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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179
Flower Class Corvette
Commissioned at Quebec City on 05 Jun 1941, BUCTOUCHE arrived at Halifax on 12 Jun 1941. After working up, she joined Newfoundland Force at St. John's on 29 Jul 1941. On 26 Aug 1941 she left St. John's for Iceland with convoy SC.41, and thereafter escorted convoys to and from Iceland until Jan 1942, when Londonderry became the eastern terminus. In Jun 1942, she was transferred to WLEF, with which she was to remain until the end of the war except for two months in the summer of 1944, when she was attached to Quebec Force.
On 7 July 1942, BUCTOUCHE under Skr. Lt. G.N. Downey, RCNR, rescued 15 survivors from the Norwegian merchant ship Moldanger that was torpedoed and sunk by U-404 on 27 June at 30-03N, 70-52W.
On 21 Nov 1942, BUCTOUCHE attacked U-518 with depth charges following the U-boat's attack on Convoy ON-145, 200 miles SE of Sydney, NS. U-518 was severely damaged, unable to close #3 torpedo tube, flooding torpedo room & forcing U-boat to return to base.
After the formation of escort groups by WLEF in Jun 1943, BUCTOUCHE served principally with EG W-1. In Oct 1943, she commenced a fourth-month refit at Saint John, completing on 29 Jan 1944, in the process acquiring an extended fo'c's'le.
On 28 Jun 1944, BUCTOUCHE was damaged in a grounding incident at Hamilton Inlet, Labrador but made Pictou on her own for two months' repairs. She was paid off at Sorel on 15 Jun 1945, and broken up at Hamilton, Ont., in 1949.
Photos and Documents Ship's company photos
Commanding Officers
They shall not be forgotten
Former Crew Members
Photos and Documents
(BCT001) Gunshield art on HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 // Source: Hazegray and Underway (BCT002) HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 // Courtesy of Jim Silvester
(FMC01) 3 crew members of HMCS BUCTOUCHE - Hamilton Inlet Labrador June 1944 (FMC02) Crew members of HMCS BUCTOUCHE (FMC03) Frank Millar Connolly on the quarterdeck of HMCS BUCTOUCHE (FMC04) Frank Millar Connolly in the crow's nest of HMCS BUCTOUCHE
(FMC05) Paint Ship Routine on HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 (FMC06) Frank Millar Connolly on HMCS BUCTOUCHE (FMC07) Ship's captain, Henry Esson Young (FMC08) Officers of HMCS BUCTOUCHE (FMC09) HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179
(FMC10) HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 (FMC11) Photo of unknown ship (FMC12) HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 - Starboard Quarter (FMC13) HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 From the collection of Frank Millar Connolly, RCNVR Courtesy of Dan Connolly
The photos in this series show the sinking of a merchant ship, a depth charge attack by HMCS BUCTOUCHE, and the rescuing of survivors.
The ship sunk and the convoy it was in is not known. The first photo (SL01) shows the torpedoed merchant ship with one of the convoy escorts just ahead of it. In the following photos (all taken from HMCS BUCTOUCHE) you will see the depth charge attack and the crew re-loading the depth charges. This is happening in daylight. It is hard to imaging these men guarding a convoy and conducting a depth charge attack in the dark of night. The convoy moves on - it does not stop. These men were lucky and rescued by HMCS BUCTOUCHE. As long as there was a U-boat threat, it was not safe for a ship to stop and pick up survivors.
From the collection of LS Stan Leyland, Telegraphist, RCNVR Courtesy of AB Ken George, RCN and Bill Cummins
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In memory of those who have crossed the bar 
