Mention-In-Dispatches
At the time of the sinking of HMCS TRENTONIAN this officer’s conduct was of the highest order. He remained cool as he organized the men when the order to “Abandon Ship” was given. Later, from the ship’s whaler, Lieutenant Kinsman picked up survivors and saw to it that the injured were placed aboard one of His Majesty’s Canadian M.L.’s which was in the vicinity.
Appendix 2: Nominal Roll,
Wounded and Survivors, February 23, 1945
(*denotes wounded)
Officers:
Glassco, Colin Stinson, lieutenant, RCNVR, commanding officer, Hamilton, ON
Kinsmen, William Burley, lieutenant, RCNVR, executive officer, Vancouver, BC
Abbott, Ralph Patrick, lieutenant, RCNVR, navigating officer, Oakville, ON
Dodds, Donald Jackson, lieutenant, RCNVR, Westmount, PQ
Mowat, James Keith, acting lieutenant, RCNVR, Westmount, PQ
Hindle, Hamilton Francis, warrant officer, RCN, engineer officer, Vancouver, BC
Men:
Newfoundland:
Bennett, Rupert Stanley, Conception Bay *
Prince Edward Island:
Dye, Harry, Summerside
Nova Scotia:
Chadbolt, George, Halifax
Farmer, James Keith, New Glasgow
Johnston, Ross Allison, Halifax
Roberts, Donald Osborne, Derbert Station
Roberts, Thomas Raymond, Halifax
Roden, Bernard Gerald Joseph, Halifax
Walsh, William Francis, Newport
New Brunswick:
Eldridge, Gilbert Edwin, Beaver Harbour
Québec
Barber, Walter Thomas, St. Lambert
Barron, Frank Henry, Montreal
Chapman, Isaie, Hull
Hayward, George Albert, Montreal
Kevins, Philip Anthony, Verdun
McKay, John Clifford, Terrebonne
Ontario:
Angus, Murray Ross, Smith Falls
Bateman, Earl Douglas, Cobalt
Beaumon, Delmar Stanley, Glen Williams
Beer, Writer Jack, Toronto
Bergin, Michael George, Ottawa
Campbell, Hector Douglas, Ottawa*
Clark, Henry Alexander, King
Crampton, Norman Benjamin, Carleton Place
Davidson, James Archibald, Gatchell
Erwin, Robert J., Toronto
Gibbons, Gordon, Acton
Goar, George Harvey, Toronto
Grey, Robert William, Toronto
Grigor, Alexander, London
Harley, Gordon, Hamilton
Holden, John, Windsor
Jacobs, William David, Ottawa
Karns, Lewis Charles, London*
Keir, Bruce Dunston, Toronto
Majoros, Leslie, Hamilton
Muff, Eric Edward, Toronto
McIntyre, Norman, Hilton Beach
Poulin, Edmund Joseph, Ottawa
Rickard, James Allen, Port Arthur*
Runtz, Weldon Walter, Arnprior
Salmon, Harold Keith, Hamilton
Scott, John Richardson, Port Arthur
Shanahan, John Charles, Clinton
Shields, William Noel, Oakville
Simpson, Gordon Thomas, Toronto
Straw, Jack Eugene, Hamilton
Terrell, John William, Toronto
Thorogood, Edwin, Brantford*
Vak, Michael, Port Arthur
Yakowenko, Joseph, London
Manitoba
Brako, Lawrence Douglas, Minnedosa *
Gosskie, Joseph Edward, Birnie
Johnson, Russell Arden, Clanwilliam
Kresko, John, Transcona
MacIver, Alexander John, Winnipeg*
Robertson, Thomas W., Winnipeg
Slater, Arthur Bernard, Winnipeg
Saskatchewan:
Baker, Elmer Bernard, Tribune
Cochran, Maurice Edward, Ratener
Evans, Roy, Saskatoon
Guthrie, George Walter, Regina*
Hadley, Vincent Earnest, Prince Albert*
Hanson, Odell Lorne, Nipawin*
Meyer, Peter Barrington, Regina*
Murphy, Lewis Joseph, Moose Jaw*
Powell, Robert James, Portreeve
Saretzky, Leo Bernard, Richlea
Singleton, Allan Egerton, Saskatoon
Taylor, Robert Creighton, Weyburn
Alberta:
Coates, Sidney John, Carbon
Starr, Charles R., Calgary
British Columbia:
Atkinson, Sidney Charles, Vancouver*
Baril, William Richard, Trail*
Brennan, Bernard Benjamin, Victoria
Butler, Thomas Walter, Vancouver
Excell, Douglas, New Westminster
Lounsbury, Raymond, Vancouver
Medhurst, Richard Paul, Victoria
Miner, Reginald Allen, Vancouver
Roy, Robert Alex, Vancouver
Sharpe, Norman Henry, Vancouver
Thompson, Wilfred Bruce, Vancouver
British West Indies:
Graham, Darcy Hamel, San Juan, Trinidad
Source: “List of Survivors HMCS TRENTONIAN.” Library and Archive Canada, RG 24 volume 11755.
Appendix 3: Specifications
Name:
HMCS Trentonian, alternate name for the City of Trenton
Classification:
Revised Flower-class corvette, increased endurance, 1942-43 program
Builder:
Kingston Shipbuilding Company Ltd., Kingston, Ontario
Keel Laid:
February 19, 1943
Launched:
September 1, 1943
Commissioned:
December 1, 1943
Paid Off:
February 22, 1945
Length:
208 feet, 4 inches
Beam:
33 feet, 1 inch
Draught:
11 feet
Crew:
7 officers, 90 other ranks
Displacement:
970 tons
Speed:
16 knots
Endurance:
7,400nm at 10 knots
Fuel:
338 tons
Machinery:
- Four-cycle triple expansion engine
- Two water tube boilers
- Two 30 Kw steam generators
Weapons:
Surface
- One 4 inch QF Mk. XIX gun — forward gun platform
- One 2-pounder pom-pom gun — after gun tub
- Two single 20mm oerlikon machine guns — port and starboard bridge wings
- Four single 20mm oerlikon machine guns added March 1944 — 2 waist; 2 aft of 2-pounder pom-pom gun tub
Anti-Submarine
- One hedgehog anti-submarine mortar — starboard side forward gun platform
- Five hedgehog mortar salvos (one loaded; three ready-use lockers; one 4-inch magazine)
- Four depth charge throwers — two port, two starboard waist
- Two depth charge traps — stern
- Two depth charge rails — stern
- 100 depth charges — stored on deck
Other:
- Two Bren Guns Mk II — wheelhouse
- Four Sten Guns MK II — two wheelhouse, two wardroom flats
- Six Lee-Enfield No. 4 MK I rifles — wardroom flats
- Four Colt pistols — wardroom flats
- One Costin gun
Sensors:
Radar: S.W.2 C/P and Type 271Q –installed March 1944
Asdic: 144XA
Medium Frequency Direction Finder: MDF 5
Notes
Chapter 1
1. “Four Names to Ottawa,”Trenton Courier Advocate, November 5, 1942. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
2. T.G. Bishop, Kingston Shipbuilding Company, to Secretary of the Naval Board, June 11, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
&nbs
p; 3. Maurice D. Smith, “Kingston Shipyards-World War II,”Fresh Water, A Journal Of Great Lakes Marine History, vol. 5, no. 1 (1990): 33.
4. J.A. MacDonald to H.R. Cory, mayor of Trenton, April 10, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946; file 4052-332/109.
5. “Name is Trentonian Reports Navy Dept, Town Must Adopt It,”Trenton Courier Advocate, April 15, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
6. “Trenton Ship Must Have Best Says Mayor,”Trenton Courier Advocate, April 19, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
7. W.J. Potts to J.A. MacDonald, April 21, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. “Navy League Calling,”Trenton Courier Advocate, May 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
11. W.J. Potts to J.A. MacDonald, June 3, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
12. Secretary Naval Board to W.J. Potts, June 15, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
13. “Committee Appointed To Secure Comforts For HMCS Trentonian,”Trenton Courier Advocate, June 3, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
14. “Corvette Fund,”Trenton Courier Advocate, June 3, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
15. Walter Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian,ALIAS K368: Trenton`s Own Ship (Trenton: Branch 110, Royal Canadian Legion, 1979), 8.
16. T.G. Bishop to Secretary, Naval Board, June 11, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
17. John J. Connelly to Mayor H.R. Cory, July 2, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
18. Secretary, Naval Board to W.J. Potts, July 5, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
19. T.G. Bishop to Department of National Defence, August 10, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332.
20. “19 Germans Tunnel Way Out Of Fort Henry,”Ontario Intelligencer [Belleville], August 27, 1943. City of Belleville Public Library files.
21. “Fifteen Germans of 19 Escapees Now Recaptured,”Ontario Intelligencer [Belleville], August 28, 1943. City of Belleville Public Library files.
22. “Trenton and District, Launching of ‘Trentonian,’”Ontario Intelligencer [Belleville], August 27, 1943. City of Belleville Public Library files.
23. “Launch Corvette ‘Trentonian’ Here With Usual Ceremonies,”Kingston Whig-Standard, September 1, 1943. City of Kingston Public Library files.
24. “‘Trentonian’ Outraces Bottle During Launching,”Kingston Whig-Standard, September 2, 1943. City of Kingston Public Library files.
25. Walter Gregory to David Freeman, February 13, 1985. Maritime Command Museum, File HMCS TRENTONIAN.
26. “Impressive Ceremony Marked Launching of Corvette ‘Trentonia,’”Ontario Intelligencer [Belleville], September 3, 1943. City of Belleville Public Library files.
27. “‘Trentonian’ Outraces Bottle,”Kingston Whig-Standard, September 2, 1943.
28. Ibid.
29. “Impressive Ceremony,”Ontario Intelligencer [Belleville], September 3, 1943.
30. “‘Trentonian’ Outraces Bottle,”Kingston Whig-Standard, September 2, 1943.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. “Impressive Ceremony,”Ontario Intelligencer [Belleville], September 3, 1943.
34. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 16-17.
35. NSCBS to CO HMCSTrentonian, November 17, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6753, file NS 8010-332/109.
36. “Report of Proceedings Full Speed Trials,” November 20, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6753, file NS 8010-332/109.
37. Fraser McKee and Robert Darlington,The Canadian Naval Chronicle, 1939–1945 (St. Catherines: Vanwell Publishing Limited, 1996), 110–12.
38. “Commander Visits Trenton to Thank People,”Trenton Courier Advocate, December 2, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
39. “HMCS TRENTONIAN Nominal Roll,” City of Quinte West Public Library files, Hazel Farley Collection.
40. Jack Harold (RCNVR, Signalman, HMCSTrentonian), in discussion with the author, February 6, 2002.
41. “Gifts Given for Corvette,”Kingston Whig-Standard, December 2, 1943. City of Kingston Public Library files.
42. “Naval Message 032100/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
Chapter 2
1. Bruce Kier (RCNVR, Stoker, HMCSTrentonian), in discussion with the author, June 2002.
2. “Naval Message 032230Z.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
3. Sydney Coates (RCNVR, Stoker, HMCSTrentonian), email to the author, January 5, 2011.
4. W.E. Harrison to Hazel Farley, December 11, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library, Hazel Farley Collection.
5. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 21–22.
6. Secretary, Naval Board to B.S. Liberty, Assistant Deputy Transport Controller, December 22, 1943. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
7. W.E. Harrison to Hazel Farley, December 17, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library, Hazel Farley Collection.
8. W.E. Harrison to Hazel Farley, December 22, 1943. City of Quinte West Public Library, Hazel Farley Collection.
9. Ibid.
10. “Naval Message 231919Z/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
11. “Naval Message 241724Z/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
12. “Naval Message 251953Z/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
13. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
14. Harold, discussion, February 6, 2002.
15. Ibid.
16. “Naval Message 261854Z/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
17. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
18. Keir, discussion, June 2002.
19. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 22.
20. “Naval Message 282259Z/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
21. Ibid.
22. Norman Sharp (RCNVR, Stoker, HMCSTrentonian), in discussion with the author, January 24, 2011.
23. “Officer Was to Wed at Easter, Loses Life in Navy Action,”Toronto Star, March 24, 1945.
24. “Naval Message 310057Z/12/43.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
25. Ibid.
26. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
27. Sharp, discussion, January 24, 2011.
28. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 18.
29. Ibid., 17.
30. “Navy Week Donations Letter to the Editor, J.H. Matson,”Trenton Courier Advocate, January 20, 1944. City of Quinte West Public Library files.
31. “Report, Gun Trials HMCS TRENTONIAN,” February 3, 1944. Library and Archives Canada, RG 24 vol. 11071, file 41-88-1.
32. W.E. Harrison to Hazel Farley, January 30, 1944. City of Quinte West Public Library, Hazel Farley Collection.
33. “Naval Message 310127Z/1/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
34. “Fighting Equipment Report,” March 9, 1944. Department of National Defence, Directorate of History and Heritage, file 81/520/8000, box 105, file 5.
35. Ibid.
Chapter 3
1. “Naval Message 160930Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
2. “Naval Message 161428Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
3. “Naval Message 172159Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
4. Secretary, Naval Board to Clerk-Treasurer, Trenton, Ontario, February 17, 1944. Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 33946, file 4052-332/109.
5. “Naval Message 181354Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
6. “Hedge Hog Firing Trial Report,” April 20, 1944. Library and Archives Canada, RG 24 vol. 11071, file 41-88-1.
&
nbsp; 7. “Naval Message 181930Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
8. “Naval Message 172159Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
9. “Naval Message 172159Z/02/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
10. Harold, discussion, February 6, 2002.
11. Ibid.
12. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 24.
13. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
14. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 24.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Sharp, discussion, January 24, 2011.
18. Mac Johnson,Corvettes Canada: Convoy Veterans of WWII Tell Their True Stories (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1994), 126–27.
19. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
20. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 24.
21. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
22. Ibid.
23. “Naval Message 220405Z/2/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
24. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 25.
25. Ibid., 24.
26. Ibid.
27. Jack MacIver (RCNVR, Signalman, HMCSTrentonian), in discussion with the author, October 24, 2001.
28. “Naval Message 220405Z/2/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
29. Harold, discussion, February 6, 2002.
30. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 25.
31. Coates, email, January 5, 2011.
32. Ibid.
33. Frank Barron (RCNVR, Able Seaman, HMCSTrentonian), in discussion with the author, March 2004.
34.Trentonian’s crew, general discussion during 2002 reunion, August 2–4, 2002.
35. “Naval Message 292218Z/2/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
36. Gregory,Memories of HMCS Trentonian, 26.
37. Ibid.
38. Harold, discussion, February 6, 2002.
39. “Naval Message 041435Z/3/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6810.
40. “Naval Message 041432Z/03/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11651.
41. “Naval Message 032351Z/04/44.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 11665 62-20-2.
42. “Working Up Program.” Library and Archives Canada, RG24 vol. 6911, file NSS 8970-332/109.
43. “Naval Message.” Library and Archives Canada, RG 24 vol. 11651, fileTrentonian.
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