The Battle of the St. Lawrence (45 page)

search for, 88–89

sinking by U-165, 77, 86–87

radar, 83–84

271 Centimetric radar, 10, 111, 143–144,
161

286 radar, 10,
111,
144, 173, 27m.i

accuracy improvement, 219

Canadian capability, 271n.1, 272n.4

countermeasures, 169, 219

effectiveness, 177

Leigh Light airborne radar, 51, 180

Microwave Early Warning, 200

radio beacons, 21, 49, 69

radio directional finding (RDF).
See
radar

Ralston, Col. James L. (Defence Minister), 8, 64

ramming of U-boats, 59, 60

Rasch,
Kapitänleutnant
Hermann.
See
U-106

RCN.
See
Royal Canadian Navy

RCNR.
See
Royal Canadian Naval Reserve

RCNVR.
See
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

RDF (radio directional finding).
See
radar

Read, Edward
(Oakton)

background, 90–91, 99, 100

Oakton
sinking, 83, 84, 86, 90, 103–105, 107–109

requisitioning of yachts, 270n.7

Rimouski,
HMCS (Pickford), 209–210, 213–214, 241

riveting,
118–119

Roberto, Carmello
(Laramie),
80

Roy, Sasseville (Gaspé MP)

challenges to government, 141, 200–201

on intelligence failures, 149–151

on military service in the Gaspé, 203–204

on naval command structure, 3–4

in parliament, 3, 65–66, 67–68

on St. Lawrence defences, 177, 197–198

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
See
Eastern Air Command

Royal Canadian Naval Reserve (RCNR), 10, 11, 163

Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer

Reserve (RCNVR), 8, 10, 11, 163–164

Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).
See also
convoys; training

Anti-Submarine strike forces, 20, 38, 52–53, 200, 218

command structure, 123

communications procedures, 61, 88

compared with British Admiralty, 10-11, 160–161, 272n.4

compared with
Kriegsmarine,
162–164

convoy services, 10-11, 179

coordination with Eastern Air Command, 181, 201, 202–203

culture, 166–167

equipment, 10–11, 200

loss statistics, 267n.1, 272n.9

naval estimates, 7–9, 11–12, 116, 197- 198

resources, 8–9, 10–11, 155, 237–238

wartime expansion, 163–164

Royal Navy (RN).
See
British Admiralty

rumors.
See also
censorship; morale; press coverage

abandonment of woman survivor
(Nicoya),
36

drunken Air Force pilots, 62

German operations in Canada, 2, 3, 40–41, 64–65, 66, 200

German supply caches, 69

privilege abuse, 178, 200–201, 202

saboteurs, 69

sale of war bonds, 2, 50

ship sinkings, 64

under-reporting of losses, 4, 178–179, 198- 200

US destroyer sinkings, 198

Salisbury,
HMS (Crichton)

analysis of attacks, 148–149, 160

assignment to Gulf Escort Force, 142, 143

escorting SQ-36, 144–145, 147–148, 151–154

Saturnus,
SS, 146

Schauenburg,
Kptlt.
Rolf (U-536), 165, 210, 213–214

Second Happy Time, 30, 229

SG-6, convoy, 79–82

SG-6F, convoy, 94–95

Shawinigan,
HMCS (Jones)

inquiry, 232–233, 234

in salvage of
Magog,
226

in search for
Raccoon,
89

search for survivors, 233–234

service record, 229

sinking by U-1228, 230–231

ship-building

British, 271n.1,3

Canadian, 8, 9, 271n.3

corvettes, 118–121

process, 114, 116–118

shipping losses, 217

ship’s articles, 99

significance in wartime, 47

Skinner, Capt. Alfred
(Arrowhead).
See also Arrowhead,
HMCS; QS-33

background, 10, 83, 85, 270n.1

Board of Inquiry findings, 90

concerning torpedo danger, 148–149

in QS-33, 87

Smith, Geoffrey (ASDIC operator,
Arrowhead)

background, 78

in QS-33, 83, 85–86, 102–104

in SQ-36, 147–148, 148–149

Smith, Lt. Cmdr. Norman.
See Raccoon,
HMCS

snorkel, 220, 221, 236

sonar.
See
asdic

sono buoys, 228

spies.
See
espionage

SQ-35, 110–111

SQ-36, convoy

analysis of attacks, 148–149, 158, 160

attacks by U-517, 145–148, 152–153

formation, 151–152

St. Laurent, Louis (Justice Minister), 178, 198

St. Lawrence.
See also
convoys

closure, 112–113, 139–142, 199, 201, 202–203, 272n.1

defence of shipping, 19, 52–53, 79, 202–203, 221–222, 237–238

St. Pierre and Miquelon

blackout regimen, 50

rumors of U-boat bases, 40–41

star shells, 82, 172–173

submarine detection equipment.
See
asdic; H/F D/F; hydrophones; radar; sono buoys; star shells

Summerside,
HMCS, 151–153

supply shortages, 74

Tate, SLt. Ian
(Fort Ramsay),
29–30, 34, 61–62, 77, 166–167

Taverner, Capt. Ben, 183, 186, 191

Thurmann,
Kptlt
Karl.
See
U-553

Toronto,
HMCS, 223, 226

torpedo tubes, flooding, 60

torpedoes

compared with mines, 148–149

countermeasures, 214, 226, 275n.7

detonation process, 181

explosive process, 23–24, 27, 30, 81, 98, 185

firing process, 54–55, 170–171, 230–231

GNAT acoustic, 214, 219–220, 226

guidance systems, 21, 54

launching of, 129

technology, 103

training

Air Force, 20, 63, 76, 100–101, 194, 196, 200

Aircraft Detection Corps observers, 151, 196–197, 200

DEMS gunnery, 47

Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, 10, 163–164

Royal Canadian Navy, 10-11, 148, 158–160, 218, 273n.9,10

U-boat commanders, 13, 79, 162–163, 164

Treaty of Versailles

German attitudes to, 165

German submarine restrictions, 11-12, 79, 92, 267n.3

German violation of, 45

Truro,
HMCS, 84, 105, 126, 241

U-69 (Gräf)

attack on
Caribou,
184–185

counterattack by
Grandmère,
188–189

mine planting, 169

sinking of
Carolus,
170–171, 180

U-106 (Rasch), 174–176, 179–180

U-132 (Vogelsang), 65

against QS-15, 54–57, 59–61 against QS-19
(Frederika Lensen),
71–75

construction, 43

damage to, 48, 60, 73–74, 75

destruction, 75

hunt for, 62–64

orders, 48, 75

U-165 (Hoffman), 79

against QS-33, 82–85, 85, 86

against SG-6, 79–81

against SQ-36, 152–154

bombing of, 112

U-190 (Reith), 238

U-262, 204–205

U-517 (Hartwig)

against
Charlottetown,
129–130

against QS-33, 76–77, 79, 97–98, 101–105, 105–107

against SG-6F
(Chatham),
94–95

against SQ-36, 144–148

capture, 92

conditions aboard, 94, 96

damage to, 105–107, 155, 157–158

description, 93

failed attacks, 156–157

hunt for, 100–101, 154–158

sightings, 96–97, 149, 154

U-536 (Schauenburg), 210, 212, 213–216

U-553 (Thurmann)

against
Leto,
30

against
Nicoya,
21–24, 26–27

hunt for, 34–35, 51

leaving St. Lawrence, 41

other sinkings, 169n.10

U-556, against HX-126, 15–18

U-1223 (Kneip), 223, 226, 275n.8

U-1228 (Marienfeld), 229, 230–231, 234, 241

U-boats

attack strategy, 26–27

buoyancy balancing, 129

Canadian base and landings rumors, 40–41, 248

conditions aboard, 12–13, 94, 96, 180

defeats, 181, 217–218, 219, 236

depth charge countermeasures, 125

design, 13

detection.
See
asdic; H/F D/F; hydrophones; radar; sono buoys; star shells

dive procedures, 21–23, 59, 60

equipment problems, 230

Navy plan to capture, 207–208

North Atlantic access, 44

operations, 107

production, 11, 236, 276n.1

ramming attacks, 59, 60

ranges and operating periods, 69

submarine air management, 180, 215, 220

technology advances, 219–221, 236, 275n.3

U-bootwaffe

crew training, 13–14, 79, 162–163, 164

culture, 14, 92, 164–166, 240

expansion, 163, 236

fleet size, 217

formation of, 12

and Kiel Mutiny, 92

morale, 180, 219

objectives, 45, 236–237

Ultra intelligence, 168, 207, 209, 217

United Kingdom, economic aid, 46

United States

air base in Newfoundland, 20, 51

Air Force (USAF), 51

naval production statistics, 46

Navy (USN), 11, 53, 158

Vanier, Brig. Gen. Georges, 64, 70

Vichy France, 179, 194–196

Vison,
HMCS (Nicholson), 176

Vogelsang,
Kptlt
Ernst (U-132), 48–49, 75

volunteer forces.
See
Aircraft Detection Corps; Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

war against trade
(guerre de course),
12, 26–27, 44, 45, 53

Washington Disarmament Conference, 7

Waterton,
SS, 174–176

weather station “Kurt”, 248, 252–253

Weyburn,
HMCS, 71, 74, 96–98, 110

Whyte, Marilyn, 122

Wohlfarth,
Kptlt
Herbert (U-556), 16

Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (Wrens), 168, 240

Woodruff, AB Roy (Q-074), 71–72, 73–74, 75

W
hen I undertook this project over two years ago, my knowledge of naval warfare consisted of hazy memories of having watched
Victory at Sea
with my father thirty years earlier. The crash course I undertook before and while writing
The Battle of the St. Lawrence
was taught by a small squadron of unpaid teachers. The first was Dr. Roger Sarty, then the director of the Canadian War Museum, who generously gave of his time and his unpublished research and who graciously offered to read the unpublished text. I owe much to Dr. Michael Hadley, who, while I was still getting my sea legs, e-mailed me permission to come up to the bridge. Dr. Marc Milner has also been an invaluable resource, and a fine stylistic critic of this text. Mr. André Kirouac, director of the Quebec Naval Museum, not only opened his files to me but has been there to help me find the smallest detail;
merci aussi, André, pour l’invitation pour la colloque sur le bataille de St. Laurent.
Drs. Michael Whitby and Serge Bernier, and Charles Rhéaume of the Canadian Defence Department’s Directorate of History also gave of their time both in answering my questions and in catching errors in the book’s first draft.

I owe a special debt to Ted Read of Alexandria, Ontario, whose story of surviving the torpedoing of SS
Oakton
convinced me and Michael Benedict at
Maclean’s
magazine—and subsequently my agent, David Johnston—that the Battle of the St. Lawrence was a gripping story. Protecting me from error—especially the landlubber’s faux pas of writing “men on a ship” instead of “men in a ship”—has been Ian Tate of Port Hope, Ontario, who has also graciously allowed me to reprint many of the pictures he took at HMCS Fort Ramsay three score years ago. Geoffrey Smith of Oakville,
Ontario, has also been an invaluable resource. Joe Connolly, who during the war was an EAC pilot, taught me much about the intricacies of antisubmarine air patrols. I must not forget Max Reid of Ottawa, who explained to me much about life aboard ship and how naval guns were fired. Ron McGuire gave generously of his time and of his research on SS
Caribou.
Terry Manuel told me the horrifying story that ends this book.

My understanding of U-boat operations owes much to five men who served on U-boats. Werner Hirschmann, now of Toronto, was chief engineer on U-
612
and U-190; ironically, the latter U-boat torpedoed Terry Manuel’s HMCS
Esquimalt
off Halifax in the closing days of the war. Dr. Günther Spohn of Düsseldorf and Mr. Egon Martens of Beverstedt served aboard U-1228 and recall the torpedoing of HMCS
Shawinigan.
Before being captured in 1942 and sent to a POW camp in Bowmanville, Ontario, Volkmar Koenig served aboard U-99 under U-boat ace Otto Kretschmer. One former U-boat officer whom I interviewed has asked that I not record his name.

The men and women whose answers to my and other people’s questions on the forums at uboat.net are too numerous to mention. Several, however, must be singled out: Rodney Martin, Roger (rogerhollywood), Douglas Struthers, hubertusw, Rainer Bruns and Rainer Kolbicz.

Both John MacSween of Glasgow, Scotland (another uboat.net connection), and Francis MacLaughlin of Kingston, Ontario, were more than graceful in explaining to me the physics of how a ship sinks. Both will recognize their labours, I trust, in my description of the death of SS
Nicoya.

Both International Marine Research, a volunteer organization in Norfolk, England, and Tim Hughes, my researcher in England, worked miracles. So did Janice Summerby of the Canadian Department of Veterans Affairs. Claire Roy of Algonquin College’s interlibrary loan service could find the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Richard Martin, my colleague in Algonquin’s English department, performed yeoman’s work proofreading this manuscript. And thank you to Mairi McKissock for preparing an excellent index.