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HMCS Sackville was the last Canadian Naval corvette to be retired and is now a permanent fixture on the waterfront of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in front of the Maritime Museum and just a short distance from the Naval Dockyard which she called home base for some years. She is Canada’s Naval Memorial and is maintained and operated by the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust in her 1944 configuration.She was one of more than 120 corvettes built during the war. Built in St. John, New Brunswick, she was commissioned on December 29, 1941. The corvettes had a distinguished service escorting convoys over the North Atlantic during WWll, and many were lost in action.
For a more detailed story of the Sackville, please link to : http://www.hmcssackville-cnmt.ns.ca/history.html
July 5, 2007
Sony DSCF828 camera
Comments
Great capture of this bit of history, George !
I can’t imagine bobbing across the North Atlantic in one of these sardine cans, yet many crews did so, countless times.
Watched a program on tv not long ago about these things. I didn’t know that, in 1939 we had a total of 6 ships and by the end of the conflict the Royal Canadian Navy had grown to the fourth largest in the world. Quite an accomplishment considering we had a population of what – 16 million (?) back then.
Hi Stan, glad you liked it. I’ve added a couple of lines and put in a link to more history. I used to haul fishing nets around some of them when I was out at night with my Grandfather during the war years. My next door neighbour had their oldest son killed when one went down. It was quite a feat to build up the Navy to such a big force in such a short time, and with very few people.
– George Cousins
Great shot and very interesting read, George. Nice to see it’s being preserved. An amazing piece of Canadian naval history.
Good morning Mike, glad you liked it. I’ve added a bit more writing to it, and also a link to a good historical site. It’s a very popular exhibit in Halifax, and gets thousands of visitors.
– George Cousins
Brilliant capture!!
Thanks Ken, very much appreciated!
– George Cousins
George, thanks for posting this and the accompanying information. My father was on a DE, destroyer escort, the Vance in the war. I realized very quickly way back when how lucky I am to be here now after hearing some of the stories he told about those tin cans. His battle group went out with 6 DE’s and he watched 3 of them sink. One in less than a minute. I remember him telling me that if you stood on the fan tail you could watch the sheet metal ripple back and forth between the super structure, ribs of the hull. Sorry if my ship terminology is off. Anyhow the Vance’s job was convoy escort and submarine chaser. So thanks for posting the photo and information.
Hi Chuck,
very happy that you liked the image and the info. There were DE’s in the Canadian Navy also, probably about the same size as yours and no doubt the same “sturdy” construction..:) My Dad was in the merchant marine at the time and I was only 15 when the war ended, but I saw a lot of them coming in and out of port before and after convoy runs. There’s a bit more about the Sackville at the link I posted, you may have already read that. She was lucky to survive, thought just barely. Cheers, George
I like old ships being someone who likes naval history. Being a Texan we of course have the old battleship Texas built in 1914. Your shot is worthy to record an old ship and its stories.
Many thanks Jeffery, I grew up in one of the “East Coast Ports” that assembled the convoys, and my grandfather and I used to have to weave through them to get to our fishing nets. Many times we were challenged by searchlights and probably a gun as well. Then one morning we’d wake up and they were all gone, and we’d start watching the papers for news of how many might have survived. Grim times indeed!
– George Cousins
Hi George, fantastic image of a very historical ship. I built a model kit of a Flower class Corvette when I was younger. Theyre a class of ship that has always captured my imagination. I recently uploaded a few images of another ship here in Belfast called HMS Caroline that im sure you would be interested to see and read up on! Chris.
Good morning Chris,
Thanks for the lovely comment , and I have looked at the HMS Caroline pictures as well. They were certainly a class of ship which served a vital purpose at the time, even though at the cost of many fine seamen. Two of my next door neighbour’s sons were lost on one of our Canadian ones..that really brought the horror home to us, especially in a little town where most people knew each other almost from birth.
– George Cousins