HMCS FRASER 233

 

St Laurent Class Destroyer

 


 

 

HMCS FRASER 233

Click on the above photo to view a large image

Courtesy of Mike O'Keefe

 

Battle honours and Awards:  Atlantic  1939-40

 

 

Laid down: 11 Dec 1951

Launched: 19 Feb 1953

Commissioned: 28 Jun 1957

Paid off for DDH Conversion: 02 Jul 1965

Re-commissioned 22 Oct 1966

Paid off: 12 Apr 1973

Re-commissioned: 11 Mar 1974

Paid off for DELEX Refit: 19 Oct 1981

Re-commissioned: 28 May 1982

Paid off: 05 Oct 1994

Fate: Broken up 2010-2011

 

Laid down by Burrard Dry Dock Co., Ltd, Vancouver and completed by Yarrows Ltd., Esquimalt, FRASER was commissioned on 28 Jun 1957, and served on the west coast. On 16 Jan 1958 FRASER, along with CAYUGA 218, CRESCENT 226, MARGAREE 230 and, SKEENA 207 departed Esquimalt, BC, for a Far Eastern Training cruise. On 07 Apr 1964, the ashes of Vice Admiral Howard Emmerson Reid, who Crossed the Bar 03 May 1962, were consigned to the sea from HMCS FRASER. On 12 Jan 1965 HMCS FRASER departed Esquimalt for blast tests of Kahoolawe, Hawaii. Blast test was conducted on 06 Feb 1965 and during the trip back to Esquimalt, on 23 Mar 1965 the ashes of Rear Admiral Ernest Patrick (Pat) Tisdall were consigned to the sea. FRASER arrived back in Esquimalt on 16 Apr 1965. FRASER then transferred coasts and proceeded to Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, where on 02 Jul 1965 she began her conversion to DDH configuration. She was re-commissioned on 22 Oct 1966, and was thereafter based at Halifax. On 15 Jun 1967, FRASER conducted the first landings of a Sea King helicopter. She demonstrated the Canadian-designed Beartrap helicopter haul-down system at Washington, D.C., in Oct 1967. On 14 May 1969 FRASER attended the Spithead Review off Portsmouth as Canada's representative. During her 1970 Great Lakes deployment FRASER visited Thunder Bay as part of the celebrations of the amalgamation of Port Arthur and Port Williams into the city of Thunder Bay. On 12 Apr 1973, FRASER was paid off into Category "C" Reserve and was re-commissioned on 11 Mar 1974. On 17 Jul 1976, HMCS PROTECTEUR, along with HMCS SKEENA and HMCS FRASER arrived at Montreal in support of the 1976 Olympics. She underwent her DELEX refit at Canadian Vickers Ltd., between 19 Oct 1981 and 28 May 1982, and was thereafter something of a test vehicle. She was also the first RCN ship to be fitted (1986) with an experimental towed array sonar system (ETASS), and was made the test bed for the NIXIE torpedo decoy system and later a tactical aircraft beacon (TACAN). In 1988 she was equipped to operate the HELTAS helicopter, equipped for a passive acoustic role. FRASER was among the ships enforcing UN sanctions against Haiti between Oct 1993 and Mar 1994. She returned from her first tour in time for Christmas 1993, and sailed for her 2nd tour on 01 Jan 1994. On 10 Jan 1994, FRASER experienced a minor boiler room fire in which 4 crew members suffered minor injuries. FRASER arrived in the Haiti Op Area on 13 Jan 1994 and departed on 25 Mar 1994 having completed two tours during which she conducted 73 boardings and 450 hailings; spending 134 days on station. She arrived back in Halifax on 31 Mar 1994. By this time, she was the sole survivor of her class, and in October 1994, she replaced Assiniboine in her classroom role until 18 Dec 1997, when she arrived at Bridgewater to become a floating museum. The conversion to a museum never transpired and she was later sold and broken up at Port Maitland, Ontario 2010-2011.  Her 3"50 was removed and shipped to the Reserve Unit HMCS PREVOST where it was mounted.

 


 

HMCS FRASER'S Operational History: 28 Sep 1993 - 05 Oct 1994 by Keith Dawe, Cdr, Ret'd


FRASER sailed from Halifax 28 Sep 93 for exercises with the USN in the Mayport, Florida operating areas. We sailed in company with PRESERVER and GATINEAU and we were only supposed to be gone for about six weeks. We operated with the carrier USS SARATOGA and her escorts for a period and at one point RAS’ed from her while she was doing a deck cycle. The noise was terrific and one had to time speed and helm orders just right to be heard.

 

OPERATION FORWARD ACTION

 

We were assigned to OP FORWARD ACTION on 15 Oct and took our first station on the north coast of Haiti off Cap-Haitien about a week later. OP FORWARD ACTION was Canada’s response to United Nations Resolution 875 of 15 Oct 93 putting in place an embargo against Haiti of certain prohibited cargo such as petroleum and products, and arms. We conducted our first boarding on Sunday 24 Oct - MV DON JOSE - a small coastal freighter enroute to Florida with mixed cargo. As this was our first boarding, I was detailed to accompany the Boarding Team so that we could see how our practised procedures worked and if we needed to make changes. This was a long time before we (the RCN) had highly trained and well equipped Boarding Teams that we now take for granted. We conducted the boarding using our 10-person Zodiac with a 20hp outboard. The Boarding Officer and I were armed with the then-standard Browning 9mm pistol complete with neck lanyard and canvas holster (circa WW II I would guess). The Boarding party had C7 rifles. We didn’t get anything more sophisticated in terms of equipment on either of our OP FORWARD ACTION deployments, although we received a second 10-person Zodiac and a couple of newer 30hp outboards.

 

We remained on station off Haiti until 17 Dec when we turned over duties to PROVIDER, who had come around from Esquimalt. PRESERVER and GATINEAU had already left to return to Halifax 17 Nov. Throughout the first deployment we spent a total of six days off station, four in Roosevelt Roads and two in Montego Bay. During Nov and Dec we had battled various equipment problems, most serious being the boiler issues that were plaguing the whole “steamer” fleet at the time. This put a lot of pressure on the Engineering Dept but they handled it with great professionalism.

 

We arrived back in Halifax 23 Dec - just in time for Christmas. On our way home arrangements had been made with MARLANT HQ to enable us to turn over the ship on arrival to a duty watch comprised of FRASERs who had been left behind when we sailed, those who had been repatriated during the OP and crew from other ships. This concept was quite innovative at the time and as a result the whole crew was able to take leave until just before we were scheduled to sail back to Haiti.

 

We sailed from Halifax for Haiti on Saturday, 8 Jan 94. The weather was atrocious so it was fairly quiet around the ship until we got a bit further south. Two days after sailing we found that one of the two stanchions in the Cable Deck had cracked - probably from the heavy pounding during the previous 48 hours. Engineers were dispatched from Halifax to survey the damage during an overnight visit to Kingston Jamaica on 17 Jan. I believe that a suitable replacement was found ashore and welded in place. At about 2300 on that second day out of Halifax we had a fire in the starboard turboblower lagging in the Boiler Room. The fire was stubborn, but the Boiler Room crew finally extinguished it without much damage. The whole ship’s company reacted very well to the emergency.

 

On 12 Jan we arrived off the “North Claw” of Haiti with light winds, sea state 1 and a temperature of 28 Celsius. We rendezvoused with PROVIDER at midnight. We completed the turnover with her the next day, and after a RAS of fuel and stores she headed home. We embarked CANCOMDESRON ONE (D1), Captain(N) A Vey, and staff in Kingston, Jamaica on 17 Jan and on 19 Jan he became CJTG 120.1 in charge of coordinating all of the embargo ops off Haiti, controlling units of the RCN, USN and French Navy. It was a challenging task to perform flag ship duties in a frigate, especially in terms of communications, combat information and accommodations. D1 maintained the duty until 9 Mar when he turned over to USN DESRON 20 in USS SPRUANCE.

 

A couple of days after embarking D1 and staff, we had an interesting boarding off the “South Claw” of the island. The MV LEO was highly suspected of blockade running into Haiti and had managed to elude the naval patrol until we spotted her on the evening of 19 Jan and ordered her to stop. Despite some bad paperwork, she was found to be without prohibited cargo and let go. MV LEO looked familiar to most of us on board as she had been CFAV BLUETHROAT and had towed targets and recovered torpedoes for the fleet before being sold. She was looking awfully “tired” when we boarded her.

 

The rest of the deployment was pretty well without incident except for some more boiler problems, one of which caused us to anchor off the southwest tip of Haiti for a couple of days to effect repairs. We were kept pretty busy doing hailings and boardings, but 20 Mar was most memorable. At first light we met USNS JOHN LENTHALL for a quick RAS. In the forenoon we stopped and boarded two ships and then two more during the afternoon. At the time it was record number of boardings in a day for Canadians - not bad for a Sunday.

 

On 25 Mar after conducting two boardings before stand easy, we met with ANNAPOLIS for a turnover of duties followed by a joint boarding in the afternoon. The next morning we were off station and heading home, arriving back in Halifax on 31 Mar.

 

Post OP FORWARD ACTION:

 

In the six months after our return from Haiti, FRASER spent exactly half of it away from Halifax on deployments. We conducted three “Salty Dip” missions acting as a live flight deck for SEA KING crew training. In May-Jun we took part in a two-week CANFLEETOPS exercise. Our main employment, however, was on three Fishery Patrols off Newfoundland - a short two-week patrol in May, a four-week patrol in July and the last that took up most of September.

 

During the patrol in July, we were called upon to act with the Coast Guard to arrest two American fishing vessels that were fishing for scallops on the “Tail of the Banks” just outside the 200 mile limit. The arrest was to make a political statement about the catching of migratory species just outside the limit line. Very early on the morning of 26 Jul, I joined the armed Boarding Party on board the fishing vessel “ALPHA AND OMEGA” to arrest her and escort her into St. John’s. The crew was by and large cooperative but the owner ashore made his displeasure very clear in radio conversations with the skipper. The situation for the vessel was made to feel even worse by the fact that they had only been able to catch about 5 or 10 pounds of scallops for their efforts! We arrived in St. John’s during the forenoon of 27 Jul and after a quick refuel sailed in the afternoon to return to Halifax on 29 Jul.

 

It was during the last patrol when we had two further interesting incidents. The day after leaving Halifax 8 Sep, we received a distress call from the sailing vessel “MAJA ROMM” which had lost propulsion and was just in a pretty bad way off the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. We closed her, rigged a tow and transferred over food and water, but shortly after getting her underway, we were able to turn her over to a Coast Guard ship and get back on our mission. On 22 Sep we entered Harbour Grace, Newfoundland for a short port visit. Just after midnight on the 23rd while alongside, we received a tasking to sail immediately to assist in a SAR MEDEVAC of a crewman from the fishing vessel “LADY ALICE”. In short order we were underway and it was decided to retrieve the casualty with our SEA KING. Due to the extreme range to the fishing vessel it was arranged for our helo to refuel aboard one of the offshore oil rigs on its return to us for recovery. We were in St. John’s on 24 Mar to drop off the patient, and, after a couple of days alongside, we sailed to complete our patrol, returning to Halifax 30 Sep.

 

This was the last time FRASER sailed operationally. She had been “ridden hard and put away wet” for the past twelve months, with very little time for routine maintenance or care for the upper decks. She did remarkably well considering her age and the demands placed upon her. We did the best we could to spruce her up for her final time under power - her paying off sail past on 05 Oct 94. Most of the crew stayed with her until the end of October to offload stores and various pieces of equipment. Many of the crew went on to join the new HMCS ST. JOHN’S.

 


 

RCN Memories:  Big Bird          My "Housewife" saves the day

 


 

Photos and Documents          Ship's company photos          Commissioning Booklet

 

The Ship's Bell          Welcome Aboard Booklet - 1968

 

HMCS FRASER - Op Forward Action Crew List

 

My Life as a Sailor by Mo Sabourin: Mo's life in the RCN focusing mainly on his time aboard HMCS FRASER

 


 

Commanding Officers

 

Cdr Raymond Phillips, RCN - 28 Jun 1957 - 03 Jan 1959

Cdr David Llewellyn MacKnight, RCN - 03 Jan 1959 - 04 Jan 1961

Cdr Donald John Sheppard, RCN - 04 Jan 1961 - 06 Sep 1962

Capt Godfrey Harry Hayes, RCN - 06 Sep 1962 - 03 Oct 1962

Cdr Reginald Calvin Thurber, RCN - 03 Oct 1962 - 05 Aug 1964

Cdr Richard Carle, RCN - 05 Aug 1964 - 02 Jul 1965

Cdr John Frederick Watson, RCN - 22 Oct 1966 - 04 Jul 1968

Cdr Frederick William Crickard, RCN - 04 Jul 1968 - 17 Nov 1969

Cdr R.G. Guy - 17 Nov 1969 - 30 Jun 1971

Cdr Charles Morris Winton Thomas - 30 Jun 1971 - 12 Apr 1973

Cdr Leo Ivan MacDonald - 11 Mar 1974 - 15 Aug 1976

Cdr P.W. Cairns - 15 Aug 1976 - 12 Aug 1977

Cdr H.R. Waddell - 12 Aug 1977 - 18 Dec 1978

Cdr J.B. Elson - 18 Dec 1978 - 26 Jan 1981

Cdr J. Nethercott - 26 Jan 1981 - 01 May 1982

Cdr W.B. Hodgkin - 01 May 1982 - 12 Dec 1983

Cdr V.U. Auns - 12 Dec 1983  -  16 Aug 1985

Cdr B.M. Power- 16 Aug 1985 - 04 Jul 1988

Cdr I.G. Parker - 04 Jul 1988 - 19 Jul 1990

Cdr J.A.Y. Plante - 19 Jul 1990  -  19 Dec 1990

Cdr H.W. McEwan - 19 Dec 1990  -  10 May 1991

Cdr Ernest Philip Webster - 10 May 1991 - 23 Jul 1993

Cdr H.R. Smith - 23 Jul 1993 - 24 Oct 1994

 


 

     In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice    

     Lest We Forget     

 

HOOGERWERF, Johannes P.

P2BN, C.A.F. (Navy)

died - 28 Apr 1975

LEGENDRE, Simon J.J.

AB, C.A.F. (Navy)

died - 18 Feb 1975

PINEAU, Gerald J.

LS, C.A.F. (Navy)

died - 12 Jun  1972

 


 

     In memory of those who have crossed the bar    

They shall not be forgotten

A

 

 

B

 

 

C

 

 

D

 

 

E

 

 

F

 

 

G

 

 

H

 

 

J

 

 

K

 

 

L

 

 

M

 

 

N

 

 

O

 

 

P

 

 

Q

 

Quinn, Warren J.

 

 

 

 

 

R

 

 

S

 

 

T

 

 

U

 

Urquhart, Glen C.

 

 

 

 

 

 

V

 

 

W

 

 


 

Former Crew Members

 

Androwski, Donald, LS.CK - 1964

 

Bakody, David, P2ER3

 

Banfield, Dave, Naval Air, RCN / C.A.F. 

 

Bidal, LS.ER - 1994

 

Boucher, Butch, HT

 

Brown, Delbert

 

Brower-Berkhoven, Isaac

 

Carter, R., P1RP - Dec 1957

 

Cox, LS.ER - 1994

 

Debusschere, Paul 

 

Dawe, Keith, LCdr, XO - Jan 1993 - Sep 1994. Paying off crew

 

Day, MS.ER - 1994

 

deKergommeaux, Denis - Commissioning Crew as P2EF3

 

Derkac, AB.LM - Dec 1957

 

Duffy, Ronald, LS - 1964

 

Dunlop, P2RP - Dec 1957

 

Ferguson, Harold, AB.TAS - Dec 1957

Fox, Brian, LS.RM - 1969

 

FRASER, W., C2SH - Dec 1957

 

Green, MS, MarEng - 1994

 

Hawley, John, AB.FC-LS.FC - 1972

 

Henderson, Archie, LS - 1963

 

Hollands, Fred, WU

 

Jolivette, Sylvian, SW (canteen manager / CO's steward) - 1993

 

Jones, LSRP - Dec 1957

 

Kennedy, LS, MarEng - 1994

 

Kennedy, N., P2EM - Dec 1957

 

Lemire, OS, MarEng - 1994

 

Lesoway, P., P1VS - Dec 1957

 

Lohnes, Brian E., LS.ER - 1984 - 1990

 

Mann, D., C2TAS - Dec 1957

 

McCullough, John Douglas - 1965 (Operation Sailor Hat)

 

McDowell, R., C2.ST - Dec 1957

 

McLellan, Jack, PO.CK - 1964

 

McLeod, K., C2CV - Dec 1957

 

Miniou, Scott, RP/NESOP

 

Moore, Art - 1969

 

Moore, Dennis, AB - 1964

Morash, AB, MarEng -1994

 

Munroe, Ken, C1RT - Dec 1957

 

Oikle, Jeff, LS, Pay Writer - 1993

 

Orr, LS, MarEng - 1994

 

Power, George

 

Reaume, Wayne, 27146-H

 

Reid, J., P1SH - Dec 1957

 

Robstad, J. Lester, AB.RP, RCN - 1962-1965. JetEx 64, Crossed the Line 1964, Sailor Hat 1965

 

Sabourin, Mo, OS/AB - 1959-1963

 

Sleigh, Mike, AB.SN/LS.SN - 1967 - 1971

 

Sprauge, P2TAS - Dec 1957

 

Sterling, Clay, P2ER - Dec 1957

 

Theriault, Robert (Bob), SG

 

Tyleman, OS.ER - 1994

 

Warnell, LS.ER -1994

 

Webberly, Bob, CPO1, Cox'n - 1975

 

Wheeler, Roy, CS.CV - Dec 1957

 

Wiebe, William, AB.ER - 1964

 

Zilinsky, Larry - Dec 1964 - Apr 1965

 


 

Photos and Documents

 

HMCS FRASER being launched in Vancouver from Burrard Dry Docks in 1953

Newspaper articles on the commissioning of HMCS FRASER

 

From the collection of Roy Dunbar, C1RP, RCN

 

Courtesy of Dav Dunbar

Jacket patch for HMCS FRASER 233 when she was part of the 2nd Destroyer Escort Squadron

From the collection of Harold Stevens

Courtesy of Rob Stevens

HMCS FRASER 233 - date unknown

From the collection of Robert (Bob) Theriault

Courtesy of Bob Theriault

Daily Orders for HMCS FRASER 02 Mar 1958 - Port Visit Saigon

 

From the collection of CPO Roy Stuart David, RCN

 

Courtesy of Michael Stuart David

Second Canadian Escort Squadron - Spring Cruise 1958

 

HMCS CRESCENT, HMCS CAYUGA, HMCS SKEENA, HCMS FRASER and HMCS MARGAREE

 

Courtesy of Dave Tyre

LEGAL HANGING AGE BEHIND BARROW RIDE

 

"What is the legal hanging age in Canada?" This question was argued by Ldg. Sea. Robert Dunsmuir and Ldg. Sea. Archie Henderson, both serving in the FRASER. During the exchange Ldg. Sea. Dunsmuir said before witnesses that, if he was wrong, he would personally push Ldg. Sea. Henderson from his home to the ship in a wheel barrow. He lost and all too late found that Ldg. Sea. Henderson lived in Belmont Park, some six miles from the ship. Saturday morning saw Ldg. Sea. Henderson weigh in at 238 pounds, comfortably settle himself on several pillows and be wheeled down the highway by 140-pound Ldg. Sea. Dunsmuir. However, as a sporting gesture, in view of the weight difference, it was agreed that Ldg. Sea. Henderson would push Ldg. Sea. Dunsmuir up all hills. After logging five and a quarter miles, they arrived at the corner of Admiral's and Esquimalt roads, an ideal spot for deciding that honour was satisfied and recuperation called for.

The Crowsnest Oct/Nov 1963

 

  

 

HMCS FRASER Ship's Company List - 1964

 

HMCS FRASER lit up for Christmas prior to 1965

Courtesy of Matthew Batten

 

 

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(1) HMCS FRASER 233, Pearl Harbor, 1963  (2) Crossing the Equator on HMCS FRASER 233, Far East Cruise 1964  (3) Unknown event on HMCS FRASER 233, Far East Cruise 1964  (4) Sailor from HMCS FRASER ashore in Singapore 233, Far East Cruise 1964  (5) HMCS FRASER 233 northward bound through the channel to Juneau, Alaska - 1962  (6) HMCS FRASER'S Hawaiians with Cdr Carle - time frame Aug 1964 - Jul 1965. Gordon Broster, 4th from left

 

From the collection of Gordon Arnold (Art) Broster

Courtesy of Cathy Robinson

Operation Sailor Hat

 

On 06 Feb 1965 HMCS FRASER participated in a shock trial called Operation Sailor Hat. Below are a few photos and documents about the trial.

 

     

 

(1) Operation Hat Certificate issued to P1RP G.A. Broster  (2) Operation Sailor Hat badge designed and painted by P1 Broster (right) before the shock trials  (3) Operation Sailor Hat badge mounted on HMCS FRASER'S funnel

 

              

 

(4 & 5) Dome of 4,500 lbs of explosives  (6) HMCS FRASER (right), secured, awaiting detonation  (7) Dome of explosives as seen from HMCS FRASER  (8) After the explosion .... 

 

           

 

Photos of the explosion taken from various view points

 

     

 

Three newspaper articles on the Operation Sailor Hat shock trials / explosion

 

From the collection of Gordon Arnold (Art) Broster

Courtesy of Cathy Robinson

The change from the White Ensign to the Canadian Flag on HMCS FRASER - 16 Feb 1965

 

         

 

The story behind the photos:  The CO decided that he wanted to try to stall as long as possible on the change. I am not sure where the ship location was at the time of the photos, but the CO ensured that this ship was the last one to change due to the time zones etc... so the last flying white ensign in the fleet!

 

From the collection of Gordon Arnold (Art) Broster

Courtesy of Cathy Robinson

 

 

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(1-3) Communicators on HMCS FRASER - Fall 1969  (4) Communicator on HMCS FRASER - Fall 1969  (5) Communicator on HMCS FRASER - Fall 1969  (6 & 7) Communicators on HMCS FRASER - Fall 1969  (8)  LS.RM Brian Fox, HMCS FRASER, October 1969

 

Courtesy of Ronald J. MacDonald

Helo crash on HMCS FRASER in 1972

 

FDO Paddles, HMCS FRASER

 

FDO Paddles is a mechanical monkey whose yellow jersey has FDO Paddles, HMCS FRASER written on the back.  It was purchased at a toy fair in the UK.

 

If anyone knows the story behind FDO Paddles, please send an EMAIL to the webmaster.  Thank you

 

Photos courtesy of Tom Hallett

HMCS FRASER'S 1980 NATO Sail past

 

HMCS FRASER'S NATO sail past in 1980 just prior to a port visit in Rotterdam.  Upon sailing Rotterdam on 03 Dec 80, FRASER'S CO informed the crew that they would, along with the NATO squadron, proceed to the Baltic as a show of force due to the crisis in Poland.  FRASER spent Christmas in Portsmouth, England; the first Canadian ship not to be home for Christmas since the Korean war.

 

 

Courtesy of Frederick Dainard

 

Courtesy of Derrick Payne

Newspaper article on FRASER not being home for Christmas Dec 1980

Halifax Chronicle-Herald 23 Dec 1980

Researched by / Courtesy of George Newbury

Crossing the Line ceremony on HMCS FRASER - Exercise Eastlant '88

Courtesy of Shane Walters

HMCS Bonaventure and HMCS FRASER 233

Note that FRASER does not yet have her distinctive TACAN mast

HMCS FRASER 233 - undated

 

DND / RCN PHOTO

HMCS FRASER 233

HMCS FRASER dressed for the Fleet Review during the 75th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy, Bedford Basin, Halifax

Courtesy of Ken Watson

© Ken Watson RCN

Newspaper article on HMCS FRASER'S 20th Anniversary

Courtesy of Denis deKergommeaux

HMCS Athabaskan 282 and HMCS FRASER 233 during Exercise Team Work '88

Credit: Trident Magazine  Photographer: Cpl Herbert

Courtesy of Jarrod David

The Battle of Deadman's Bay, 1968

Thurlo Munroe, far right, Bob Verge, Butch Boucher

Courtesy of Thrulo Ian Munro

 

"We took on St Laurent and Gatineau in the whalers with 4 grapefruit guns each, lots of ammo and lots of beer. What a hoot. Our XO, Josimite Sam (LCDR Hayward, was our pirate captain). We won the battle because the other 2 ran out of ammo. We were firing grapefruits at each other, not blanks. We even made up a second battleboard and had Deadman's Bay on it. Hayward was one of the finest XOs I ever sailed under. Our whole crew, officers included were one of the tightest knitted groups I ever went to sea with from the skipper down.. The whole battle happened because St Laurent had a gun crew and while we were doing a jackstay transfer, they closed up their gun crew and took a shot at us with their grapefruit gun. Our skipper said, they're not getting away with that!!!! The challenge went out and Gatineau said they wanted in on it too. This is how battles happen. Only rules were, no rowing, no outboards. We cut off our white uniform pants and spray painted t-shits. Jeeze, fighting Communist Aggression was hard in those days. Those were the days"

Newspaper article on HMCS FRASER visiting Thunder Bay, Ont. - year unknown

Courtesy of Art Moore

Painting from the door of the main cafeteria aka "The Cave" on HMCS FRASER 233

 

Artist: Paul F. Prudhomme

Courtesy of Mike O'Keefe

 

 

HMCS FRASER 233

 

#4 Courtesy of / © Ken Watson RCN

Newspaper article on the visit of HMCS FRASER 233 to Yarmouth, NS during the 75th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy

Halifax Chronicle-Herald 06 Aug 1985

Research by / Courtesy of George Newbury

Painting on the door of the Main Cafeteria (MS & Below Mess) on HMCS FRASER 233, 1992.

Artist - Bernie Viscount

Courtesy of Christopher Thomas

Artwork on the door to the ETASS room on HMCS FRASER

Courtesy of James Fisher

 

Christmas dinner on HMCS FRASER 233, Sunday 19 Dec 1993, en route back to Halifax from Operation Forward Action, Haiti (part 1)

The dinner was held in the Hangar the day after departing station.

 

photos courtesy of Ken Johnson

 

Doug Brown (left)

Far end of table J.P. Lariviere on left and possibly Mark Meadows on right

Middle left Doug Brown, opposite of Doug (in civil shirt) is Barry Sheppard

Far end of table on left is Chris Thomas; 2nd from right leaning in and facing camera with PMC is Fisher (?? not entirely sure)

2nd from right - PO2 John Stewart; 3rd from right - P2BN Danny Laflamme with Santa hat

Servers: 1st on left - Lt(N) R.W. Anderson, Baby SYO;  1st on right - Maj Hargreaves, Air Det Cdr; extreme right - LCdr Keith Dawe, XO, Scullery

Left: WO Ted Hohmann, Ch Clerk

LS Jeff Oickle, Pay Writer

Gilles Gregoire and Johnson

L-R:  Cdr (OS) JBY Menard* - CO for the day;  Capt John Fletcher, Chap (P);  CPO1 Rick Goulet Cox'n; unknown; Cdr H.R. Smith; unknown

* Believed to be OS Menard

Brett Tisdale - 1st on right

 

If you can identify anyone in these photos, please send me an EMAIL so that I can update the captions

 

 

Letter from Denis deKergommeau, Lt (N), ret'd - FRASER commissioning crew member - to the FRASER'S CO requesting info on her paying off, and the CO's reply

 

Courtesy of Denis deKergommeaux

 

The End

 

HMCS FRASER 233 - Paying off pamphlet / schedule

 

        

 

Courtesy of Denis deKergommeaux

 

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HMCS FRASER 22 - Final Sail Past

 

(1-3) HMCS FRASER conducts her sail past in Halifax Harbour 05 Oct 1994  (4) - Sail past complete, FRASER comes alongside under her own power for the final time  (5) With crew and guests on the quarterdeck and flight deck, FRASER'S ensign is lowered and she is paid off.

 

Courtesy of Keith Dawe, Cdr, Ret'd

 

HMCS FRASER paying off sail past - 05 October 1994

Courtesy of Roger Scott

 

Article from the Whig-Standard 23 Jan 1995 on plans to save HMCS FRASER as a museum

 

Courtesy of Ben Whiting

Newspaper article on HMCS FRASER'S Sailpast

Courtesy of Denis deKergommeaux

Last steaming watches on HMCS FRASER 233

Courtesy of Phil Warnell

Courtesy of Fabrice Mosseray

Source: Esprit de Corps magazine 1995

Newspaper article from the Trident Magazine, 18 May 1995, on the efforts by private groups to save HMCS FRASER from the breakers yard

 

Courtesy of Fabrice Mosseray

HMCS FRASER under tow to scrap yard in Ontario 12 Sep 2010

 

Photographer © Jean Hémond - This photograph is not to be re-used or re-published without permission of the copyright owner

 

Further photographs by Jean Hémond may be found at the following link: naturepainter's photostream

 

           

 

5 photographs of HMCS FRASER 233 being towed through the Welland Canal en route to the scrap yard 18 Sep 2010

 

Photographs published with permission of photographer © Paul Beesley, www.Shiphotos.com

HMCS FRASER 26 September 2010

 

Photographer Harry Snowden

Former HMCS FRASER being broken up at Port Maitland, Ont,  21 May 2011

 

 Photographer Cameron Meikle

 


 

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