exercises off Korea to test defences, one US Skyraider-Douglas dive bomber was lost.  WARRIOR had two barrier crashes and one under-carriage failure, but in these latter instances there was no loss of life or injury.

During the preceding few months, CRUSADER could not help noting a marked decline in naval activities in the Japan area.  The Royal Navy, in fact, had closed down its facilities in this country in the latter part of 1953, when its ships had been withdrawn to Hong Kong.  Now, after performing patrol duties, they almost invariably returned to Hong Kong or Singapore.  Many US ships had also disappeared.  By June 1954, most of the Seventh Fleet had been withdrawn, possibly to the Philippine Islands.

Exercises were held off Hong Kong in July 1954.  In August, CRUSADER sailed to Sasebo and then to Otaru in the Japanese island of Hokkaido in company with HAIDA and CAYUGA, arriving on the 12^th.

CRUSADER’s work in the Far East was finished.  On the 15^th, she left Otaru, being given a rousing send-off by the other ships, and made a fast passage to Yokosuka to avoid Typhoon Helen which was lurking off the coast of Japan.  She arrived on the 17^th, and moved out across the Pacific on the following day.  The voyage to Pearl Harbor was broken only by a six-hour fuelling stop at Midway Island.  CRUSADER remained in the Hawaiian naval base for forty-eight hours, leaving it on the 28^th.  She was back in Esquimalt on 3 September, 1954.

On the 13^th, Lieutenant-Commander Richard H. Leir, CD, RCN, assumed command of the ship.

The destroyer brought back with her a proud record of achievement.  Champion “train-buster” and master sharp shooter, she had in Korea covered the enemy coast from the Yalu River to the Soviet border and, at various times, had been attached to all the different in-shore patrol units as well as the fast carrier force 77.  In a sense, her subsequent career, useful but unspectacular, must appear anti-climactic.

In October 1954 there were exercises off Esquimalt and, with HMC Destroyer SIOUX, off Nanoose Bay.  In November, she operated as plane-guard with the aircraft carrier HMCS MAGNIFICENT and carried out tests of equipment for the Pacific Naval Laboratory.  Work then began on her in HMC Dockyard to remove from her all ammunition, fuel, guns, torpedo-tubes and throwers.  On the 24^th, she was taken in hand by Yarrows Limited for her annual refit.

The official date of the completion of the refit was 26 January 1955.  A full-power trial was then carried out in ideal conditions and an average speed of 34.3 knots was attained during the second of the two hours of the run.

Earlier, it had been presumed that CRUSADER, when ready, would return to Korea but, with the reduction in commitments in that area, it was decided to send her to the east coast where, on arrival, she would be exchanged for the most recent of the Navy’s modernized frigates, HMCS SUSSEXVALE.  In Halifax, it was announced, her duties would be as an evaluation and trials ship for testing new equipment.  Since most of her ship’s company belonged to the west coast, it was intended that they should commission the frigate and sail her back to Esquimalt.

Most of the post-refit trials were confined to testing radio and navigational equipment which would be required for the passage to Halifax.  CRUSADER sailed at 0900, 14 February, 1955.  During the first night, she took part in exercises.  Playing the part of a crippled submarine, she slipped past the opposing forces and continued alone down the coast, raising the port of Long Beach, California, without further incident.  The approach was made in dense fog.  The sound equipment on the outer and inner breakwaters was however, good, and no trouble was experienced in entering and making berth.

She left Long Beach on the 20^th.  On the following day, she picked up a distress call from a yacht who had gone aground on Cedros Island off the coast of Lower California.  As she altered course toward the island, some twenty-five miles away, a US Coast Guard seaplane, also attracted by the distress call, joined her.  On arrival, the two circled the island.  The yacht was found driven hard aground on a windward sand beach.  A party of businessmen and their wives were aboard.  CRUSADER found that, while the yacht was firmly aground, she was not damaged to any appreciable extent.  Feeling that the task of refloating her was one for a tug, she informed the US Coast Guard and resumed her way to Manzanillo, arriving in this Mexican port on the 23^rd and leaving after a stay of a few hours.

En route to the Canal Zone, a brief stop over was made in Santiago Bay to enable members of the ship’s company to bathe.  The destroyer arrived in Balboa on 1 March and, two days later, she entered the canal.  Sailing northward from Colon on the Atlantic coast, she made landfall in Ireland Island, Bermuda, on 8 March 1955.  Sailing on the 10^th, she finished her passage in fair weather, arriving in Halifax on the 12^th.  On the 14^th, SUSSEXVALE was berthed alongside and, for four days, a transfer of stores and, eventually, of personnel, was made from destroyer to frigate.  Among those transferred was Lieutenant-Commander Leir who assumed command of SUSSEXVALE on her commissioning on the 18^th.  On the same day, Lieutenant-Commander J. Butterfield, RCN, took his place, assuming command of CRUSADER.

During the remainder of the month, plans went ahead for the making of structural alterations necessary to facilitate the fitting required for the evaluation trials programme in which the ship was to be engaged.

When, from 11 to 16 April, CRUSADER went to sea to perform as plane guard for the aircraft carrier, HMCS MAGNIFICENT, Captain J. C. Littler, CD, RCN, assumed temporary command of the ship.

In May, the ship remained alongside.  On 1 June, Commander L. B. Jenson, CD, RCN, assumed command of CRUSADER.  By this date, several significant alterations had been made in the ship.  The “Y” gun had been removed, for instance, and the depth-charge rails, this to permit the fitting of winches and a gallows for working experimental sonar equipment, while the forward petty officers’ mess had been converted to an instrument space for evaluation.

On 30 June 1955, CRUSADER sailed to Bermuda, the object of the cruise being to provide exercises in seamanship and the use of various weapons as well as to give the ship’s company some much-appreciated sea time.  The weather being favourable during the passage, an opportunity was taken to drop depth-charges and fire all guns.  Arriving on 3 July, the destroyer returned to Halifax on the 10^th.

On 13 August, CRUSADER joined Task Group 301.1 with the Senior Officer in MAGNIFICENT.  Other members were HMC Cruiser QUEBEC and the destroyers HMCS HURON, HAIDA and MICMAC.  After exercising, a visit was paid by the group to New York.  CRUSADER sailed independently from this port on the 22^nd, because she learned that an early delivery had been made in Halifax of some outstanding equipment for evaluation.  In Halifax, the gear was installed and, on the 31^st, in the Halifax approaches, successful evaluations were carried out at speeds up to twenty-five knots, thus affording officers of the Naval Research Establishment great satisfaction.

On 8 September, while the ship was in the approaches proceeding with evaluations, a transmitter receiver set was damaged by a small fire of electrical origin.  After repairs, evaluating went on during the month.  On 6 October, she was spared for a day from these duties to take part in Operation “Cordex IV”, when she proceeded to sea to join in anti-submarine exercises.  On the 24^th, she sailed to Boston with the object of demonstrating high speed towing trials to representatives of the US Navy.

The beginning of November 1955 found the destroyer preparing for the next series of trials by the Naval Research Establishment.  For Operation “Shopwindow” on the 3^rd, members of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence were embarked.  Outside the harbour, CRUSADER and NOOKTA demonstrated a transfer of gear by jackstay and a throw-off shoot.  Later, HM Submarine Astute, while stationing herself two cables off CRUSADER’s port beam, demonstrated diving, snorting, surfacing and firing.  Two helicopters then appeared and gave a display of anti-submarine operations.

On the 8^th, a quantity of radio-active cobalt was brought aboard to facilitate evaluation of certain new instruments for the detection of radio-activity.  This substance was not popular with the ship’s company, who regarded it suspiciously as it lay in the only position which could be found for it, on the quarter-deck.

On the evening of the 28^th, CRUSADER left Halifax in a driving rain storm for Bermuda.  Heavy swells and fairly violent winds impeded the passage of the ship.

During December 1955 and the opening days of January 1956, new equipment for evaluation was fitted in the ship.

A pleasant visit was made to Boston from 15 to 19 February 1956.  Bad weather during the month hindered but did not stop training or exercising.  Indeed it offered opportunities to gain experience in working under difficult conditions.

During the forenoon of 20 March 1956, the Naval Research Establishment removed all their testing equipment from the ship.  At 1150 the 29^th the destroyer slipped and, taking full advantage of the clear weather and calm seas, proceeded at a speed of twenty-seven knots which she maintained until St. David’s Head, Bermuda, passed abeam at 1600 the next day.  It was believed that this had established a record passage.

The ship went on to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Roosevelt Roads, the US air base on this island.  About twenty-five miles north-east of San Juan, the thirty-foot sloop-rigged yacht Aileen was observed in distress in a strong wind then prevailing.  A party made up of three men and two teen-aged boys was taken off.  Three seamen were then placed in the yacht and it was taken in tow by the escort vessel HMCS PORTAGE who was steaming astern of CRUSADER.  However, such was the decayed and damage condition of the craft that it foundered shortly after the tow was attempted.

On 7 April, CRUSADER arrived in South-West Roads, St. Thomas, where she found a significant portion of the Royal Canadian Navy at anchor.

On the 10^th, in company with QUEBEC, she called at Kingston, Jamaica.  Both ships were entertained royally in this city.  They weighed on the 18^th, and in the evening passed through the Windward Passage.  The ships parted, QUEBEC going on to Bermuda, and CRUSADER returning to Halifax.

A refit commenced on 30 April and lasted until mid-August.  On 6 July, Commander N. S. C. Dickinson, CD, RCN, assumed command of the ship.

After trials, the ship prepared again for evaluation trials.  During the first week of September, she was alongside at the Naval Armament Depot jetty for an equipment-fitting period by the Naval Research Establishment.

The ship visited Boston on the 28^th, leaving this port on 1 October.  The rest of the month was passed alongside.

Eight Naval Research Establishment (NRE) scientists were embarked in November, the destroyer sailing on the 7^th and arriving two days later in Bermuda where she secured in the South Basin, Ireland Island.  With HM Submarine Astute in company, she carried out NRE trials.  On the 15^th and 16^th, fifteen observers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, were embarked to study the equipment in operation.  A visit was paid to New York on the 26^th and the ship was back in Halifax on 1 December.

In December, the ship was employed in carrying out trials for the Commander Operational Evaluation Unit.  The weather during part of the period was extremely bad, with heavy snow fall and consequent poor visibility.  On the 12^th, in Bedford Basin, the wind gusted up to forty-five knots.  On the 14^th, the ship was moved by tugs to berth outside the repair ship, HMCS CAPE BRETON.  Until 28 January, she remained alongside CAPE BRETON.  The major activity of the period was the fitting in her of the Bogue and Sperry automatic steering systems.  The work being completed the ship proceeded to sea at 0800 the 29^th, to carry out evaluation trials on the two systems.  On 2 February 1957, she arrived in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.  After fuelling, she proceeded further south to commence comparative evaluation runs for the installations.  Winds en route blew constantly from the east, varying their velocities from fifteen to thirty-five knots.  Although these conditions were desirable from the point of view of the trials, the necessity for keeping the wind and sea at all times on the beam made life uncomfortable in the ship and caused breakage of a large amount of crockery and glass-ware.

A visit was paid to Port of Spain, Trinidad, on the 8^th, which was much enjoyed.  Leaving on the 11^th, the ship proceeded at a planned speed of advance of twenty-two knots, this to facilitate evaluation of the steering systems.  Bermuda was raised on the 15^th.  The ship was back in Halifax on the 20^th.

CRUSADER went south again in March.  Arriving at Ireland Island, Bermuda, on the 7^th, she remained for several days.  She was hopeful of painting ship here but the weather was so bad, characterized as it was by forty- to fifty-knot winds and torrential downpours, that work could not be done on the hull or superstructure.  The ship tried to leave on the 12^th, but, as the wind was gusting up to sixty-five knots with greatly reduced visibility, it was considered advisable to return to harbour.  She slipped the following day and arrived in San Juan on the 15^th.  From this port, she sailed on the 18^th to the exercise areas north of Puerto Rico where she joined in evolutions with Task Group 301.1, with Commander in HMC Destroyer ALGONQUIN.  On the 20^th, the Task Unit 301.1.2, Commander in CRUSADER, [38] was formed and there were exercises with HM Submarine Alliance.  On the 26^th, CRUSADER detached to proceed to Kingston, Jamaica.

Leaving Kingston on 1 April, CRUSADER went on to Nassau and later visited Norfolk, Virginia.  She arrived back in Halifax on the 12^th.

In May there were NRE trials as well as installation of equipment.  On 9 June, she sailed for Bermuda.  From the 14^th, to her return to Halifax on the 21^st, trials were carried out.  A period of self refit and annual docking followed from 1 to 16 July.  On the 15^th, Commander F. W. H. Bradley, CD, RCN, assumed command of the ship.

For the purpose of cleaning ship, a visit was paid to Mahone Bay, N.S., on the 19^th.  This bay was found to offer a number of advantages over the more frequently-used St, Margaret’s Bay.  The distance from Halifax was not much greater and shelter could be found from any weather in protected anchorages among the islands.  The beauty of the surrounding country-side and the clarity of the water offered welcome changes.

NRE trials were carried out in the Halifax approaches with HM Submarine Amphion.  From 2 to 5 August, exercises in the Gulf Stream were carried out by CRUSADER, NOOTKA and US Submarine Hardhead.  More NRE trials followed and these were broken by a visit to St. John’s, Newfoundland from 16 to 19 August.  A report of the sighting of an unidentified submarine caused CRUSADER to patrol coastal waters about the island.

On 16 September 1957, CRUSADER left Halifax to sail to the United Kingdom via the Azores, carrying out NRE trials en route.  On the 21^st, a message was received relaying the distress signal of the four-masted German training barque, Pamir, who, caught in a storm caused by Hurricane Carrie, had reported herself sinking some 600 miles west of the Azores.  The destroyer, along with other ships in the vicinity, closed the last reported position to look for survivors, but there was no sign of life.  A search, led by CRUSADER, continued for two days. [39]

The ship arrived at Ponta Delgada on the 25^th, left on the 27^th and arrived to anchor in Falmouth Bay, Cornwall, on the morning of the 30^th.

On 1 October, CRUSADER proceeded to Portland, Dorset, where she found the harbour filled with ships representing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations who had been taking part in the exercise known as “Stirkeback”.  CRUSADER’s mission was with HM Underwater Detection Establishment which was conducting experiments similar to the NRE’s.  After giving a party from the Establishment a demonstration of the NRE apparatus, CRUSADER proceeded to Ponta Delgada where she fuelled on the 7^th.  She was back in Halifax on the 12^th.

During November 1957, CRUSADER was secured alongside having more NRE equipment fitted.  A lull in the programme permitted her to sail for four days of working-up exercises on the 25^th, in company with the frigates HMCS OUTREMONT, LA HULLOISE and FORT ERIE.

In December, CRUSADER was able to escape from the programme of the fitting of equipment on a single day, this being the 6^th, when she sailed out to sea for a day’s surface gunnery and torpedo firing.

Evaluation of the equipment began on 26 January 1958, when CRUSADER sailed in company with HM Submarine Amphion.  The weather deteriorated on the 28^th.  In Five Fathom Hole, Bermuda, on the 30^th, the wind rose to force 7. [40] The ship sailed independently for Halifax on 3 February.  Force 8 [41] winds somewhat curtailed the trials.

CRUSADER left Halifax for New London, Connecticut, on 18 February 1958.

After a pleasant visit in that port, she sailed down the Thames River with US Submarine Spikefish.  The two carried out NRE trials on the 24^th and 25^th and entered Halifax harbour on the 27^th.

The British Home Fleet arrived in Halifax in March and during the visit CRUSADER lay alongside, acting as co-host ship for HM Cruiser Celyon.  On the 25^th, she proceeded to sea for NRE trials and anchored in the night in St. Margaret’s Bay.  On the 31^st, she sailed in company with HM Submarine Alcide to carry out evaluation trials in the Bermuda area.  During the passage, bad weather, characterized by force 10 to 11 winds, [42] precluded any possibility of trials.  From 8 to 11 April, however, excellent weather conditions prevailed in the exercise area and a full programme of trials was completed with encouraging results.  CRUSADER and Alcide were back in Halifax on the 19^th.

More trials of special equipment were carried out when CRUSADER and Alcide sailed on 12 May for the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  On the 17^th, Baie Comeau, Que., was visited.  This town, situated on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, was found to be a lively, booming and friendly place.

CRUSADER and Alcide sailed on the morning of 20 May 1958.  Trials went on until the evening of the 22^nd, when Alcide set course for Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and CRUSADER for Sydney, N.S.  After refuelling in the Cape Breton town, the destroyer returned to Halifax on the morning of the 24^th.

There were more trials from the 26^th to the 30^th when CRUSADER was accompanied to the waters of the Nova Scotia shelf by US Submarine Runner.  Despite marginal weather conditions satisfactory results were obtained.

The destroyer went out again with Runner on the evening of 2 June 1958.  On the following morning, when trials were begun, it became evident that the equipment was not working satisfactorily and, as more important trials had been scheduled for the 5^th with US Submarine Cobbler, CRUSADER returned to Halifax to have the gear put into proper order.

On the morning of the 4^th, she sailed to meet Cobbler off New London, Connecticut.  After the rendezvous was effected at 0600 the 5^th, trials began which proved highly successful.  US Naval officers, who had been embarked to witness them, appeared to be impressed with the performance of the equipment.

In the evening, CRUSADER set course for Boston.  Before arriving in the port the next day, she spoke the yacht Pickle [43] who was en route from Halifax to Newport, Rhode Island, to take part in the Newport to Bermuda race.  The yacht made a magnificent sight as she sped along at approximately ten knots in the bright sunlight off Cape Cod.

Sailing from Boston on the 8^th, CRUSADER met Alcide the next day in the Bay of Fundy.

After steaming southward to escape foggy weather and the narrow waters of the Bay, the two vessels carried out trials.  The afternoon of the 12^th, the fog, which had caught up with them, along with the traffic in the area in which they were working, made diving a risky evolution for the submarine and so the trials were terminated.

A message to HMCS BUCKINGHAM was intercepted in the evening.  It requested the frigate to proceed to the assistance of two fishing vessels involved in collision on George’s Bank.  This area being near their own position, CRUSADER and Alcide proceeded to close but, before they could reach the scene, a message was received stating that assistance was no longer required.

CRUSADER returned to Halifax on 14 June 1958.  A month later – 14 July 1958 – the ship sailed for England.  Good weather prevailed throughout the voyage and, as a result, some 25% oil fuel was remaining on arrival at Portland on the 21^st.  While en route various trials were carried out for the Naval Research Establishment.

Runs were made over the sound range at Portland on the 23^rd, and, on the following afternoon, the destroyer slipped for Portsmouth, anchoring in Spithead that evening.  The passage through the Solent was made under excellent weather conditions and the beauty of the surrounding countryside was much admired.

CRUSADER docked at Portsmouth to have experimental propellers fitted.  An opportunity was taken to calibrate them on the measured mile range off Anvil Point, Christchurch Bay, west of the port.

Returning to Portland the 5^th, the ship sailed the next morning for self-noise measurement in the sea area off Ushant or Ouessant in Brittany and returned to the port on the afternoon of the 8^th.

While CRUSADER was alongside in Portsmouth on the 12^th, her ship’s company had the opportunity to join in the welcome given the nuclear-powered US submarine, Nautilus, who was making port after her famous voyage under the ice at the North Pole.

On the 14^th, CRUSADER sailed in company with HM Frigate Brocklesby to Gibraltar.  The frigate’s tasks were similar to her own.  An exercise programme planned by the two ships was cut short the same afternoon when, at 1615, they received orders from the Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, to proceed to the scene of the crash of the KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) Super-Constellation, Hugo De Groote.  The aircraft had been en route from Amsterdam to New York, with 99 persons aboard, when it crashed about 130 miles north-west of the coast of Ireland.

CRUSADER arrived in the area at first light the next morning.  Using the steamship, Beaverlodge, as datum, she directed the search and took on board wreckage picked up by fifteen other searching vessels, including part of the pilot’s cabin installation, papers, pillows and parts of seats.  She herself recovered articles of luggage and parts of the under-carriage and cabin insulation.  There were no survivors of this disaster; thirty-seven bodies were found.

In the afternoon, the destroyer sailed to Galway on the west coast of Ireland to land wreckage and human remains.

CRUSADER resumed her interrupted voyage to Gibraltar on the 16^th and arrived two days later.  The following morning, she steamed out to sea with Brocklesby and HM Submarine Tally Ho.  Until 1 September 1958, with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays, trials were carried out daily, the ships sailing at 0730 and returning to harbour about 1830.

CRUSADER sailed from Gibraltar on 4 September 1958 and arrived at Londonderry, on the afternoon of the 8^th, having first fuelled in the morning at the US base at Lisahally.

Departing from the North Irish port on the next evening, the destroyer proceeded to an area off the Mull of Kintyre in the North Channel to the northward of the Irish Sea to meet the experimental submarine, HMS Excalibur, and carry out a day’s trials.  The night was spent at Campbeltown in Kintyre, Argyll, Scotland, Excalibur’s operating base.  There were more trials on the 12^th and 13^th, after which CRUSADER proceeded directly to Portland.

Noise measurement trials took place in the sea area off this port on the 15^th.  The following day, course was set for Portsmouth where the destroyer was docked to have the experimental propellers removed and the original ones replaced.

While at Portsmouth, the ship was visited by a number of officers from the Admiralty who were interested in the trials equipment.  After she was undocked on the 22^nd, she went back to Portland.  The following noon, she sailed for Halifax, calling at Ponta Delgada in the Azores for fuel on the 26^th.  The voyage was uneventful apart from the necessity of avoiding two hurricanes – “Helene” and “Ilsa” – which were prowling about in the area.

CRUSADER arrived in Halifax on 1 October 1958.  In the weeks following, a number of senior US Naval officers visited the ship and were shown the trials equipment.  On the 8^th, Dr Stahlberg, Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany at Montreal, representing the German Ambassador to Canada, presented the ship with a plaque commemorating the part CRUSADER took in the search for the survivors of the barque Pamir. [44]  The ship’s company were at divisions for the ceremony and were inspected by Commodore D. L. Raymond, CD, RCN, representing the Flag Officer Atlantic Coast, accompanied by Dr Stahlberg.  The Commanding Officer accepted the plaque for the ship.

After a shoot on the 20^th, CRUSADER remained at sea.  Certain trials she had to carry out required a choppy ocean, so she waited hopefully for the weather to deteriorate.  Perhaps for the very reason they were not wanted, sunshine and a flat calm prevailed.  They seemed to be more appropriate to July than October.

From the 28^th to 31^st, the ship again sought rough weather.  A few hours of it on the 30^th were not sufficient for the purpose of the trial.

CRUSADER sailed with SAGUENAY and NOOTKA for gunnery and torpedo firings on 3 November 1958, but poor visibility and rising seas prevented them from being carried out.  The rough weather, of course, was just what CRUSADER had been looking for and so she took advantage of it to carry out the trials which the unseasonably calm seas had heretofore prevented her from doing.

On the 10^th, she sailed with RESTIGOUCHE and the high speed target submarine, USS Albacore, to carry out trials south of the operating areas off New London, Connecticut.  Trouble developed with the equipment and, as the use of a crane was required before it could be repaired, CRUSADER had to proceed to the submarine base in New London.  When she returned to the operating area, two more defects appeared and she was obliged to put into New London a second time.

After embarking US Naval observers, she left New London on the 17^th.  Albacore was in company as well as US Destroyer Maloy, who detached at noon the following day.  RESTIGOUCHE had left some days before to take part in the exercise, “Little Beaver”.

It had been hoped that the trials with Albacore would be completed by the 21^st, but the defects which had developed in the equipment the previous week made an extension of the trial period necessary.  Finally on the night of the 25^th, Albacore detached for Portsmouth, New Hampshire, while CRUSADER steamed to the approaches of Boston where she disembarked the US Navy observers.  She then set course for Halifax.  Before coming alongside in this port, she carried out a short trial in the approaches with SAGUENAY.

During this active month, the ship was at sea for twenty days and steamed 4433.7 miles.

A refit begun in the Halifax Dockyard on December 1958 was completed on schedule on 24 April 1959.  It was found that the employment of a Dockyard officer as a refit co-ordinator provided a useful link between the personnel of Dockyard and the ship.

Post-refit trials commenced on 24 April 1959.  Continuing into May 1959, they were completed on the 8^th with a full power trial at which an average speed of 32 knots was attained over the last hour.

On 11 May, the ship sailed for the first phase of her working-up programme.  This lasted for three days and consisted primarily of the testing of a new type of fairing for the Naval Research Establishment.

On the 18^th, she sailed for Bermuda to carry out the final phase of the programme.  Two days were passed at sea off the islands completing trials for the NRE.

On the 24^th, Victoria Day, she was in harbour and dressed overall.  Late in the afternoon, word was received of the death of John Foster Dulles, former US Secretary of State.  The US Naval Base in the islands and the USN ships in harbour immediately half-masted their colours.  CRUSADER remained dressed overall.  The Commander of the Base was informed of the situation and he agreed that the correct procedure had been followed.  The next day, the destroyer half-masted her colours.  She put to sea the same day to continue her working-up programme.

Exercises were interrupted when, after receipt of what appeared to be a distress signal, the Senior Naval Officer West Indies requested the ship to proceed at best speed for the distress area.

The search was discontinued when it became known that the signal was believed to have been caused by a defect in some ship’s automatic distress signal equipment.

The gate vessel, HMCS PORTE SAINT JEAN joined the ship and her participation in the exercises proved helpful.  Refuelling under way was one such exercise.  It was simulated by CRUSADER pumping a ton and half of water to PORTE SAINT JEAN.

At the beginning of June 1959, the gate vessel provided target facilities for surface and anti-aircraft shoots, torpedo attacks and night encounter exercises.

From 6-12 June, CRUSADER lay at buoy at the US Naval Base for self-maintenance.  The time was spent on a much-needed clean-up after a five-month refit period.

The ship sailed for the Halifax area on the 15^th.  At midnight the following day, she met the aircraft carrier, HMCS BONAVENTURE, and with her took up a search air rescue position for passage of the aircraft bringing HM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for their visit to Canada.  At 1330 the 18^th, the royal aircraft passed safely overhead and the destroyer shaped course for Halifax.  There was some fog and icebergs were in the vicinity.  Otherwise the return to base on the 20^th was uneventful.

Anti-submarine exercises were held with HM Submarine Alderney at the end of June and the beginning of July.  On 3 July 1959, the destroyer commenced an annual leave period.  The 1^st day of August 1959 found her lying to head and stern buoys in Halifax harbour, awaiting the appearance of the royal procession with HM Queen Elizabeth II from HMC Dockyard to the RCN air Station, HMCS SHEARWATER.  At sunset, the ship was illuminated.  When the royal barge appeared, cheers from successive ships’ companies were added to the brilliant illuminations to present a memorable scene.

On 25 August 1959, the ship sailed for Hare Bay on the north-eastern coast of Newfoundland, to take part in the exercise, “Aswex 1/59”.  The passage which was made via the Gulf of St Lawrence was uneventful except for the sighting of a medium-sized iceberg and pancake ice in the Straits of Belle-Isle.  The ship anchored in Hare Bay on the 27^th, where she was refuelled by CNAV DUNDALK.

On the 28^th, Task Group 302.2, consisting of the destroyers, HMC Ships CRESCENT, Commander Task Group, ATHABASKAN, MICMAC, SIOUX and CRUSADER, with the escort maintenance ship, HMCS CAPE SCOTT, to represent a 15-ship convoy, sailed at 0800 for the exercise area 100 miles offshore, where HM Submarine Astute was waiting to oppose the group.  Visibility was less than 1000 yards and frequently less than 100 yards for the first two days.  While the ships exercised, a Russian trawler watched curiously from the sidelines three miles away.

CRUSADER returned to Halifax at the close of the exercise, on 2 September 1959.  During the month, she sailed twice with BONAVENTURE to act as rescue destroyer for the carrier as well as taking part in gunnery exercises.

In the forenoon of the 22^nd, she fuelled from the carrier.  The weather being poor, the evolution afforded useful experience, but it took two days to clean the superstructure of oil spray which had washed as far aft as the after canopy.  The replenishment was viewed by a party of European television authorities who had boarded BONAVENTURE for the day.

The ship fired a pattern of inert hedgehog bombs and two live depth charges during the afternoon for the benefit of the carrier’s visitors.

During the afternoon also, three large sea turtles were sighted, with carapaces measuring about five feet by four, heads the size of an alsatian dog’s, and weighing each an estimated 700 pounds.  Being off the coast of Nova Scotia, it was a surprise to see such creatures so far north.

CRUSADER detached and returned to Halifax on the 23^rd.

Intimation received in the ship in October 1959 that the ship was to be paid off was a cause of disappointment among many in her.  They had been looking forward to a “successful and rewarding commission”.  The destroyer was under consideration for modernization or conversion to the same general standards as that planned for the “St. Laurent” Class of destroyer escorts, that is to say for the installation of variable depth sonar and helicopter operating facilities.  In CRUSADER’s case, modernization would involve as well the replacement of obsolescent armament and electronic equipment.  The whole would require the expenditure of many millions of dollars. [45]

In November 1959, variable depth sonar trials were resumed in company with the submarine, HMS Auriga, and in the first days of December, the destroyer carried on with the trials.  On the 3^rd of that month, she had a gunnery and torpedo shoot, the naval auxiliary tug Riverton acting as target.  But on the 11^th, she was towed to the Bedford magazine where her ammunition was landed.  On the 14^th, destoring and preservation of machinery followed and, from the 28^th, the ship’s company was victualled in NEW WATERFORD who lay alongside. [46]

Along with the carrying out of a limited refit, a survey of the ship’s general condition was made.  It established that the ship’s hull and electric cabling had seriously deteriorated.  Still this was not unexpected in a ship of her vintage.  More, those early years on the west coast, when she had lain in reserve, had to be taken into consideration.  Such a period of idleness must inevitably have aggravated her condition.

The ship was paid off on 15 January, 1960.  For a long time her future lay in doubt.  While a decision was pending, it was decided to take her to Sydney, N.S., to put her in reserve there.  Approval for this was received on 4 July and she was towed out from Halifax seven days later.  During the preceding month, it had been announced that the conversion had been approved.  It was not anticipated, however, that the ship would be taken in hand before 1962. [47]

CRUSADER’s sister ship, HMCS CRESCENT, was picked to succeed her as trial ship for the NRE equipment.  The choice brought protests from the Atlantic Command who pointed out that the employment of CRESCENT for the trials would deprive the Command of a fully modernized and effective ship.  They recommended strongly that CRUSADER be brought back and commissioned with a special complement to fill the role.

The suggestion was not approved in view of the expense involved in making the ship seaworthy and in transferring the equipment back from CRESCENT. [48]

Maintenance routines were carried out daily in the ship while she remained inactive.  The guns, mountings and other fittings and equipment were removed for storage.

In November 1960, dehumidification of the ship was carried out to preserve her from rust and corrosion during the winter months.  In April 1961, approval was received from Naval Service Headquarters to cancel the dehumidification work on the ship and proceed with limited stripping of her interior, this in preparation for the planned conversion.  Apropos of this it was announced in June that the RCN was embarking on a multi-million dollar conversion programme.  Heading this programme were the expenditures which would cover the costs of converting CRUSADER and seven “St. Laurent” destroyer escorts. [49]

The conversion of CRUSADER, however, was not to come about.  One cause that led to a decision being taken against her was the size of the helicopters which were to be carried by the destroyer escorts.  The light type which had been under consideration at the time, did not perform satisfactorily on manufacturer’s trials and a heavier larger machine, the CHSS-2, was selected for service.  The beam of CRUSADER, unfortunately, was less than that of the destroyer escorts of the “St. Laurent” Class and was thus insufficient to provide a suitable landing platform for the larger helicopter. [50]

It was then asked, was it worth spending eight to nine million dollars on the ship for a ten-year expectancy when she would be unable to carry a helicopter. [51]

After considering other possible conversions, it was decided that the modernization of one ship of CRUSADER’s age and type was not economically justifiable, particularly when it was considered that the ships of the “Mackenzie” Class of destroyer escorts were nearing completion. [52]

The Naval Historian visited Sydney in September 1961 and described the ship as he saw her at the dockyard jetty.  She looked, he noted, “quite lifeless, all armament having been taken out as well as the mast structure”.  The funnel was intact as was also the derrick used for the variable depth sonar gear.  “According to dockyard personnel, it was originally intended to completely rebuild this ship something along the lines of the CRESCENT but that everything had come to a standstill there being apparently some doubt as to the ship’s future.” [53]

Halifax reported to Ottawa in November that CRUSADER was not adequately prepared for withstanding a further extended period of inactivity in Sydney.  They noted that recommendations for care and maintenance of the ship over the winter months had been withheld pending a decision regarding modernization.

Disposition of the ship had become a pressing problem and Ottawa’s opinion on the matter was requested.  This was not to be had then.  “Decision regarding modernization cannot be made at this time,” and, Headquarters added:  “Your comments re practicability to towing CRUSADER to HMC Dockyard  Hfx together with necessary dehumidification equipment are requested.” [54]

Halifax recommended that the destroyer be kept at Sydney.  Approval for this was received on 1 December, 1961.  Work was begun to place her under dehumidification.

Routine maintenance continued to be carried out in CRUSADER during 1962.  The main and auxiliary machinery were turned daily.  In May, Ottawa stated that it was “intended to seek approval to declare CRUSADER surplus to requirements when MACKENZIE [55] joins the fleet in Oct 62.”  In the same message it was noted that CRUSADER had been transferred permanently as a gift to the Government of Canada, this action having been described in an Admiralty letter dated 2 July, 1951.  At the time of the transfer, it had been the intention of the RCN and the understanding of the Admiralty that the ship would be rearmed and modernized.  This was not done at the time largely because of the Korean War. [56]

Before further steps were taken, the matter was discussed with the Admiralty who stated themselves satisfied with the situation.  They understood that CRUSADER’s conversion and modernization to “an A/S frigate” could not be fulfilled due to the Korean War and other circumstances.  Still “In view of the fact that HMG (HM Government) approved the gift on this condition, it may be necessary to inform Parliament of situation.  I am, however, to inform you that there is no RN requirement for CRUSADER and that no objection is therefore seen to her disposal by the RCN as proposed.” [57]

The stripping of the ship of equipment, including that form of the process known as “cannibalization”, went on in the ship.  In October 1962, for instance, a class of engineering mechanics removed sixty valves to be used for instructional purposes.

On the 26^th of that month, the ship was hauled out at Marine Railway, Sydney Engineering and Dry Dock Co. Ltd.  Hull openings were blanked, and sonar directing gear, shafts and propellers removed.  Following refloating, electrical equipment fitted on board was landed and stripping of the machinery in the boiler and engine rooms commenced. [58]

In 1963, CRUSADER was turned over to Crown Assets Corporation and tenders were invited from prospective buyers.  The bid of a local firm, Metal Processors Limited, was accepted.  An order for the sale of the ship was made out during August 1963, and the vessel was turned over to the company. [59]

Although HMCS CRUSADER was born in a Scottish shipyard, her career was an entirely Canadian one.  For the most part she was a highly individualistic ship, plying lonely courses in both Atlantic and Pacific.  Missing the Second World War for which she had been built, she played a significant role in another, the Korean War.  The latter struggle over, she was transferred to the east coast where she was employed for over four years as an evaluation and trial ship for testing new equipment.  She was paid off on 15 January, 1960, at Halifax.

Battle honours associated with the name of CRUSADER are as follows:

BELGIAN COAST 1914-16
KOREA 1952-53