“As soon as I laid down, I heard a loud thump that I thought was the minesweeping gear that we had loaded in Halifax shifting. Then I heard a large crash, and the ship shook and began to keel over toward the port side. The lights glimmered and then went out. I jumped up from my bunk and ran to the emergency hatchway, which opened onto the deck. I found it in the darkness, but because the plates were buckled, it couldn’t be opened.
“Then, as the ship continued to roll over on her side, I decided to try to go out through the communications mess. The hatchway to the compan-ionway that led to that mess was now up above us. I climbed up the wall to get to the hatchway and then fell into the communications mess. Just as I got to the companionway that I hoped would take me to the deck, Carl Jacques, a petty officer from Nova Scotia, came charging up and vaulted over my shoulders and into the hatchway. But I couldn’t hold on and fell back into the communications mess, which was now filling with water. Finally, I managed to get into the companionway. Just as I did, I saw on my right a huge wave of foaming water rushing towards me. The water pummelled me about and pushed me up the companionway.
“Below me I saw only darkness. Above me some faint grey light. Even though I could not swim, I began thrashing my way up. The ship rolled again and I was pushed out of the companionway onto the side of the ship. To my left I could see the ship’s bow pointing upwards; she was on her way down. Within seconds I heard someone yell, ‘Swim, damn it! She’s going under!’
“I saw a life jacket and tried to get to it. As I did, another sailor also got to it. Each of us managed to get one arm into it. By then the ship was gone. Less than four minutes had passed.
“Soon the life jacket became too waterlogged to keep us both afloat. I saw a canvas kit bag floating in the water and grabbed hold if it. Then I realized that the sailor I was sharing the life jacket with was going under, so I grabbed him by the hair and held onto him.
“A few moments later, a Carley float appeared and I heard Carl Jacques yell, ‘Hang on, scribe!’ He jumped in the water and swam to us and then pulled us to the float. I hung on in front and he climbed back onto the cork ring of the float. Ten minutes later he was dead and we had to throw his body over.
“There were eighteen of us in and around the float in terribly cold water. It didn’t take long for the water, chilled by the ice currents that came down from the Arctic, to take its toll. One by one, men around me died and floated off.
“Twice we thought we’d been spotted. Once by a plane about an hour after the sinking, but he later reported that he thought we were fishermen. Then, at 8 a.m., we saw what we called the four-o’clock navy, the minesweepers that patrolled off Halifax during the day. They were almost within shouting distance when they turned away and soon vanished over the horizon.
“And still more men died while we waited, until finally, after almost seven hours, another patrol plane, which I later learned had been sent to look for us because there had been nothing heard from us, spotted us, wiggled its wings and alerted the authorities in the light vessel, who alerted Sarnia.
“By the time Sarnia steamed into Halifax with the twenty-seven of us who survived and several bodies, we could see the streets were lined with people. Above the streets, standing on the roofs of their work sheds, stood silent workers with their hats off.”
Fourteen days later, Canadian Wrens at a secret listening post in Coverdale, New Brunswick, recorded a signal sent by Grossadmiral Dönitz informing his U-boat commanders of Adolf Hitler’s death and that, following Hitler’s political testament, he, Karl Dönitz, was assuming the position of Reichsprasident. Seven days later, he signalled the fleet again, his rather grandiloquent words laying the foundation both for his defence at what he knew were the coming war trials and for the U-Bootwaffe mythology:
My U-boat men!
Six years of U-boat war is behind us. You have fought like lions. A crushing material superiority has forced us into a narrow area. A continuation of our fight from the remaining bases is no longer possible.
U-boat men! Undefeated and spotless you lay down your arms after a heroic battle without equal. We remember in deep respect our fallen comrades, who have sealed with death their loyalty to Führer and Fatherland.
Comrades! Preserve your U-boat spirit, with which you have fought courageously, stubbornly and imperturbably through the years for the good of the Fatherland.
Long Live Germany!
Your Grand Admiral3
Four of the U-boats that invaded the St. Lawrence surrendered. The first was Helmut Schmoekel’s U-802, which surrendered on May 11 at Loch Eriboll in Scotland. The following day, Kurt Peterson’s U-541 surrendered at Gibraltar. On the thirteenth, U-1228, commanded by Friedrich-Wilhelm Marienfeld, surrendered at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A day later, Hermann Lessing turned U-1231 over to the British at Loch Foyle in Scotland. U-802, U-541 and U-1228 were scuttled. U-1231 was turned over to the Soviet Union, which rechristened it N-25; it served until the late 1950S and was broken up in 1960.
By September 1945, HMCS Arrowhead and Vegreville and all the Fairmiles that had served in the St. Lawrence had been turned over to the War Assets Corporation for disposal. HMCS Rimouski and Trail followed on August 30, 1946. HMCS Truro was paid off on September 17, 1946, seven years and sixteen days after the start of the Second World War.
IN MEMORIAM
SS Nicoya (May 11, 1942)
* * *
William John George
Henry Mills
James Stanley Newcomb
Douglas Phillips
Frank L. Smith
H. V. Woodthrope
SS Leto (May 12, 1942)
* * *
J. Breet
J. van Boven
M. A. de Keyzer
A. Eager
H. J. Holzhaeur
Frederick van Hoogdalem
J. Hoogenboom
Wilhelm Koning
G. J. Smit
A. J. Stanneveld
F. H. A. Thomas
SS Anastassios Pateras (July 6, 1942)
* * *
Silvino Eugenio
John Howard
Ham Karamm
SS Hainaut (July 6, 1942)
* * *
Said Nouman
SS Dinaric (July 6, 1942)
* * *
James Jameson
Henry Thomas
Herbert Walton
Slavko Ziganto
SS Frederika Lensen (July 20, 1942)
* * *
Ali Edris
Ali Mossadden
Abudul Rajack
Robert James Spence
SS Chatham (August 27, 1942)
* * *
Emilio Blackstone-Pietranera
Francis S. Blake
Cornelius Clark
Abel De Souza
George T. Harrison
William Hurlston
Richard Scadding
7 known only to God
USS Laramie (August 27, 1942)
* * *
Carmine Joseph Aloia
Dan Lynch
Erwin Wesley Parks
Gordon Leslie Spiering
James Curtis Voorhees
SS Arlyn (August 28, 1942)
* * *
John H. Bergeron
Roy W. Creighton
Charles J. Jeremias
Lawrence J. Lynch
Isidro S. Manzo
Mack Parks
Eladio A. Sanchez
John Taraza
Pedro Velez
Joseph L. Weeks
Jarvis S. Williams
George M. Willis
SS Donald Stewart (September 3, 1942)
* * *
Romeo Gaudet
Harry Kaminsky
Harvey Sutherland
SS Aeas (September 6, 1942)
* * *
2 known only to God
HMCS Raccoon (September 7, 1942)
* * *
George M. Adams
John
M. Allen
James C. Anderson
Royden G. Ashmall
Roger Belanger
John J. Boudreau
Charles R. Champion
John E. Cherpeta
John F. Cook
Guy L. Dillabough
William Duncan
George Fowler
Owen W. Fralic
Frank J. Gallant
William C. Hamilton
Willam A. Harvie
Robert H. Henderson
Arthur G. Holmes
Ernst F. Howe
John J. Hughes
Joseph W. G. LaFlamme
Henry B. Lucas
Ralph O. Martindale
Russell H. McConnell
John H. McDonald
Harry F. Muller
John G. Parsons
Albert J. Payne
Louis H. Prowse
John E. Sheflin
John N. Smith
Beverly G. Stewart
Michael Sweeney
Glenwood L. Taylor
James E. Thomas
Percy J. Thomas
SS Mount Pindus (September 7, 1942)
* * *
3 known only to God
SS Mount Taygetus (September 7, 1942)
* * *
Georgeios Triantafyllarous1
3 known only to God
HMCS Charlottetown (September 11, 1942)
* * *
John Willard Bonner
Donald St. C. Bowser
Todd David
John C. Garland
John A. Grant
Peter K. Lovat
John Lundrigan
Thomas A. MacDonald
Edmond C. Robinson
Leonard A. Wharton
SS Inger Elizabeth (September 15, 1942)
* * *
P. Kool
3 known only to God
SS Carolus (October 9, 1942)
* * *
Knut Anderson
Verner Anderson
Pablo Cubbillas
Onni Heino
Niilo Helenius
Runar Karlsson
Eryitt Kukkonen
John Joseph MacDougall
R. F. McGraw
John Milmine
Sulo Aarne Seppala
SS Caribou (October 14, 1942)
* * *
Crew
Israel Barrett
Llewellyn Carter
Eliha Coffin
James Hubert Coffin
Howard Cutler
Richard Feltham
Miss Bride Fitzpatrick
Charles Ford
Maxwell French
George Gale
Jerome Gale
Clarence Hann
Harry Hann
William Hogan
Charles Humphries
Victor Lomond
Thomas Moist
Charley Pearcey
James Pike
James L. Prosper
Joseph Richards
William Samms
Israel Sheaves
John Skeard
Albert Strickland
Garfield Strickland
Benjamin Taverner
Harold Taverner
Stanley Taverner
Arthur Thomas
George Thomas
Army Personnel
* * *
C. R. Abelson
C. G. Cochrane
T. A. Currie
P. Diamond
E. S. Francis
L. A. MacIntyre
J. C. B. McDonald
H. R. Mills
L. M. Sheppard
A. A. Sullivan
H. M. Tough
Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy Personnel
* * *
E. Barrett
Eli Maxwell Bishop
C. Creston
William A. Glasgow
A. Marshall
J. R. Masson
G. N. May
A. Nash
W. C. Poole
E. R. Quinlan
G. W. Randall
N. Rowe
R. J. Skinner
R. Smith
J. Tapper
W. J. Vey
E. Warren
R. White
Miss A. W. Wilkie
J. W. H. Windsor
Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force Personnel
* * *
J. H. Barrett
R. Chatson
F. G. Coulson
T. H. Cummings
H. H. Elkin
D. C. Glover
W. P. Howse
A. W. Jones
L. E. Legge
C. M. McCaroon
D. L. Mitchell
M. N. Oiring
G. W. Parker
E. A. Thistle
L. William Truesdale
E. G. Walker
R. Watson
W. B. Wilson
US Personnel
* * *
J. C. Abernathy
E. T. Bothsa
J. M. Burns
J. C. Elzer
E. Hand
R. M. Penfield
E. G. Shultz
J. Waldman
Civilians
* * *
Mrs. Ada Allan
Caroline Allan
Constance Allan
Claus Bang
Baby Girl Bernard
Mrs. Harriet Bernard
Charles Berry
Mrs. Pearl Beswick
Robert Butler
Harold Chislett
Albert Coombs
Preston Cowley
William Carteret Freeham
Louise Gagné
Mrs. Katherine Gardner
William H. Garth
Myrtle Gilbert
Hugh B. Gillis
Gerald Hammond
Wilfred Hathaway
Mrs. Maggie Hedd
Miss Myrtle Kettle
Edgar Martin
Harold McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
George Penham
Mrs. Elizabeth Randell
John Ronan
Margaret Rose
William Ryan
John Sheppard
Mrs. Blanche Short
Basil Skinner
Mrs. Kathleen Skinner
Nancy Skinner
Mrs. Gertie Strickland
Holly Strickland
Myrtle Strickland
Nora Strickland
Donald Tapper
Mrs. Hazel Tapper
John W. Tapper
Lillian Tapper
Catherine Walsh
Patrick Walsh
Mrs. Helen Wightman
Mary Young
HMCS Magog (October 14, 1944)
* * *
Ted E. Davis
Gordon T. Elliot
Kenneth J. Kelly
HMCS Shawinigan (November 25, 1944)
* * *
Stewart W. Anderson
William J. Anderson
Robert O. Armstrong
Haddow F. Baird
Howard C. Barlow
Joseph F. A. Beauchamp
Joseph B. A. Benoit
Ronald W. Bernst
Douglas J. Blaylock
Robert A. Brett
Joseph Y. P. Breux
Gordon O. Brown
Arthur H. Butler
William F. Callan
Alexander H. Campbell
James Campbell
George A. Chalmers
Eric M. Chisolm
Alfred E. J. Clayton
Harry C. B. Cole
Cyril W. Conners
Robert J. L. Cook
Ronald J. Dupuis
Alfred H. Duval
Ralph N. Earp
Clifford Eppler
David M. Evans
John J. Evans
Lewis B. Evans
Edgar L. Fiander
Leo H. Fougère
Donald F. French
Dudley M. Garrett
Robert G. Grant
Arnold S. Hibbard
John W. Hodgson
William Hughes
Roy S. Hunter
Harold J. Hird
John L. James
Maurice W. Johnson
William J. Jones
Arthur E. Kemp
Robin D. H. Kendall
Wilmette R. Kennah
Joseph A. La Barre
Leslie B. Langfield
John C. Lawrence
Thomas E. Lawrence
Walter J. Lloyd
David A. MacArthur
William C. MacEachers
Gordon MacGregor
Vernon E. MacLanders
Jack MacWilliam
Donald T. C. McDougal
Donald B. McNeil
Patrick A. Mitchell
Ewan Morrison
David J. Morrow
Cecil R. Moss
Glenn S. Murray
Michael B. O’Gorman
John Ossachuk
Howard N. Parsons
James G. Phillips
Michael J. Piathowski
Robert F. Rayner
Clifford L. Rea
John J. Rigby