HMCS GRIFFIN  /  HMCS OTTAWA H31

 

G - Class Destroyer (RN)

 

River Class Destroyer (RCN)

 

 

HMCS OTTAWA H31

RCN Photo

Click on the above photo to view a larger image

Censor stamp on back dated 20 Nov 1944 . Note that that censor blanked out her pendant number H31 which was just below the Carley float mounted by the bridge.

 

Battle honours and awards:  Atlantic  1939-45,   Normandy  1944,   English Channel  1944,   Biscay  1944

 

 

Laid down: 20 Sep 1934

Launched: 15 Aug 1935

Commissioned: 06 Jun 1936

Transferred to RCN: 20 Mar 1943

Commissioned: 20 Mar 1943

Re-named: 10 Apr 1943

Paid off: 01 Nov 1945

Placed on Disposal List: 28 Jan 1946

Fate: Broken up in 1946

 

Commissioned on 06 Jun 1936 as HMS GRIFFIN, she took part in the evacuation of Namsos, Norway, in May 1940 before transferring in August to Force 'H' at Gibraltar and in Nov 1940  to the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean. She subsequently took part in the evacuation of Greece and Crete, embarking 720 troops on one trip from Suda Bay.  She also escorted a relief convoy to Malta. Transferred to the Eastern Fleet in Feb 1942, she returned to the U.K. in Oct 1942 for major refit at Portsmouth and Southampton, toward the end of which, on 20 Mar 1943, she was commissioned at Southampton as HMCS GRIFFIN. On 10 Apr 1943, despite the objections of her captain, she was renamed HMCS OTTAWA. She joined EG C-5, based at St. John's as a mid-ocean escort, but was removed from this duty in May 1944, to take part in the invasion with EG 11. During post-invasion patrols in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay she took part with KOOTENAY in the destruction of three U-boats. OTTAWA returned to Canada in Oct 1944, for refit at Saint John, N.B.. On 11 Mar 1945, HMCS STRATFORD, returning from Bermuda, was involved in a collision with HMCS OTTAWA in the Halifax approaches, receiving extensive damage to her fo'c's'le. OTTAWA remained in Canadian waters for the duration of the war and was paid off 01 Nov 1945, at Sydney. She was broken up in 1946.

 

U-Boats Sunk:

(1)  U-678 (Oblt Guido Hyronimus) a VIIC Type U-Boat, sunk on 06 Jul 1944 by HMCS OTTAWA H31, HMCS KOOTENAY H75 and HMS STATICE in position 50-32 N, 00-23 W. There were no survivors of her crew of 52.

(2)  U-621 sunk on 18 Aug 1944 by HMCS OTTAWA H31, HMCS KOOTENAY H75 and HMCS CHAUDIERE H99 in position 45-52N, 02-36 W

(3)  U-984 sunk on 20 Aug 1944 by HMCS OTTAWA H31, HMCS KOOTENAY H75 and HMCS CHAUDIERE H99 in position 42-20 N, 51-39 W

 

 

Photos and Documents

 

 

Commanding Officers

 

Cdr Hugh Francis Pullen, RCN - 20 Mar 1943 - 06 Jun 1943

Cdr Kenneth Frederick Adams, RCN - 09 Jun 1943 - 06 Jul 1943

Cdr Hugh Francis Pullen, RCN - 07 Jul 1943 - 18 May 1944

Cdr James Douglas Prentice, DSO, RCN - 19 May 1944 - 09 Sep 1944

Lt E.P. Earnshaw, RCN - 10 Sep 1944 - 06 Oct 1944

LCdr R.J. Herman, OBE, RCN - 07 Oct 1944 - 11 Oct 1944

Lt N. Cogdon, RCN - 12 Oct 1944 - 04 Feb 1945

A/LCdr Patrick David Budge, DSC, RCN - 05 Feb 1945 - 14 Jul 1945

A/LCdr Geoffrey Huntley Davidson, RCN - 15 Jul 1945 - 31 Oct 1945

 

 

     In memory of those who have crossed the bar    

They shall not be forgotten

 

 

 

Former Crew Members

 

Anderson, Clarke, AB, RCNVR (of OTTAWA, ON) - 1944

 

Ashton, Cliff J.

 

Baldwin, Robert Permanter, Lt, RCNVR - 10 Apr 1943

 

Betz, Paul, Tel, RCNVR (of Hamilton, ON) - 1944

 

Bulmer, John, LCdr (E), RCNR - 10 Apr 1943

 

Cameron, Chester, LS, RCNR (of Port Colborne, ON) - 1944

 

Cannon, Leslie A., Lt, RCNVR - 19 Feb 1945

 

Corbett, Charles Leonard, A/Gnr (T), RCN - Jan 1945

 

Crompton, William, ERA, RCNVR (of Galt, ON) - 1944

 

Doerner, Carl, ERA, RCNVR (of Kitchener, ON) - 1944

 

Durrant, Douglas Trevor 

 

Eccles, Ron, Sto, RCNVR (of Welland, ON) - 1944


Fairnie, James, LS, RCNVR (of OTTAWA, ON) - 1944


Galipeau, John, AB, RCNVR (of OTTAWA, ON) - 1944

 

Gogdon, Noel (Nibs) SLt, RCN - 22 May 1943

 

Graham, Tommy, AB, RCNR (of Hamilton, ON) - 1944


Greenough, Art, L/Sig, RCNVR (of Hamilton, ON) - 1944


Guthrie, Raymond, Sto, RCNVR (of Kingston, ON) - 1944

 

Hadrill, Peter Geoffrey, Lt, RCNVR - 16Mar 1943 / SLt, RCN - 10 Apr 1943

Hutcheson, James Robert McLeod, Lt, RCNVR - Jan 1945

 

James, Richard Spencer, A/Lt, RCNVR - 03 Jul 1944

 

Johnson, William, Lt, RCNVR - 07 Jun 1943

 

Kenny, Lorne, Sto, RCNVR (of OTTAWA, ON) - 1944


Kermode, James, AB, RCNVR (of port Home, ON) - 1944

 

Korning, Joern Eilert, Lt, RCNR - 10 Apr 1943

 

Laing, Neilson Alexander, SLt, RCNVR - 24 Feb 1945

 

Logan, William, AB, RCNVR (of Renfrew, ON) - 1944

 

Lowe, John Douglas (Darky), SLt, RCN - 10 Apr 1943

 

MacDonald, Edward R., SLt, RCNVR - 15 Feb 1944

 

McDonald, Allen, Sto, RCNVR (of Paris, ON) - 1944


Mearns, Douglas, Sto, RCNVR (of Niagara Falls, ON) - 1944


Merkley, Arden, L/SA, RCNVR (of Kingston, ON) - 1944


Mitchell, Eugene, Tel, RCNVR (of Simcoe, ON) - 1944


Mortimer, Johnny, Sto, RCNVR (of Peterboro, ON) - 1944


Munday, Albert, LS, RCNR (of Goderich, ON) - 1944

 

Palmer, Patrick Ernest, A/Sig/Bos'n, RCN - 12 Feb 1944

 

Parker, Rex Clement, Lt (E), RCNVR - 10 Apr 1943

Ramsey, Clarence, AB, RCNVR (of Belleville, ON) - 1944

 

Roberts, John (Johnny) William, Lt, RCN - 10 Apr 1943

 

Simpson, John William, Lt, RCNVR - 10 Apr 1943

 

Skerritt, George, AB, RCNVR (or Morriston, ON) - 1944

 

Small, James, Surg/Lt, RCNVR - 10 Apr 1943

 

Smart, Leonard, ERA, RCNVR (of Niagara, ON) - 1944

 

Sprout, John, Tel, RCNVR (of Hamilton, ON) - 1944

 

Stewart, Donald Arthur, Lt (E), RCNVR - 21 Jul 1944

 

Sunderland, Ean Victor Pearce, SLt, RCNVR - Jan 1945

 

Sunderland, William, L/Sto, RCNVR (of Fruitland, ON) - 1944

 

Tanner, George William, A/Gnr (T), RCN - 10 Apr 1943

 

Upton, Franklin Howard, SLt (E), RCNVR - 29 Mar 1944

 

Welch, Thomas Alan, Lt, RCNVR - 04 May 1944

 

Willis, Delmer, LS, RCNVR (of Seely's Bay, ON) - 1944

 

Wilson, Harris Campbell, Lt, RCNVR - 27 Jan 1944

 

Yoerger, Harold Louis, Surg/Lt, RCNVR - 06 Apr 1945

 

Zeller, John, AB, RCNVR (of Guelph, ON) - 1944

 

 

Photos and Documents

 

Vengeance Mission Of New Canadian Destroyer

 

From the collection of J. Vincent Wesley, CPO, RCNVR

 

Courtesy of Marilynn Taylor

HMCS OTTAWA H31

 

From the collection of A/ERA 4c, Raoul Bélanger, RCNVR

 

Courtesy of Pierre Bélanger

HMCS OTTAWA H31 - 1943

 

From the collection of Rex Duce

 

Courtesy of Melanie Brough

Child of Canadian sailor on active service transported back to Canada of the child's mother was killed in by V-bomb

 

Crow's Nest newspaper - Jul 1945

Ontario crew members of HMCS OTTAWA home on leave

 

Toronto Evening Telegram 18 Oct 1944

 

Courtesy of Cal Littlejohn

HMCS OTTAWA H31

 

From the collection of Robert Macklem

 

Courtesy of Bob Macklem

(DD124) HMCS OTTAWA H31

Photo taken from HMCS OWEN SOUND K340

From the collection of Dan L. Dunbar, AB, RCNVR

Courtesy of Dan Dunbar

 

 

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