White Ensign Flying
Page 1
This book is dedicated to the men who sailed in Trentonian — true sailors, each one —
who upheld the highest traditions of the Royal Canadian Navy.
You may not have read about us in the papers, but let me assure you that we are not idle and we are doing
our share of the job. Some day you will be able to hear about our exploits.
— Excerpt from a letter to the City of Trenton from Douglas Excell, RCNVR, ERA4, HMCS Trentonian, 1945
Contents
Foreword by David Morse, Rear-Admiral (Ret), Royal Canadian Navy
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1: The Birth of a Corvette
2: A Voyage to the Sea
3: Training a Crew — Working Up and Evolutions
4: Trentonian Goes to War
5: Say Goodbye to Canada
6: The Invasion
7: A Deadly Mistake
8: Invasion Operations
9: Buzz Bombs and Shore Leave
10: Post-Invasion Operations
11: The Admiral’s Inspection and Praise for Trentonian
12: Operations to Cherbourg
13: The Army Moves Forward; Au Revoir France, Hello 1945
14: A New Commanding Officer
15: Lives Forever Changed
16: Rescue and the Hunt for U-1004
17: The Board of Inquiry; Goodbye to Old Friends
Epilogue
Honour Roll
Appendix 1: Medals and Awards
Appendix 2: Nominal Roll, Wounded and Survivors, February 23, 1945
Appendix 3: Specifications
Notes
Foreword
White Ensign Flying is a work of love and respect by a true amateur of naval history (adopting the French usage denoting an enthusiast). Roger Litwiller refuses to resort to the customary telling of a ship’s history, one long on technical facts and details of equipment and operational manoeuvres. Instead, his focus is the true essence of the story, the dedication and engagement of the officers and men who comprised her crew.
It is hard to imagine the pace of wartime ship construction and training. Trentonian was a typical corvette of the time — laid down and launched in six months; fitted out, manned, and passed workups in another six; with convoy duty immediately following. Today’s frigates — bristling with complex systems for surveillance, communications, and weapons control — bear no resemblance to Trentonian. Ships of its era went to sea searching for hostile submarines and ocean raiders with no longer-range sensors than the human eye and only the vigilance of the crew for the ship’s effectiveness.
And who were these men? As Roger Litwiller shows us, they were novices in the extreme. The commanding officer had less than thirty months sea time and the executive officer only six. The crew came from all walks of life and all corners of Canada. Often they had no experience of the sea and were surprised by its alternating moods of calm and ferocity. They suffered the extraordinary discomfort of the wet corvettes — mess tins balanced across open decks often arriving with more salt water than food; hammocks little different from the days of Nelson; sleep a commodity seldom sufficient.
In 2002 I had the privilege of meeting some of Trentonian’s crew. Seldom did their stories dwell on the difficult times. Often they remembered their own pride and determination to “do their part” in the campaign against Nazi Germany. And they were in the midst of it. They remember with dignity their role in the chaos of the English Channel during Operation Neptune and the fierce resistance that ensued. They look back with sadness to Trentonian’s final days in the Channel, attacked, severely damaged, and eventually sunk by a German submarine’s torpedo. They remember with reverence the sacrifice of six of their friends and they look back with gratitude to the victory that the Allied nations wrought. When I look back over my own career, whether serving with Canadians or the many nations of our allies, it has been the strength of the individual sailor, regardless of nation, that stands out.
This book is the story of each Trentonian told with care and compassion. It is a vital addition to the history and tradition which has surrounded and sustained the Royal Canadian Navy for more than one hundred years. I am grateful to Roger Litwiller for the opportunity to offer these few words as a preface to a much more valuable work and I commend the story of Trentonian to the Canadian people as a reflection of the strength of a nation in difficult times.
David Morse
Rear-Admiral (Ret)
Royal Canadian Navy
Acknowledgements
In researching the story of HMCS Trentonian, I have had to follow many paths and gather information from several sources. This includes collections from public, private, and personal sources. Combined, this has given Trentonian a story unlike any other warship.
For the historical record, I have researched many national and community archives. The staffs of the Library and Archives Canada and the Department of National Defence, History and Heritage Section, and Directorate of Navy History and Heritage have been invaluable.
The loss of Trentonian meant the loss of its log as well. In order to accurately gather the movements of Trentonian, I have sifted through cases of naval messages — monthly reports, reports of proceedings, and other such resources, to reconstruct the daily activities of the ship. Therefore, when I note a date, time, or place in the story, the information is correct.
Additional information has been gathered at smaller archives and museums across Canada, giving a more detailed account of the ship and providing the record of its construction and the active participation of Trentonian’s namesake community. This was possible with the co-operation of the staff at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario; the Quinte West (Ontario) Public Library; the Maritime Command Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the Naval Museum of Manitoba; the Naval Museum of Alberta; the Belleville (Ontario) Public Library; the Kingston (Ontario) Public Library; Canada’s Naval Memorial, HMCS Sackville; the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 110 in Trenton, Ontario; and the Naval Marine Archive in Picton, Ontario.
Many individuals have provided information, resources, and introductions that allowed the research to be completed. I would like to thank the following individuals: Robert Amesse, Paul Adamthwaite, Betty-Ann Anderson, Richard Gimblett, Dean Boettger, Lena Beliveau, Rick Sanderson, Mike Shortridge, Max Corkum, Murray Knowles, William Gard, Dave Innes, Steve and Agnes Drury, and Sam Andrews.
The heart and soul of Trentonian is its crew. There were almost 160 men that served in Trentonian and many of them have contributed to this work by providing their personal recollections. I have diligently attempted to place their stories at the correct time and location in the history of the ship. This work would be just another ship’s history without the enthusiastic contribution and support of the men. I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Bruce Keir, Jack Harold, Gordon Gibbons, Jack McIver, Frank Barron, Norman Sharp, Joe Gosskie, Les Majoros, Bill Shields, Jim Irwin, Eric Muff, Sydney Coates, Tom Farrell, Jim Rickard, and Stan Bennett.
I would like to thank the families of Maurice Campbell, Lewis Karns, Sidney Atkinson, Colin Glassco, and Moyle Kitchener Beck for sharing with me the stories of the crew members who have passed away.
With all the interviews and research, I have collected more information than could be published in this work. I have set up a White Ensign Flying page on my author website (www.rogerlitwiller.com) for this book and have included the additional material there. This includes ships’ plans, additional photos, interviews, and more.
There are three authors who have given me permission to use their work, contributing to the story of Trentonian:
Walter Gregory, author of Memories of HMCS Trentonian, Alias K368: Trenton’
s Own Ship (with research by Michael Ticehurst under the sponsorship of Branch 110, Royal Canadian Legion, Trenton, Ontario, 1980). Walter is a good friend who graciously allowed me to use his detailed work, which contains interviews with many of the crew who had passed away by the time I started this project. Walter’s work is exceptional and has provided many interviews and stories to this book.
Mac Johnston, author of Corvettes Canada: Convoy Veterans of WWII Tell Their True Stories (McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1994), has given me permission to use the stories he collected from members of Trentonian’s crew in his excellent book telling the stories of corvette sailors from all across Canada.
Fraser McKee, author of The Canadian Naval Chronicle, 1939–1945 (Vanwell Publishing Limited, 1996), for allowing the perspective of the victories and losses for the Royal Canadian Navy to be included in this story.
Canadian artist Marc Magee created the spectacular painting used for the cover of the book. Marc is a member of the Canadian Society of Marine Artists and has graciously allowed the use of his work for the book and has donated the original painting to the Quinte West Public Library in Trenton, Ontario.
Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Rhonda, and our children for their support, encouragement, patience, and understanding during twelve years of research and writing.
Introduction
On February 22, 1945, HMCS Trentonian was the last corvette to be lost to enemy action. The ship was a late-war design, Increased Endurance, Flower-class corvette; a very different ship from the original corvettes built earlier in the Second World War.
In total 294 corvettes were built in England and Canada. These were employed in many Allied navies during the war, including those of Canada, England, United States, Norway, France, Greece, India, Netherlands, Australia, Yugoslavia, and South Africa. The corvette was also used by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy), as four French Navy corvettes were surrendered with the fall of France and commissioned into service for Germany. During the war the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) employed 123 corvettes, 121 of which were built in Canada. This marks the largest class of ship in service with the RCN. Combined, Allied corvettes are credited with the destruction of forty-seven German and four Italian submarines during the war, with the loss of thirty-six corvettes.
As convoy escorts, the job of a RCN corvette was not to hunt and kill the enemy but to force them away from the merchant ships the corvettes were charged with protecting. The corvettes were not permitted to “stay and play,” that is, to hunt a submarine until a kill could be confirmed. Once the threat of the submarine was forced away from the convoy, the corvette was to let it go and return to the merchant ships.
In the capacity of escort, the RCN did not sink a great number of the enemy’s submarines; in fact, the RCN is credited with sinking only thirty-three during the war. But how many attacks did Canadian ships and men prevent? There is no way of answering this question and therefore, when value is measured in submarines destroyed, the RCN falls short of other navies’ expectations.
Trentonian is not credited with sinking any German submarines, so its place in history has been measured by this considered lack of success. This, combined with the fact that it was the last corvette of all navies to be sunk in battle with the enemy, Trentonian has been considered an “unlucky” ship. But before we attach that label we must also ask, did Trentonian do its job? Did its crew perform their duties? For that question we should ask the thousands of men, in the hundreds of merchant ships it escorted, who arrived at their destination safely. Their answer would be far different from history’s designation.
Trentonian escorted convoys in the North Atlantic and protected merchant ships in the Caribbean, the coast of North America, and also in the most dangerous waters of the world at that time: those of England, France, and the English Channel.
Trentonian escorted an immeasurable number of merchant ships in more than sixty convoys and other escort duties over its fifteen-month career. All but two of those ships arrived at their destinations safely. The first ship was severely damaged, not during an attack by the enemy, but a mistaken attack by an American destroyer. The second was on Trentonian’s last fateful day, when one ship in its convoy was torpedoed and sunk minutes before Trentonian suffered the same fate.
Ask yourself, is history’s depiction of Trentonian accurate? How many lives did Trentonian save? How many attacks were prevented because Trentonian was on duty and on station, doing a job that no other navy wanted to do?
Trentonian’s place in history will ultimately be measured from its crew’s contribution. Many of the men who served in it have given their stories to this book. All of them were young men, some even boys, who volunteered to sail into harm’s way and possibly give their lives to fight the enemy. They have willingly described their lives in Trentonian and what it was like to be a Canadian sailor serving in a corvette in the Second World War.
There are some stories that only one man may remember as it affected him personally, while other events are vividly recollected by all. The best example I can give of this is that with each interview I asked, “What was the food like?” Collectively the response was, “most of the time pretty good, except we had red lead and bacon a lot.” This is the slang for stewed tomatoes and fried bacon. When I found one of the cooks, I changed the question to, “What did you cook?” His reply gave the entire project perspective, “I cooked a variety of meals, but there was one meal I made all the time, in fact I am having it tonight for supper. I love red lead and bacon; I made it all the time!”
It is their stories that will give future generations a personal glimpse of living history, during the course of one of Canada’s greatest moments.
1: The Birth of a Corvette
It was a pleasure for the citizens to sponsor the vessel. The achievements of Trentonian would be watched by every citizen of Trenton.
— Mayor H.R. Cory, City of Trenton
The history of Trentonian started long before two pieces of steel were joined to form its keel. Its story begins in a small town in eastern Ontario.
During the Second World War, Trenton was looking to make a meaningful contribution to the nation’s war effort. Canada’s navy had adopted the practice of naming warships after communities. This allowed the community to adopt the ship and provide all the comforts that the crew would need to live. It became an honour for towns to have a Canadian warship named after them, and so Trenton made an application to the Royal Canadian Navy early in 1942 to have the name Trenton attached to one of Canada’s fighting ships. Unfortunately, the name was rejected by the navy as an American cruiser was already named USS Trenton.
In November 1942 Trenton’s mayor, H.R. Cory, submitted four substitute names.[1] The names were “The Trent,” for the river that runs through the city; “Quinte,” for the bay that Trenton sits on; “Mount Pelion,” for the name of the highest point in the city; and finally, “Trentonia,” an easily recognized altered form of Trenton. The Navy Board decided on Trentonia after all the others were determined to be in use. Another reason for its selection was that it was not too long to fit on a cap tally or ship’s name board.
It was practice then for a clerk in Ottawa to prepare a list of the names of all the ships under or awaiting construction and the hulls they would be assigned too. This list was sent to the king for royal assent. While typing the list that contained Trentonia, a clerk added a typo — the ship before Trentonia was Prestonian and an “n” was added — changing the name to Trentonian. The error was not found until after the list was returned from the king with his consent. Unwilling to inform the king that he had given royal approval to the wrong name, the RCN kept the name Trentonian.
To help form a bond between community and ship, the navy built ships as close to the place they were named for as possible. The Kingston Shipbuilding Company in Kingston, Ontario, was assigned to build Trentonian. Construction began on February 2, 1943, and progressed quickly as the ship was expected to be launched in early Au
gust.[2] The Kingston shipyard gave it the hull number of 27,[3] and the RCN designated the new construction as CN443.
On April 10, 1943, the secretary of the Navy Board, J.A. MacDonald, sent the following letter to the mayor of Trenton, the Honourable H.R. Cory, announcing the navy’s decision:
As you are probably aware, it is the custom of all Navies to give to certain classes of ships the names of certain class of persons, places, or objects. For example the British Navy, cruisers are called after counties or larger cities, and in the United States Navy, battleships are called after states of the Union.
Following this custom the Canadian Navy some time ago decided to call corvettes and minesweepers after cities and towns in Canada. The corvette H.M.C.S. “Trentonian” has been named after your town.
Many communities which have had ships named after them have undertaken to supply to the crew of the ship comforts which are not supplied by the Department. For example, some towns have given a ship’s bell, books, magazines, extra clothing such as sweaters, mittens, and the like. Some towns have given a bit of silver plate for the mess; others have given a washing machine or radio for the use of the officers and crew. Many cities have not confined themselves to one form of gift but have given a great many gifts. Thus, in some places the women of the city or town have banded together and provided articles of clothing. A club in the city might give a radio; the city council a bit of plate, etc.
The idea of having ships adopted by the city or town after which they are named has been found to be very advantageous in keeping up the morale of the ship’s crews, as well as in giving the citizens of the community concerned an opportunity to give expression to their desire to help in the winning of the war.
I should like to know if your community or some organization in the community, would consider adopting the corvette H.M.C.S. “Trentonian.”[4]