HMCS ASSINIBOINE (I)

Up the St. Lawrence at Sorel, there was completed in the summer of 1956 a fine new destroyer escort of the “St. Laurent” Class. When that ship was commissioned on 16 August, she fell heiress to an historic name and a heritage of great renown. Just before she headed for the open sea, she was christened Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship ASSINIBOINE. And thereby hangs a tale – for, though only one other has borne this name, few ships of the Royal Canadian Navy had such an action-packed career as the ASSINIBOINE, first of name, — a name that holds an honoured place in the story of the RCN. At the very sound of this name, there rolls forth a whole panorama of action scenes, blockade and boarding in the Caribbean, nightmare convoy passages across the North Atlantic, a “knock-down, drag-out” gun-duel with a determined German submarine, and night encounters in the Narrow Seas of the British Isles.

The first ASSINIBOINE, being a “River” Class destroyer, received her name from the prairie river that rises in Saskatchewan and flows eastward to join the Red at Winnipeg. The Assiniboine were of the great Sioux nation and inhabited the lands between the Missouri and the Saskatchewan rivers. The meaning of the name is “those that cook by means of stones,” that is, by dropping heated stones into water. Sometimes, as in the case of Governor Knight of York Factory in 1715, these people were called the Stone Indians.

When the badge for the second ASSINIBOINE was being devised, an attempt was made to employ a device depicting a group of stones from which flames issued like a phoenix. However, it was decided that this design was not nearly so attractive as the bison’s head retained from the unofficial badge of the first ASSINIBOINE. The field of gold of the present badge represents the wheat-growing region of Manitoba and the “bend wavy azure charged with two cotises wavy argent” set at an angle, is the heraldic way of depicting a river.

The first ASSINIBOINE was laid down in the yards of J. S. White and Co. Ltd., at Cowes, 18 October, 1930. A year later, on 29 October, 1931, she was launched as HMS Kempenfelt [1] and completed 31 May, 1932.

Two years later, in 1934, the Kempenfelt saw service that turned out to be a forerunner of things to come. At that time, the four destroyers of the RCN, the SAGUENAY and CHAMPLAIN out of Halifax, and the SKEENA and VANCOUVER from Esquimalt, joined forces with ships of the Royal Navy for exercises in the West Indian waters. Nelson, Rodney, Valiant, and Malaya were there and the Canadian destroyers with Crescent, Cygnet, Crusader and Comet, and led by Kempenfelt formed a complete flotilla. (All of these destroyers later joined the Canadian fleet as FRASER, ST. LAURENT, OTTAWA, RESTIGOUCHE and ASSINIBOINE).

In 1939, when the war clouds rolled out of Hitler’s Germany, negotiations were well in hand for the purchase of a flotilla leader from the Admiralty to be senior ship of the six destroyers with which Canada entered the war at sea. So it was that HMS Kempenfelt was transferred to the RCN and without ceremony she was renamed ASSINIBOINE. Commander E. Rollo Mainguy, RCN, was on course at Greenwich at the time and he commissioned the ship 19 October, 1939, at Devonport. A short refit was completed by the end of the month.

The taking over of ASSINIBOINE reflected the confusion that reigned in the opening months of the war. Cdr. Mainguy had called at the Admiralty to inquire about his new command and found that the decision had just been made that day (6 October) to release the Kempenfelt to the RCN. Next day, at Devonport, he found no one who knew of the decision. To make things more confusing, the ship (in RN hands) had just been involved in a collision which of course extended the time in drydock. Since September, the destroyer had had three Commanding Officers and five Engineer Officers. Cdr. Mainguy joined the ship when she came out of dock on the 18th and commissioned her on the 19th. He wrote that the spirit of the old regime seemed to be, “well, she may not be spick and span, but everything works”. Some British ratings had to be retained as no RCN cooks and stewards had arrived.

Refit completed, HMCS ASSINIBOINE slipped from Devonport at 0600, 2 November, and proceeded to the exercise area off Portland. There, together with HMS Kashmir, anti-submarine exercise attacks were carried out on a live submarine from Portland. In addition, full calibre day and night firings were conducted using a battle practice target. Kashmir was used for dummy torpedo runs.

Keen as mustard, the ship’s company was settling down admirably and since return to Plymouth was not scheduled until 0700 next morning, ASSINIBOINE steamed down channel “to search for submarines”.

Sure enough, at 0100, 3 November, an Asdic contact was made and firmly classified as submarine. Slight doppler was observed but no hydrophone effect. Going in on a deliberate attack an apparent movement of three knots was detected. Large quantities of oil came to the surface. Contact was maintained all night and further attacks carried out. The position was buoyed and ASSINIBOINE returned to harbour at daybreak. All ship’s officers were convinced that they had hit a U-boat but subsequent research suggested the target was a wreck on the bottom. At any rate, the ship’s company had had a good work-up the first night ASSINIBOINE was at sea.

On 9 November, HMCS ASSINIBOINE departed from Devonport bound for Halifax. Two days out, winds of gale proportions were encountered from almost every point of the compass and the ship was hove to for three days. The motor skiff and a whaler were damaged and the galley funnel was carried away.

Halifax was reached 17 November and before oiling, a precious cargo of gold bullion was discharged at Pier 21. Almost at once, the First Lieutenant detailed parties of seamen to remove “the dirt of ages – (junk, old rags, cordage and books of reference have been found in the oddest places)”.

But the ship’s company was heartened by the receipt of this signal: “On the arrival of HMCS ASSINIBOINE to take her place in the Canadian Naval Forces, I send my warmest greetings. In the arduous and important duties that lie ahead of her, I feel confident that all ranks will most worthily uphold the great traditions of the sea and I wish you all the best of luck. (Signed) Tweedsmuir”.

Premier John Bracken of Manitoba sent to the ASSINIBOINE a handsome pair of silver candelabra, suitably engraved. In the course of the presentation, his representative stated in part: “My presence here to-day, to welcome you , Sir, and your ship, on behalf of the Province of Manitoba, is more-much more-than merely a recognition of the fact that the name of your ship has been chosen in honour of that Province. It is an unmistakable sign that the Premier and Government of the Province with their ears acutely attuned to public opinion, have sensed, and rightly sensed I think, the awakened interest of the Prairie people in Canada’s growing Naval strength; and that they endorse the action of the Dominion Government in placing the whole weight of Canada and its potential might at the disposal of the allied effort to defeat Hitlerism”.

The guests present had an opportunity to examine the fine lines and equipment of this new arrival at Halifax. Of 1390 tons displacement, HMCS ASSINIBOINE was 326 feet in length at the water-line, 33 feet in beam and drew an average of nearly 9 feet of water. Her Parsons-geared turbines developed 36000 horse-power which gave her a maximum speed attained during trials of 36.25 knots. ASSINIBOINE’s armament consisted of four 4.7” Q.F. guns mounted singly and having a maximum range of 15,700 yards; two 2-pdr. pompoms and four Lewis Machine Guns; eight 21” torpedo tubes in quadruple mountings fitted between the after funnel and the after canopy and separated by the signal-light platform; two depth-charge throwers and one rail. She was manned by 175 officers and men.

The First Lieutenant was, however, not permitted very much time to scrub out his ship; there was a sense of urgency in the air. HM Ships Furiousand Revengehad arrived the same day and within twenty-four hours of her arrival in Halifax harbour, ASSINIBOINE was passing George Island outward bound ahead of HMS Warspite, the ocean escort for Convoy HX-9. Three days later, 21 November, she with ST. LAURENT returned to harbour escorting the bullion ship HMS Emerald bringing Britain’s treasure to the Bank of Canada for safekeeping.

On 25 November, 1939, ASSINIBOINE with SKEENA in company sailed with HMS Letitia, the ocean escort for HX-10 and returned to base four days later.

Meanwhile, Rear Admiral P.W. Nelles RCN, the Chief of the Naval Staff, had signalled the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies, that, as ASSINIBOINE was not as suitably equipped for operations in northern waters as other HMC ships, she could relieve RESTIGOUCHE on the Jamaica Station. The ship cleared Halifax for those tropical waters 4 December and arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, four days later.

Generally, the situation in the south was this, that the outbreak of war had caught a number of German merchant ships, some of them modern and fast, in various ports of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. It was the duty of the C.-in-C., A.W.I., to keep an eye on each of these ships and at the same time patrol the many escape channels through which the potential blockade-runners were expected to attempt escape. Ships of the RCN had been despatched earlier to augment the small squadron at the disposal of the C.-in-C. Now ASSINIBOINE was ready to do her part.

During the passage southward from Halifax, Cdr. Mainguy had been kept informed of developments and ASSINIBOINE was included in the deployment of the squadron in the event that the fast German ships Columbus and Arauca, then at Vera Cruz, should attempt a dash for freedom. HMAS Perth and HMS Hotspur were to control Yucatan Passage while HM Ships Orionand Herewardwere to proceed through Windward Passage for patrol in Florida Strait and Old Bahamas Channel. ASSINIBOINE, on 6 December, had been given the choice of rendezvous with Orion, or, if short of oil, to proceed direct to Kingston. The latter was the case, so the Canadian destroyer stepped up to 24 knots and arrived at Kingston 8 December.

On the 10th, ASSINIBOINE cleared Kingston for a 10-day patrol of the Windward Passage and Old Bahamas Channel, keeping a sharp lookout for Nordmeer out of Curacao and the Columbus. This patrol was uneventful and the ship returned to Kingston on 20 December.

The year 1940 opened for ASSINIBOINE by her being ordered to sea 1 January to again patrol Windward Passage. On the 4th, she was directed to Florida Strait. For the next three days the ship had the peculiar experience of having an “escort”, USS Schenck, destroyer. After two days at Nassau, ASSINIBOINE again commenced patrol of Florida Strait, U.S. aircraft closely watching her movements. On the 14th, the U.S. destroyer Lea arrived to “escort” ASSINIBOINE; Cdr. Mainguy promptly proposed that the Lea be used as “a gun-pointing and torpedo target” to which proposal the American cheerfully agreed. Kingston was reached 16 January.

The ship’s next voyage was a special mission of an intelligence nature to Colon and return between 19 and 22 January. Then followed an uneventful patrol of the Aruba area. A second patrol in these waters, keeping particular watch on three German ships at North Point, was also uneventful except that during the early hours of 7 February, a darkened ship was seen to approach the German anchorage. There was no response to ASSINIBOINE’s challenge other than putting about and making off at top speed. To ASSINIBOINE’s officers, the stranger looked like the German Frisia. After a brief chase, ASSINIBOINE sent away an armed boarding party and the culprit turned out to be the Canadian Talaralite. After several well-phrased words of rebuke she was allowed to proceed.

The first week of March, 1940, was spent chasing about trying to watch both the North Point and Curacao anchorages off the Venezuela coast. At daybreak, 5 March, on looking into North Point anchorage, only the German ship Vancouver was there. The Seattle and Mimi Horn had “flown the coop”. ASSINIBOINE went off at 30 knots to the north-eastward.

During the search, at 1100, Cdr. Mainguy was ordered to make for Mona Passage, between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He was on station by 0100/6 March. Meanwhile, the German shipHannoverhad been reported to have sailed from Curacao; ASSINIBOINE continued to sweep back and forth across this thoroughfare to the Atlantic.

The patrol was uneventful until suddenly at 0220/8 March ASSINIBOINE picked up HMS Dunedin’s signal “Close me immediately. My position is 170°Cape Engano 10 miles.” Once again, the destroyer’s screws churned up to a speed of 30 knots.

Immediately on being intercepted, Hannover’screw, in the best tradition of blockade-runners, had set fire to the ship and completely wrecked the ship’s steering gear; some took to a boat and pulled for the shore.

Two hours after receiving the summons, ASSINIBOINE was on the scene. She found the Hannover belching smoke and flames from her fore and after hatches, and the cruiser Dunedin close alongside with hoses pouring sea water into the stricken ship. At the gaff of the mainmast, the White Ensign flew above the Swastika and the Hannover’s Master and First Officer stood glumly on the bridge covered by an armed guard.

In a freshening on-shore wind, aside from the fire, the critical problem was the fact that the German was being rapidly carried close to the territorial waters of San Domingo, a neutral area. Although Hannover had by now a sharp list to starboard, ASSINIBOINE secured on that side with a view to heading the burning ship seaward. However, the sea was such that the destroyer was threatened with serious damage, so a wire was passed and ASSINIBOINE took her in tow, bow to bow, while Dunedin continued with much difficulty to keep close enough to make her hose lines effective.

Later that morning, Dunedin took over the tow while ASSINIBOINE’s fire parties, still dressed in tropical whites, boarded the Hannover to bring the fire to closer quarters. While the burning ship swung and yawed, ASSINIBOINE clung tenaciously to her side. Soon, Nature came to the assistance of the dogged firefighters in the form of a sudden tropical rain-storm.

The struggle went on for four days. As often happens with seamen, a humorous incident occurred 12 March that relieved for a moment the gravity of the salvage problem. From Dunedinto ASSINIBOINE: “Close with all despatch. Man overboard. Man is German attempting suicide.” Cdr. Mainguy wrote:

1425 – Sighted man swimming strongly.
1426 – Lowered whaler.
1430 – Whaler picked up man who requested the coxswain to shoot him. Coxswain regretted he had no gun.”
1500 – Evolution completed.

Some rather extraordinary signals were passed: Dunedin to ASSINIBOINE: “Man has persecution mania and has been trying this for days. You better watch out. Heil Hitler!” ASSINIBOINE to Dunedin: “Have three lifebuoys, two white, one red and one German who wants to be shot. German is in spud locker as we are out of spuds.”

In the morning, 13 March, this unusual convoy was outside Kingston harbour. An attempt to tow the Hannover, in, failed. Tugs were not available but a way was found. ASSINIBOINE and Dunedin secured on either side of Hannover and the three, lashed together, steamed into port at 6 knots despite the protestations of a horrified harbour master. The whole operation had been a fine piece of seamanship and those concerned were highly commended. More important, the Hannover became HMS Audacity, the first of a long line of auxiliary aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy.

With the spring break-up in the St. Lawrence and the increased tempo of operations in Canadian waters, Cdr. Mainguy was not surprised to pick up a signal stating in part, “ASSINIBOINE is urgently required up north….” The ship cleared from Kingston 22 March, 1940, and after a spell in dry-dock at Bermuda, arrived at Halifax 31 March, the latter part of the voyage being through fog-shrouded waters.

Three days later, Captain George C. Jones, RCN, commanding the Halifax Force, relieved Cdr. Mainguy in command of the ASSINIBOINE. On 8 April, the ship was placed at extended notice for steam to prepare her for a badly needed refit.

Meanwhile, dark days were looming up in Europe. What with the German invasion of Belgium and Holland, the expulsion of British forces from Dunkirk and Norway, the fall of France and the entry of Italy into the war – all in a matter of weeks – the hard pressed ships of the Royal Navy required immediate reinforcement to keep the invader from Britain’s shores. The RCN did not hesitate. Leaving only SAGUENAY to look after Halifax, four destroyers sailed 24 May for the defence of the United Kingdom while, on the same day, ASSINIBOINE’s ship’s company reluctantly set course for Saint John for refit.

Back in service by 7 June, HMCS ASSINIBOINE commenced the summer’s operations, a tour of duty as local escort for numerous troop ship and merchant ship convoys and their heavy-ship ocean escorts. Famed ships like Revenge, Voltaire, Jeanne De’Arc, Rajputana, Furious and many others, all became her charges during this summer. The pattern was always the same, screening the heavy ships in the limited waters of the harbour approaches, marshalling the merchant ships into their convoy stations, proceeding for two days into the Atlantic and then bringing west-bound ships safely into Halifax. On 10 June, 1940, Captain Jones hoisted his broad pendant in HMCS ASSINIBOINE as Commodore Commanding Halifax Force.

During the autumn months, six ex-U.S. destroyers joined the Halifax Force and Captain C.R.H. Taylor from 15 September and Commodore L.W. Murray from 30 October, in the ASSINIBOINE, supervised the preparation of the force for the coming winter’s operations. It was during this period that HMS Jervis Bay went down in the gallant defence of her convoy and since there was a possibility of her adversary, the Admiral Scheer heading for Canadian waters, HMC Ships ASSINIBOINE, RESTIGOUCHE, COLUMBIA and ST. FRANCIS were specially prepared and standing by for such an eventuality between 8 and 10 November. In December, HMCS ASSINIBOINE prepared herself for a new assignment.

When the year 1941 opened, Great Britain was still haunted by the spectre of invasion. Now that the RCN had six ex-U.S. destroyers, the Admiralty asked for their services in the “Western Approaches” to Great Britain. There were already six Canadian destroyers serving in British waters and four more were slated to join them. Meagre as were our naval forces in Canadian waters, our first corvettes were now coming into service. Moreover, the Canadian Government’s thinking was along these lines: “to support our allies wherever the threat is greatest, then, if our own waters come under attack, we shall have a good claim for assistance”. With Commodore Murray in command, HMC ships ASSINIBOINE, RESTIGOUCHE, COLUMBIA and ST. FRANCIS sailed for the United Kingdom 15 January, 1941.

On arrival at Greenock, 26 January, the “four-stackers” (“Town” Class Destroyers) were to join the Clyde Escort Force and now that there were ten Canadian destroyers in U.K. waters, the administrative work of the Captain Commanding Canadian Ships (Captain Taylor) was greatly increased. Consequently, on ASSINIBOINE’s arrival at Plymouth early in February where Captain Taylor commanded HMCS DOMINION (the forerunner of NIOBE), he retained his command of the depot ship DOMINION under Cdre. Murray who shortly became Commodore Commanding Canadian Ships and flew his broad pendant in ASSINIBOINE.

However, this arrangement did not last long, for it placed the Commodore senior to the Captains (D) who exercised operational control over the Canadian destroyers. To avoid embarrassment, Commodore Murray took up offices in London from which to administer Canadian naval affairs. On 12 February, Lieutenant J.H. Stubbs, RCN, assumed command of HMCS ASSINIBOINE, a post he had already occupied on numerous occasions though the Commodore had actually held the appointment.

By this time, German U-boats ringed the British Isles and enemy aircraft ranged all round the island kingdom from their bases in France, Germany, and Norway. ASSINIBOINE soon joined her consorts at Greenock on the Clyde to take part in protecting the vast amount of shipping in the Western Approaches. Early in March, ASSINIBOINE with OTTAWA was on escort duty with a Sierra Leone convoy (SL-66) and during this voyage was successful in picking up the survivors of the British ship Anchises, west of Ireland, that had been sunk 28 February by German aircraft.

As a result of extreme slackness on the part of lookouts and the inexperience of a junior officer, HMCS ASSINIBOINE sustained damage that put her out of service for weeks. In the early morning hours of 5 April, 1941, the ship was escorting the S.S. Glenartney north-westward in the Irish Sea when, in clear visibility, she collided with S.S. Lairdswood. At a range of less than a mile, the Officer-of-the-Watch had failed to take any avoiding action and when Lieut. Stubbs raced to the bridge, he saw one white light and the port light of the on-coming Lairdswood at three cables, 20 degrees on the starboard bow. ASSINIBOINE’s emergency swing to starboard lessened the impact when she crashed into the Lairdswood’s port side but ASSINIBOINE’s plates from the stem to No. 9 frame, port side, were badly ripped open. The destroyer proceeded for Greenock at six knots.

HMCS ASSINIBOINE was back in service in time for a small part in the dramatic chase of the Bismarck. Late on 23 May, HMS Norfolk on patrol in the Denmark Strait east of Greenland reported sighting the Bismarck. Vice-Admiral Holland was already closing in with HM Ships Hood and Prince of Wales. The C.-in.-C., Home Fleet, Admiral Sir John Tovey, in HMS King George V, had left Scapa Flow.

H.M. Battle Cruiser Repulse was at Greenock. This ship had sailed the night of 22/23 May escorted by HMS Legion and HMC Ships SAGUENAY and ASSINIBOINE. Steaming at 30 knots, they joined the C.-in-C. north-west of the Butt of Lewis the morning of the 23rd. At 0600/24, HMS Hoodwas lost in action and Prince of Wales was taking the brunt of Bismarck’s fire power. Next morning at 0906, HMS Repulse was detached for St. John’s to refuel. ASSINIBOINE and SAGUENAY had made for Hvalfjord, Iceland, for the same purpose. The Canadian destroyers put to sea again on a south-easterly course, for the tide of battle was flowing towards the French coast. After steaming at high speed, the Canadian destroyers were again low in fuel, and so were ordered to Greenock. Bismarck, now stopped and hemmed in by vastly superior forces, capsized and sank 27 May.

On 1 June, 1941, the ship was at Greenock, where she had a slight mishap when going alongside the Admiralty chartered oiler San Zotico. Now, new orders were on hand that were to change ASSINIBOINE’s scene of operations.

With the Bismarck at the bottom and the remaining heavy German ships under close surveillance, the convoy picture in the North Atlantic was changing rapidly. Most of the German Armed Merchant Raiders had been swept from the seas and the German High Command was now sending its U-boats in wolf-packs right across the Atlantic. There was now inadequate protection for the precious convoys in mid-ocean in the form of a single battleship or Armed Merchant Cruiser ocean escort. As a result, the Newfoundland Escort Force, based on St. John’s under Commodore Murray, came into being at the end of May, 1941. This force, initially, was to give port-to-port anti-submarine escort protection between St. John’s and Iceland. When the Commodore arrived at St. John’s 13 June, he already had in his force 13 destroyers, 4 sloops, and 22 corvettes, some RN and some RCN. To implement this policy, all RCN destroyers were recalled from U.K. waters. HMCS ASSINIBOINE sailed early in June, and during the summer, was engaged on this convoy duty.

In August, HMCS ASSINIBOINE was chosen to take part in what is, historically, one of the most far-reaching and momentous incidents that occurred during the long Battle of the Atlantic. She, together with HMS Ripley and HMCS RESTIGOUCHE, was ordered to join a special convoy at 2030B/6 August in position 58°20’ N: 30°00’ W, a point in mid-Atlantic due south of the Denmark Strait in the latitude of the Hebrides. Dense fog set in as the three destroyers approached the meeting place but lifted momentarily to reveal a large battleship slipping out of another fog-bank, alone and at high speed. Ripley was ordered to take station twelve cables ahead while ASSINIBOINE and RESTIGOUCHE took up screen positions at six cables on either bow. Then came a signal: “We have the Prime Minister, the First Sea Lord, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff on board and are proceeding to rendezvous with the President of the United States”. With visibility at times only a half mile, HMS Prince of Wales and her three destroyers zigzagged at 22 knots. Next day, HMS Ripley lost the “special convoy” and on 9 August, the two Canadians delivered their precious charge into Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. HMC Ships CHILLIWACK and TRAIL were there keeping constant anti-submarine patrol off the anchorage.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in U.S.S. Augusta. At this meeting, the famed “Atlantic Charter” that declared that the future peace “should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance,” and that aggressor nations must be disarmed “pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general security,” was signed and revealed to the world the sound foundation of Anglo-American co-operation that was to seal the fate of the Axis Powers.

After this meeting, which heralded active convoy escort operations in the Atlantic by the United States Navy (though actual declared hostilities for the U.S. were still four months away), HMS Prince of Wales prepared to return Mr. Churchill and his staff to the United Kingdom. Escorted by six destroyers including ASSINIBOINE and SAGUENAY, she headed eastward at 24 knots. Reading and Ripley detached on the 14th and the next day, destroyers of the Home Fleet joined the Canadians on the screen. Towards evening, 15 August, the squadron overtook Convoy HX-143 and proceeded at high speed through the gaps between the convoy columns. The Prime Minister, on the bridge of the battleship signalled “Good Luck” and across the water came lusty cheers from the crew-lined decks of the merchantmen.

At 0915/16 August, HMCS ASSINIBOINE anchored astern of Prince of Wales at Hvalfjord, Iceland. Almost at once, Mr. Churchill and his staff embarked in the Canadian ship; the Prime Minister was quite surprised to find his host to be such a youthful Lieutenant as John Stubbs. A landing was made at Centre Pier, Reykjavik, at 1120. ASSINIBOINE returned her famous passengers to the Prince of Wales at 1730 the same evening. The two Canadian destroyers took their leave and entered St. John’s harbour 20 August, 1941. Halifax was reached the next day.

After a few voyages escorting troop convoys, HMCS ASSINIBOINE refitted at Halifax and by the end of the year was engaged in working-up exercises to prepare her company for the winter’s work ahead.

December brought Pearl Harbor and renewed vigour to U-boat operations in the western Atlantic. In early 1942, the United States Navy was still responsible for the protection of trade in the western ocean, but the sudden demands placed upon it by the war in the Pacific left only token U.S. forces in the Atlantic. The German High Command at once saw its opportunity. The U.S.N., though it had had months and even years to prepare for the German onslaught, now had to leave the Atlantic seaboard undefended. Almost nightly, ships burning at sea could be seen from American shores; the Germans were having a field-day at tremendous cost to the Allies. With much of the pressure off, the ships of the Newfoundland Escort Force continued to deliver their precious convoys through the wintry seas of the North Atlantic.

By May 1942, the U-boat Command decided to renew attacks on Atlantic convoys by diverting its boats some 300 miles to the northward in crossing the Atlantic bound for the American coast. In so doing, the submarine groups strung out in scouting formation could sweep across the great circle route of the convoys and perhaps make an occasional attack by concentrating on the shadowing U-boat. Such a formation was the “Hecht” Group of six boats that on 11 May attacked Convoy ONS-92. The escort consisting, of HMC Ships ARVIDA, SHEDIAC, BITTERSWEET, ALGOMA, and two U.S. Ships, had a rough time of it and seven merchantmen were torpedoed.

After refuelling from the U-tanker U-116 some 100 miles south of Cape Race, the “Hecht” Group again went into action, this time against ONS-100. The convoy was sighted 9 June, lost owing to bad weather, and then picked up again on the 11th by two of the U-boats.

Convoy ONS-100 consisting of 36 ships and one rescue ship was escorted by HMCS ASSINIBOINE, HM Ships Dianthus and Nasturtium, and the two Free French corvettes, Aconit and Mimosa. Shortly after midnight, 8/9 June, the convoy in position 52°12’ N: 31°25’ W, Mimosa received two torpedoes and sank in two minutes. In ASSINIBOINE, the explosions were heard and an immediate search ordered. For illumination, “snowflake” was fired all round the convoy but the brilliant light revealed only the dark waters. At dawn, the destroyer returned to the position and found only a Carley float containing four survivors and two dead.

During the day, the pack continued to shadow and at 1415/9, a U-boat was sighted at a range of five miles. ASSINIBOINE and Nasturtium closed and attacked with depth-charges. At the same time, Dianthus contacted another surfaced submarine and was ordered to chase. The pack was gathering for the kill.

Just after midnight (0035/10), S.S. Ramsay was hit and quickly sank. She had managed to get one shell away with her 4-inch gun. Ten minutes later, S.S. Empire Clough was torpedoed twice on the port side. From the latter, HMS Dianthus picked up 32 survivors. The convoy plodded on.

That evening, the Admiralty signalled that two U-boats were still in contact. There had been no attacks during the day owing to fog. But, next morning, one of the stragglers, S.S. Pontypridd was struck by two torpedoes. Almost all the crew got away in the ship’s boats. Shortly, the U-boat surfaced displaying a snorting white bull on its conning tower. The Master of the Pontypridd was taken prisoner. Four hours later, HMCS CHAMBLY, who with HMCS ORILLIA, had joined the escort, rescued 42 survivors. The fifth vessel to be lost from this convoy was the S.S. Dartford. Just after midnight (11/12 June), her engine room was destroyed by a torpedo. The U-boat was not sighted when “snowflake” was fired and there being no asdic contact, no counter-attack was made by ASSINIBOINE or the corvettes.[2]

In mid-summer, 1942, two ships sailed from their respective bases, St. John’s and Kiel, destined to fight it out at very close quarters in what is perhaps the most dramatic ship-to-ship engagement in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy. They were HMCS ASSINIBOINE and the new German submarine U-210. The latter, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Lemcke, departed from Kiel, Germany, at 0700, 18 July, and via the Norwegian coast and the Faeroes, entered the North Atlantic searching for convoys. The coast of Iceland was sighted abeam to starboard 22 July, nine days later her prey, Convoy SC-94, formed up outside of Sydney, Cape Breton, and proceeded under escort to the Western Ocean Meeting Place (WESTOMP), to the eastward of Newfoundland. There, on 2 August, the Mid-Ocean Escort consisting of HMS Primrose(SO), HMCS ASSINIBOINE, ORILLIA, and CHILLIWACK, and HM Ships Dianthus and Nasturtium, took over the convoy. Next morning, three merchantmen from St. John’s with HMCS BATTLEFORD, joined the convoy. There were now 33 merchant ships in nine columns. The weather remained foggy all day.

In the meantime, U-210 continued toward the Great Circle convoy track, most of the time on the surface but often being forced to dive by aircraft patrols from Iceland. Under the remarkably close control exercised by B.d.U. (Admiral Commanding U-Boats), U-210 was being directed into the patrol line of the “Wolf” Group. While this group was refuelling, U-164 bound for the Caribbean, sighted a west-bound convoy (ON-115) 480 miles south-east of Cape Farewell and was ordered to shadow. “Wolf” Group including U-210 pressed on to join and gained contact 30 July. In the ensuing action, U-43 was damaged severely, and U-588 was destroyed by HMC Ships SKEENA and WETASKIWIN, 31 July.

In low visibility, the action was broken off. But by 2 August, “Wolf” Group, now increased from six to ten boats, had refuelled from U-461 and were heading for a new position 400 miles north-east of Newfoundland. Two days before reaching the destination, U-593, at the northern end of the advancing line of U-boats, sighted ASSINIBOINE’s east-bound Convoy SC-94.

Meanwhile, the convoy had had difficulties of its own. At 1800, 2 August, an alteration of course had been given by sound signal. Nasturtium and ORILLIA with six ships on the port wing failed to hear the signal and, in low visibility, remained steady on the original course. The fog cleared on the morning of the 4thand there was much radio-telephone traffic before this off-shoot received its course to rejoin. The six ships were formed into two columns with ORILLIA to starboard and Nasturtium to port, while ASSINIBOINE was ordered to detach from the main convoy to round up the “lost sheep”. Before the destroyer could arrive at the scene, the “sheep” were attacked and S.S. Spar was torpedoed at 1649/5 August and sank a half hour later. The two corvettes swept round the merchantmen, dropping depth-charges, but making no firm contact. The main convoy was joined at 2130. Ten German submarines were lying in wait. As ASSINIBOINE, rejoined, she noted with dismay that smoke from the funnels of the merchant ships could be seen for thirty miles. The night passed uneventfully.

On the morning of the 6th, the weather was clear, though overcast, with a visibility of 8 miles. The convoy was on course 068°and the escorts were in these positions:

• Primrose(SO) : Ahead.
• ASSINIBOINE : Starboard bow.
• CHILLIWACK : Starboard beam.
• BATTLEFORD : Starboard quarter.
• Nasturtium : Port quarter.
• ORILLIA : Port beam.
• Dianthus : Port bow.

At 1125/6, ASSINIBOINE sighted an object on the horizon bearing 029°, that is to say fine on the port bow of the convoy. Reporting to Primrose, ASSINIBOINE left her station at 22 knots and soon identified the object as a conning tower. Thirteen minutes after the original sighting, ASSINIBOINE fired three salvos. The U-boat dived. With Dianthus in support, asdic contact was made and several attacks carried out in the next two hours.

Later in the day, at 1712, ASSINIBOINE on course 060°to rejoin the convoy which was now 21 miles ahead and to starboard, and with Dianthus five miles on her port beam, sighted a surfaced U-boat at six miles distance also heading for the convoy, ASSINIBOINE altered towards and stepped up to 22 knots. In ten minutes, the U-boat either dived or disappeared from view in a patch of mist. This position was reached at 1755 and, purely by guess-work, various courses were steered that produced out of the fog another surfaced U-boat at extreme visibility range of one mile. This was U-210.

In the German submarine, the watch had changed at 1700 and Kapitänleutnant Lemcke, thinking his boat was secure in the fog went below for the evening meal. Twenty minutes later, confused sounds of shouting and firing could be heard from the tower above: Lemcke raced to the bridge and as the off-watch seamen were busily eating, “Action Stations” was signalled by buzzers in the forward compartments and by flickering green and red lights in the engine and motor spaces aft.

Lieutenant Commander Stubbs of ASSINIBOINE, when interviewed later, described the initial encounter:

“It was five thirtyish in the evening when Yeoman of Signals, William Cavanagh of Halifax, then off duty, sighted another conning tower at 1000 yards range. We dashed off again in pursuit and as we closed in, he dived. Then the fog shut down.

“We did a turn to port and came out of the fog and, sure as hell, there he was at half mile range. We went for him at full speed, with the intention of ramming, but lost him again in a fog bank. I ran ASSINIBOINE on to what I thought was the spot where I had last seen him, but I had evidently turned too soon. So we altered course a little and went ahead. Then we saw him again, right on the surface and almost a stone’s throw away.”

“Just prior to this close-up sighting, radar contact had been made a minute before at 1850 at range 1200, 35°on the starboard bow. From this moment until 1914, when the U-boat was finally sunk, there are no clear details of the movements of either vessel or of Dianthus, who was nearby but out of sight in the fog. A gun action ensued at point blank range with U-210 taking constant evading action and endeavouring to get inside ASSINIBOINE’s turning circle and underneath her main armament. In this the U-boat was partly successful but by going full astern on the inside engine, ASSINIBOINE was able to turn sharply enough to obtain a ramming position. Further details of the action are taken verbatim from the Commanding Officer’s Report of Proceedings:

“It was impossible to depress the 4.7-in. guns sufficiently at this range, but I ordered them to continue firing, more to keep the gun’s crew busy while under fire than in any hope of hitting. One hit was gained on the conning tower however.

“During most of the action we were so close that I could make out the Commanding Officer on the conning tower bending down occasionally to pass wheel orders. A gun’s crew appeared on the deck and attempted to reach the forward gun, but our multiple .5-in. machine guns successfully prevented this. Three or four times we just missed him. The officers left the conning tower in order to dive and in the few seconds during which he was on a steady course we rammed him just abaft the conning tower. He was actually in the process of diving at the time.

“I turned as quickly as possible to find him surfacing again but slightly down by the stern, still firing and making about 10 knots. After a little manoeuvering, we rammed him again well abaft the conning tower and fired a shallow pattern of depth charges as we passed. Also, one 4.70 in. shell from “Y” gun scored a direct hit on his bows. He sank by the head in about two minutes. Dianthus appeared out of the fog just in time to see him go. The yell that went up from both ships must have frightened U-boats for about ten miles in the vicinity.”

The following is an eye-witness account of what things looked like from ASSINIBOINE’s bridge through the eyes of a man who was merely a spectator and who in an earlier war had faced German machine-gun fire on several occasions, the late Dr. Gilbert Tucker, the RCN’s historian of that day who happened to be taking passage in the ship:

“She suddenly appeared out of the mist and there she was, some fifty yards away and about to cross our bow. She was a big boat, black as the night, and was less than the distance of a city block from ASSINIBOINE’s bridge where I stood. She glided along the surface, and instead of doing a proper job of memorizing her number, I merely stood there and thought of the words: ‘Captains and kings have desired to see the things that ye see, and have not seen them.’

“Then there began a contest of weapons and manoeuvre which, to at least one man on board ASSINIBOINE, seemed longer than it actually was. The submarine passed across our bow to appear again on the other side, and at no time during the subsequent action did she succeed in diving. Both vessels now opened fire…. The manoeuvring close to resembled the foot work of two boxers. The destroyer, faster than her adversary, was also longer and therefore slower in turning.

“The heaviest armament on both sides played a relatively minor part on account of the shortness of the range. The effective firing on both sides came chiefly from the machine-guns and the Oerlikon gun, firing tiny shells with extreme rapidity, which the submarine mounted…. In ASSINIBOINE nothing was left undone which might add to the discomfiture of the enemy. Even depth charges were lobbed over the side, one of them actually landing on the submarine’s deck. The U-boat was too close for the destroyer’s torpedoes, and too far away to be smacked with an oar; but everything else was tried.

“Shortly after the fight began fire broke out on the forecastle deck below the bridge; the flames reached up three feet above the bridge railing; and must have afforded large encouragement to the Herrenvolk nearby. After a short time a fire party was able to extinguish the blaze. There is an officer, however, who has no clothes any more, save those he wears.

“The ship’s dog, a compound puppy, who was accustomed to lie down, looking like a poached egg, in the very spot where some heavy man was about to tread lay at its moorings throughout the tumult with every hair in place. The captain’s cat, being a cat, found a comfortable hide-out within the vitals of the ship.

“After much manoeuvring the captain succeeded in ramming the U-boat, after which the end came. At the last, with their submarine sinking, most of the Germans came running up the escape hatch on to the deck, and their arms went up in a gesture which was not a Nazi salute. The U-boat went down bow first until only the black cone of her stern protruded from the water, crowned by propellers which would turn no more……

“True to the tradition of their people, they had fought skilfully and bravely – indeed they fought with desperation. Throughout the action the Captain, high on the bridge, stood fully exposed down to his knees. Time and again the bridge was deluged with machine-gun bullets, most of which were probably aimed at him. Yet he never took his eyes off the U-boat, and gave his orders as coolly as though he were talking to a friend at a garden party….”

In ASSINIBOINE, the ship’s side, bridge structure and forward gun mountings were riddled with shell holes and the fire which had been brought under control under enemy fire by Lieutenant Ralph Hennessy and his fire party made a shambles of the superstructure forward. One rating was killed by Oerlikon fire while serving a 4.7”gun; one officer and twelve ratings were wounded.

In U-210, the conning tower and pressure hull repeatedly holed by ASSINIBOINE’s gunners, the Engineer Officer opened the sea-cocks and gave the order to abandon ship. Ultimately, the destroyer rescued 10 survivors while Dianthus picked up 28, six of whom were transferred to ASSINIBOINE. It was U-210’s first war patrol and many of her crew were in an operational U-boat for the first time. She had put up a game fight.

HMCS ASSINIBOINE, her stem badly buckled, was detached at 2100, 6 August for St. John’s. The battle went on for another four days until the night of August, 10. On the 8th,HMS Dianthus rammed and sank U-379. It had been a mighty battle. The Germans had thrown fifteen submarines into the conflict, had lost two, but succeeded in sinking eleven merchantmen, a third of the convoy.

With HMCS NAPANEE as escort, ASSINIBOINE entered harbour at St. John’s, 9 August. After patching up, she sailed, again with NAPANEE, on 22 August under threat of dire consequences by “Lord Haw-Haw” of Berlin Radio who was well aware of the ship’s impending movements. Halifax and refit looked good to a tired ship’s company, 24 August, 1942. It would be 1943 before HMCS ASSINIBOINE was ready for sea again.

During most of her refit, the ship was commanded by Lieutenant Hennessy and, in December, he turned over his command to Commander E. P. Tisdall, RCN. St. John’s was reached on the last day of the year but after a brief period of convoy work, the ASSINIBOINE again required repairs – this time to underwater fittings. She had sailed on 3 January with HX-221 and was back again on 8 February from escorting Convoy ON-163. Ice conditions in the North Atlantic were such that every escort ship but one of this group sustained damage to or had carried away its Asdic dome. HMCS ASSINIBOINE returned to Halifax for repairs, 11 February, and on the 17th Commander K. F. Adams assumed command.

At 0400, 26 February, Cdr. Adams took his ship out of Halifax harbour with orders to sail independently for Londonderry to join Mid-Ocean Group C-3. It was intended that ASSINIBOINE should have a period of “working-up” for many of the crew were new to the ship and Cdr. Adams had had only a few days to try to forge his ship’s company into an efficient fighting team.

Two days out, ASSINIBOINE slowed to eight knots to weather a force-eight gale. During the day and night of 28 February, the ship took quite a pounding and at the height of the storm some fifteen depth-charges, stowed in the after magazine, broke loose. Weighing some three hundred pounds each, it was quite a feat getting them secured again.

February, 1943, had been a costly month for Allied cargo ships in the North Atlantic; twenty-four of them had been torpedoed. ASSINIBOINE’s sailing orders had been so designed to direct her through many of these positions in the rather forlorn belief that seamen could survive in those frigid waters.

The weather soon cleared and speed was gradually increased to fifteen knots. It was the evening of 2 March, 1943, in mid-ocean (49°55’ N: 26°30’ W), that ASSINIBOINE again tangled with a surface U-boat. Again the fight was at close quarters.

At 2250/2, the radar operator reported a contact, classified as a surface vessel bearing 015°, 9000 yards. Course was at once altered on to this bearing and the ship was soon closed up to action stations. At 2300 yards, Asdic contact was gained. But it was reported as a poor echo having an extent of target of 10 degrees and no movement. This led to the belief that the object was an abandoned merchant ship, known to be in the vicinity.

In a matter of seconds the picture changed rapidly. The lookouts peering through the darkness soon made out a long low hull at 2000 yards range. Maximum speed was rung up and depth-charges set for Pattern “C” for “Charlie”. Almost at once, a report of fast Diesel hydrophone effect and movement to the left came from the Asdic “shack”. Cdr. Adams fully intended to ram but a quick alteration of course to starboard by the submarine clearly indicated only a glancing blow would result. Both 4.7-inch guns forward fired a round a piece but the range was so close that the guns, as in the U-210 action, would not depress sufficiently. “The starboard forward Oerlikon”, reported the C.O., “opened fire and with consistent accuracy fired sixty rounds into the open conning tower. As the submarine passed down the starboard side, figures were observed huddled or lying in the conning tower. The noise of blowing her tanks was very audible at this time”.

When the U-boat was abeam of “B” gun, the order to fire the depth-charges was given and almost at once, the submarine crashed heavily into ASSINIBOINE’s side by No.1 Boiler Room. Starboard helm was put on in ASSINIBOINE but it was too late to save her starboard propeller. The enemy was now clearly silhouetted against the white water of the exploding charges, three of which were within twenty feet of the submarine. At one moment only her conning tower was visible; at the next, her whole length was lifted by the force of the detonating charges.

Now, misfortune struck. Owing to the proximity of the depth-charge explosions, power on both the high and low power boards failed completely. The gyro, radar, Asdic, and steering motors were all out of commission at this crucial moment permitting the U-boat crew to gain precious minutes to recover from the violence of the attack. In the event, a serious mistake was made; no calcium flare was dropped. As a result and because the plot was out of order, the run out and return using main engines to steer were ineffective, the Commanding Officer losing his bearings. Though a search was made and an Asdic contact gained and lost, nothing further developed, it was considered prudent to clear the area as ASSINIBOINE had sustained severe damage.

However, in the destroyer, there was never any doubt that ASSINIBOINE had finished the career of the German submarine. Before midnight, she signalled Admiralty “Attacked U-boat 2250Z. Narrowly missed ramming but shallow pattern definitely destroyed submarine. Have suffered considerable damage….”

This was soon followed by a message stating that ASSINIBOINE had insufficient oil to make port. The tug Adherent escorted by HMS Dianella joined 4 March and in tow by the tug, the destroyer arrived at Moville the morning of the 6th. ASSINIBOINE under her own power reached Liverpool the next morning for refit.

Certainly, the whole tactical principle of ramming came into question for here was a badly needed destroyer that was not able to put to sea for a total of ten months after two U-boat encounters.

The Admiralty’s assessment of the second encounter was “probably damaged” and this verdict was confirmed for no German submarine was lost on 2 March, 1943, though there is little doubt that one was severely mauled.

During this refit, ASSINIBOINE was down-graded, as were others of the River Class, to the status of an “escort destroyer”. In addition, the repairs were frequently delayed by the difficulty in securing proper propeller shafting. Lieut. R. P. Welland, DSC, RCN, commanded the ship during this period, Cdr. Adams returning in July.

On 1 August, 1943, HMCS ASSINIBOINE was at sea as senior ship of Mid-Ocean Escort Group C-1 escorting Convoy ON-195. Without incident, the group arrived at St. John’s, 8 August.

All through the autumn and winter, the ASSINIBOINE was engaged on convoy escort duty on the “Newfie-Derry” run, successfully shepherding thirteen trans-Atlantic Convoys before going into refit at Shelburne, N.S., 20 April, 1944. A/Lt.Cdr. Welland assumed command of the ship in September and though many convoys were attacked during the winter and spring, there was surprisingly little enemy activity so far as ASSINIBOINE’s charges were concerned. However, ASSINIBOINE’s men had a full measure of the usual winter convoy conditions of ice and heavy weather, scattered convoys and the rounding up of the inevitable stragglers.

In mid-February, 1944, one of her convoys, ON-224, was contacted by German U-boats but the Second Escort Group in the role of a Support Force handled the situation extremely well accounting for five submarines in less than a month. During the passage of ON-224 on 19 February, HMS Spey destroyed U-386 and HM Ships Starling and Woodpecker accounted for U-264, just five days before HMCS WASKESIU sank U-257.

On 10 March, in Convoy SC-154, ASSINIBOINE and seven other escorts were with the convoy proper while HMC Ships ST. LAURENT and OWEN SOUND were coming up some thirty miles astern. The latter ships had been engaged in salvaging the ship San Francisco which had been on fire. At 1324, they intercepted a U-boat radio transmission from dead ahead. This message was also heard in ASSINIBOINE and SWANSEA with the convoy. HMS Forester was therefore detailed to “cataract” down the bearing 088°to a depth of 20 miles. Another enemy transmission D/F’d a half hour later indicated a reciprocal bearing; ASSINIBOINE investigated. In neither case was anything sighted. At 1624, however, ST. LAURENT coming up astern sighted an object at 8 miles. The destroyer closed at high speed and the object, now identified as a U-boat, crash dived. There followed a determined hunt by HMC Ships ST. LAURENT, OWEN SOUND, and SWANSEA and HMS Forester resulting in the destruction of U-845. This submarine, while returning from patrol off St. John’s where she had sunk the S.S. Kelmscott, had been ordered to attack SC-154.

After bringing one more convoy west-ward, HMCS ASSINIBOINE reached Halifax 17 April for refit at Shelburne.

Shortly after her return to Canada, word was received in ASSINIBOINE that she was to be allocated to the 12th Escort Group but that it would be some months before her refit could be completed. However, hopes were high, for this meant duty far different from mid-ocean convoy.

By April, 1944, tremendous masses of men, weapons, aircraft and shipping were being concentrated in many ports of the United Kingdom for the all-out assault that was to be the invasion of Normandy in June. Already, Canadian “tribals” were in action almost daily in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, forerunners of the 100-ship Canadian fleet that would participate in the execution of the grand design known as Operation “NEPTUNE”.

Now the frigates and later types of corvettes of the RCN would safeguard the Atlantic convoys, the “River” Class destroyers being released for their former roles as striking forces and support groups. One of these was EG-12, composed of HMC Ships QU’APPELLE (Senior Officer), SKEENA, SASKATCHEWAN, RESTIGOUCHE, and ASSINIBOINE on her return from Canada.

Based on Londonderry, and then Plymouth, EG-12 had been in action against German surface forces during July. Lt.-Cdr. Welland took the ASSINIBOINE out of Shelburne harbour 29 June on the first leg of the voyage to join the group. D-Day was now more than three weeks past but there was much to be done before the whole of the French coast was in Allied hands.

After H/F-D/F calibration in St. Margaret’s Bay, the ship, on 7 July, cleared the port of Halifax for a period of nine days of “work-ups” at Bermuda. After an uneventful crossing from St. John’s, HMCS ASSINIBOINE arrived independently at Londonderry 1 August to join her group. The Twelfth Escort Group had arrived the day before for a routine layover and as large numbers of its ships’ companies as could be spared were enjoying a brief leave at the Cromore Rest Camp.

Between 2 and 7 August, the ASSINIBOINE engaged in an intensive training programme to try and bring the ship up to the fighting efficiency of the rest of the group. On the 7th, off Lough Larne, ASSINIBOINE exercised with a live submarine and Lieut-Cdr. Welland was pleased to report: “After one run when four H/H bombs Hedgehog were fired, the submarine surfaced from 300 feet and displayed one of our practise bombs which had come to rest inside the conning tower. This exhibition confirmed my belief in the 144Q Asdic and Hedgehog. The submarine was unmarked and unrestricted, and at the time of being hit was steaming 5 knots at 300 feet and turning slowly.”

At 2330/7 August, HMC Ships QU’APPELLE, SKEENA, and RESTIGOUCHE left Loch Foyle bound for Plymouth and ASSINIBOINE from Larne joined en route at 0300/8. At 2200 that night, the force arrived off Wolf Rock to the southward of Land’s End and proceeded to a patrol area north-west of Ushant. This patrol continued throughout the 9th and 10th, investigating U-boat sighting reports and a search for a downed aircraft. At 2245/11 August, HMS Albrighton from the First Destroyer Flotilla, joined company.

Almost nightly, German convoys were “leap-frogging” along the coast from the more southerly Biscay ports to Brest and beyond in an effort to supply the beleaguered German forces to the eastward. Late in July, the Royal Navy instituted Operation “KINETIC” using cruisers and destroyers to intercept these escorted convoys. On the night of 11/12 August, EG-12 was ordered to carry out a similar anti-shipping sweep in the vicinity of Audierne Bay, north-west coast of France.

The force was organized in two divisions, the first was HMCS QU’APPELLE (SO), HMS Albrighton, and ASSINIBOINE, the second, SKEENA and RESTIGOUCHE. In open order, single line ahead, EG-12 headed for Audierne Bay. At 22 knots Penmarch Point was approached on course 120°, then 90°, and finally 354°to sweep northward up the coast of Audierne Bay. Speed was reduced to 18 knots at 0150/12.

The sea was calm and bright stars shone out overhead. There was a slight land breeze from the North-east as the five destroyers steamed up the coast. It was anticipated that any shipping on passage would be hugging the coast and this would place the force in the favourable position of having them “up-moon”, the moon rising at 0150 bearing 069°.

Thinking their bow waves would reveal their presence, the destroyers dropped to 15 knots at 0210 and two minutes later, three contacts showed up on the P.P.I. radar scans bearing Green 20°, range 13000 yards. These were subsequently plotted as three ships a mile off shore proceeding southward at 12 knots.

At 0224, the three vessels were identified as German armed trawlers; the range had closed to 6700 yards. EG-12 altered towards the land now that the enemy were abeam, and then to 180°on a parallel course. The Germans, now saw the Canadian destroyers and turned obliquely shoreward. EG-12 followed, increasing to 22 knots. As illuminating rockets were fired at 0233, the enemy began laying a smoke-screen. The destroyers immediately opened fire at 4600 yards.

Fire from the destroyer’s close range weapons fell short and the Germans returned the fire. Amidst the confusion of the smoke-screen, the enemy could be seen firing briskly at each other the “hose-pipe” trajectories of their incendiaries arching clearly in the night.

The destroyers made four runs, two north and two south. The centre trawler received a direct hit at 0237, two minutes after the destroyers opened fire. On the second run, all three were hit, in particular the second and third in line both of which hauled out of line shoreward. At 0253, the force came round to the south for the third run. Two trawlers were ashore and burning fiercely. A farmhouse ashore was also hit and helped to light up the scene.

HMCS ASSINIBOINE, third in line, was the only destroyer hit, receiving a 40mm. shell through the E.R.A.’s workshop but causing no casualties. Soon the third trawler was ablaze, but in coming round to the north to finish off this vessel, the destroyer line became over-extended. Because Albrighton dropped astern, SKEEN altered out of line and in so doing collided with QU’APPELLE’s starboard quarter.

The two damaged ships retired seaward and the other three destroyers, their mission completed, rejoined the Senior Officer at 0730 for the return passage to Plymouth. ASSINIBOINE secured alongside the oiler at Plymouth at 1600/12 August.

Having oiled and provisioned, the ship sailed again at 0300 next morning, this time under the orders of HMCS RESTIGOUCHE. The patrol area was some twenty miles south of Eddystone Light. That afternoon a good Asdic contact was obtained and both ships attacked with Hedgehog and depth charges what was believed to be a bottomed U-boat. (No evidence has come to light indicating that this was a submarine). Unfortunately, in the last attack, one of ASSINIBOINE’s depth-charges exploded prematurely, damaging the ship’s steering motor.

On 22 August, repairs completed, the ship joined EG-14 as her own group had become disbanded. (QU’APPELLE and SKEENA were being repaired after their collision and RESTIGOUCHE was also receiving dockyard attention; HMCS SASKATECHEWAN was refitting in Canada). With the new group, ASSINIBOINE had a brief patrol off the Island of Guernsey, returning to Plymouth late on the night of 23 August.

At 0730/25 August, ASSINIBOINE sailed on what was for her a new type of assignment. EG-14 was detailed as close escort for HMS Warspitewho had been ordered to bombard the great naval port of Brest. This was the day that Paris was liberated and now land forces were advancing on Brest. On this same day (25 August) 360 Bostons and Marauders were pounding Brest and this was followed next day by an attack by 324 Flying Fortresses.

As HM Ships Fame(SO), Duncan, Hotspur, Inconstant, and ASSINIBOINE were in screen positions around the might Warspite steaming along just three miles from Eddystone Light, ASSINIBOINE reported sighting a torpedo track. HMS Warspitealtered course while the Canadian ship delivered an attack. No contact was made.

Stopped one mile west of Le Feur Light, HMS Warspite’s 15-inch guns opened on the 11-inch guns of the Lochrist shore battery while a patrol of Spitfires gave cover overhead. As the five destroyers screened their vulnerable charge, the battleship shifted target to the 5.9-inch guns of the battery on St Mathieu Point. Having silenced all opposition for the moment, all eight guns were swung on to the U-boat pens at Brest, range 32000 yards. After 2½ hours of bombardment, Warspite proceeded to seaward behind a destroyer-laid smoke-screen, the Lochrist battery’s heavy shells now landing extremely close to the battleship. That night the squadron headed for Portsmouth and at midnight, ASSINIBOINE and Hotspur were detached off that port for a patrol in mid-Channel. On the 27th, the Canadian destroyer entered Plymouth harbour.

Early in September, 1944, the now defunct EG-12 was merged with EG-11, using the latter designation.

On 1 September, HMCS ASSINIBOINE was detached from EG-11 to assist other Canadian ships who by sheer perseverance had succeeded in pinning down the German submarine U-247. HMC Ships ST. JOHN, SWANSEA, PORT COLBORNE, MONNOW, MEON, and STORMONT of EG-9 had on 31 August been on patrol some fifteen miles south of the Scilly Isles. At 1845, in position approximately five miles east of Wolf Rock, ST. JOHN obtained a contact. With SWANSEA, attacks were repeatedly made against a most elusive target, one that was in the vicinity of a wreck and one that could only be detected down-tide. This was one of the U-boats attempting to interfere with the heavy cross-channel invasion traffic and as was often the case, bottomed near a wreck when attacked hoping to deceive its hunters. At 1404, the next day (1 September), ST. JOHN, taking the “time-to-fire” from her echo sounder as her Asdic recorder had broken down, blasted the U-boat again. This time, oil surfaced in large quantities together with assorted debris including clothing, engine-room log, photographs, charts and part of a door.

As EG-11 was passing nearby, ASSINIBOINE was ordered to assist ST. JOHN by relieving SWANSEA and PORT COLBOURNE. ST. JOHN and ASSINIBOINE carried out further attacks that evening. In a rising gale, both ships patrolled over the position, often losing the contact. Next morning, at 1050, ASSINIBOINE detached ST. JOHN thirty-seven hours after she had made the initial contact. The destruction of U-247was later confirmed by German records.

The next patrol was in the Trevose Head-Hartland Point area, 10-20 September. Many contacts were made and attacks carried out, but all proved to be “non-sub”. On the 12th, ASSINIBOINE with the others of the group, HMC Ships QU’APPELLE, RESTIGOUCHE, CHAUDIERE and OTTAWA, forced the advance screen for HMS Rodney from Longships to Lundy Island. Londonderry was reached 20 September. The rest of September was spent at this base refitting anti-submarine armament.

After various escort duties, EG-11 was in Moville harbour when ASSINIBOINE was slightly damaged in a collision with a Canadian frigate the night of 14 October. ASSINIBOINE was tied up alongside the oiler Empire Control, when through the darkness and rain of the squally night, HMC Ships BEACON HILL and JONQUIERE were observed entering harbour. JONQUIERE passed within a cable-length, stopped and appeared to anchor. However, she dropped slowly astern, her port quarter striking ASSINIBOINE’s stem. The destroyer was delayed five days in joining her group at sea, 19 October.

The group now on anti-submarine patrol in the Iceland area and encountering very heavy weather, included SKEENA and ST. LAURENT. On the 24th, ASSINIBOINE detached for Reykjavik for fuel and later the whole group proceeded to Iceland for shelter. It was on this same day that SKEENA was lost on Videy Island. By 6 November, the group was back at Londonderry.

With SKEENA lost, and QU’APELLE, CHAUDIERE, and ST. LAURENT slated for early passage to Canada for heavy drafting of men, ASSINIBOINE now under the command of Lieutenant Commander Hennessy rejoined the British 14thEscort Group at Rockall 18 November. This group was engaged in convoy escort duties between Londonderry and Milford Haven.

After being docked at Liverpool in early December, ASSINIBOINE sailed to rejoin EG-14 at Plymouth, 4 January, 1945. The group was engaged in anti-submarine patrol and convoy escort duties in the English Channel, particularly in the Start Point-Portland Bill area and in the vicinity of the Lizard. In February, the scene of the ship’s operations shifted eastward to the Portsmouth-Le Havre run and on the 14thHMCS ASSINIBOINE who by this time had suffered several collisions during her career, collided with the S.S. Empire Bond.

The top six feet of the destroyer’s bow was stove in back to No. 4 frame and the ship proceeded to Portsmouth to have the damage surveyed. On the 17th, ASSINIBOINE sailed for Sheerness in the Thames Estuary for repairs that would take until 8 March. ASSINIBOINE’s officers were blamed for this collision and on the 21st, Commander L. L. Armstrong RCN succeeded to the command.

After escort duties that took the ship to Milford Haven and then Greenock, ASSINIBOINE sailed from the latter port with HMS Tartar(SO) and other ships of the Royal Navy on 12 March screening HM Ships Vengence, Venerable, and Colossus(all aircraft carriers). Gibraltar was reached 17 March. On the return voyage, HMCS ASSINIBOINE (SO) with HM Ships Verity, Wolverine, and Malcolm escorted HM Transport Canton to Greenock, arriving 24 March with HMCS MONNOW in company, the three British ships having been detached. At sea again on the 26th, this time escorting HMS Brittany(net-layer) ASSINIBOINE entered Liverpool 31 March for a layover.

Most of April was spent at Liverpool boiler cleaning and making repairs. It was now evident that the ship required a long major refit. After nearly six years of war, the old ship was slowly approaching the end of her career. With the war’s end now in sight, it was decided to patch her up to an extent that would make it possible for her to sail for another two months. Any other course was held to be economically unsound. So it was that ASSINIBOINE sailed from Liverpool 24 April for escort duties in the English Channel.

On 30 May, the war in Europe over, ASSINIBOINE (SO) together with GATINEAU, KOOTENAY, and SASKATCHEWAN, cleared from Lough Foyle for Greenock to embark Canadian service men for passage to Canada. Halifax was reached 6 June and over the brows of the four destroyers, streamed hundreds of Canadian soldiers glad to be again on Canadian soil. The same day, EG-11 was disbanded.

One week later, 13 June, ASSINIBOINE was allocated to her old base, St. John’s Newfoundland. There she was to accelerate the task of getting Canadian service men back to Canada by making fast trips direct from that port to Quebec City. Large numbers of men of the three services were being given so-called “Pacific Leave” prior to their departure for operations in the Far East. This ferry service helped to relieve the inevitable congestion in Halifax and Sydney. In compliance with this scheme, ASSINIBOINE, KOOTENAY and SASKATCHEWAN slipped from Halifax and arrived at St. John’s 14 June.

It would seem that this was too menial a chore for such a warrior, for ASSINIBOINE only managed one ferry passage. Having arrived at Quebec 23 June, she was outward-bound down the St. Lawrence 4 July when, off the mouth of the River Saguenay, a serious fire broke out in No. 2 Boiler Room. The ship put about and reached Quebec 5 July.

This was the last straw; a survey revealed that ASSINIBOINE was beyond repair in an economic sense. A month later, with only a skeleton crew on board, she was under tow by Macsinand Glencovefor Sorel, P.Q. Arriving there 8 August, 1945, the ship was paid off and turned over to War Assets Corporation for disposal. But the ship’s story is not quite complete for the old ASSINIBOINE seemed reluctant to wind up such an action-filled career under the hammer and torch of the ship-breaker.

On 18 September, 1945, the ship was sold as she lay to Frankel Bros. of Toronto for scrap purposes. It was the new owner’s intention to have ASSINIBOINE broken up at Baltimore, Md., and in November she was making her last voyage bound for the American port under tow by an ex-Canadian corvette (formerly HMCS WEST YORK).

On the afternoon of 7 November, the light-keeper at East Point Light on the eastern tip of Prince Edward Island sighted the corvette with the ASSINIBOINE in tow. In strong north-west winds, the corvette was having difficulty with her yawing charge and after rounding the point, the line parted. Wind and tide forced the destroyer toward the treacherous shoals of the shore. In the lee of the point, an attempt was made to put another line to the destroyer. However, during the night (by now 8 November), the wind shifted to southerly and freshened. ASSINIBOINE took the ground a half mile off-shore.

At noon, the crew abandoned ship while the corvette took shelter at Port Hawkesbury, N.S. From 10 to 13 November, the corvette, now returned, made further efforts to refloat the ship but in a rising gale the evening of the 13th, the ASSINIBOINE was lifted over the bar and came to rest a hundred yards off shore. The sea poured in through the scuttles that the crew in their haste to depart had neglected to secure and the ship settled. The ship still lies, bow to the west, directly south of the eastern end of South Lake, two and one-half miles west of East Point, Prince Edward Island.

The victor over the Hannover, the U-210, and the German trawlers of the Biscay coast, and, more important, the ship that had weathered countless gales and packs of U-boats through six long years of shepherding the vital convoys of the North Atlantic had returned to the shores of Canada whence she had sailed so many times to seek out those whose ambition it was to destroy the Canadian way of life. Seldom was she or her ship’s company found wanting. Through fair and through foul, she stood by her motto “NUNQUAM NON PARATUS” – “Never Unprepared”.

Naval Historical Section – Naval Headquarters Ottawa Ontario

1 May, 1961.