|
HMCS ST CLAIR I65
Wickes Class Destroyer (USN)
Town Class Destroyer (RCN)
Commissioned on 01 Mar 1919 as USS WILLIAMS, she served with the Pacific Fleet until 1922, when she was laid up at San Diego. Re-commissioned in 1940, she served briefly with the Neutrality Patrol before being transferred to the RCN at Halifax on 24 Sep 1940, as HMCS ST CLAIR. Assigned to EG 4, Greenock, she arrived in the Clyde on 11 Dec 1940 to undertake escort duty for Western Approaches Command. On 24 May 1941, ST CLAIR was diverted to assist in the search for the battleship Bismarck by Home Fleet ships. On 27 May 1941, during the return passage to Clyde, after the search for the German battleship Bismarck, with HMS TARTAR and HMS MASHONA, they were attacked by five German bombers west of Galway, Ireland. HMCS ST CLAIR shot down one of the bomber; HMCS MASHONA was hit by bombs and capsized. After picking up MASHONA'S survivors, ST CLAIR sank the hulk. Assigned to NEF, she collided with the oiler Clam on 17 Jun 1941, shortly after her arrival St. St. John's, and remained under repairs until 02 Dec 1941. In Mar 1942, she joined WLEF and in Jun 1943, was assigned to its EG W-2. Except for two-months' absence that summer, attached to HMCS CORNWALLIS, she remained with the group until Dec 1943, when she was ordered to St. Margaret's Bay to serve as a depot ship for RN submarines used as A/S training. In May 1944, she was taken to Halifax for repairs, remaining there until paid off 23 Aug 1944. She was then reduced to a firefighting and damage control training hulk in Bedford Basin, where her remains still lay as late as 1950.
Photos and Documents The Ship's Bell
Commanding Officers
LCdr Dickson Carlisle Wallace, RCNR - 24 Sep 1940 - 05 Apr 1942
LCdr Gerald Ormsby Baugh, OBE, RCNR - 06 Apr 1942 - 11 Jan 1944
Lt James Evelyn Burnett, RCNVR - 08 Mar 1944 - 23 Aug 1944
Stoker 1c, RCNVR died - 24 Dec 1941
They shall not be forgotten
Former Crew Members
Photos and Documents
Fire Fighting and Damage Control Training on the hulk of the former HMCS ST CLAIR, Bedford Basin, Halifax, NS, 20 Mar 1945
DND/RCN photos / Crown Copyright From the collection of James A. Senior, RCN Courtesy of Bob Senior
(JAV10) HMCS ST CLAIR alongside - location unknown
(JAV11-JAV15) HMCS ST CLAIR in heavy seas (JAV15) HMCS ST CLAIR takes a heavy roll to port and the seas wash over her upper deck
(JAV16-JAV20) HMCS ST CLAIR in heavy seas
(JAV21-JAV24) HMCS ST CLAIR in heavy seas (JAV24) Unknown sailor hold on to what appears to be a gun barrel on HMCS ST CLAIR in heavy seas
(JAV25) Fo'c's'le of HMCS ST CLAIR covered in ice (JAV26) Merchant ship in convoy seen over the ice-up depth charge rails of HMCS ST CLAIR during a North Atlantic winter convoy (JAV27) Merchant ship seen though the ice up guard rails of HMCS ST CLAIR during a North Atlantic winter convoy (JAV28) Unknown sailor on the ice covered quarterdeck of HMCS ST CLAIR (JAV29) The depth charge rails of HMCS ST CLAIR completely covered in ice
(JAV30) The depth charge rails of HMCS ST CLAIR completely covered in ice (JAV31) Unknown warship on the horizon (JAV32) A calm day on the North Atlantic (JAV33) the sun setting over the depth charge rails on HMCS ST CLAIR
(JAV34) Austin Valdron in his bunk on HMCS ST CLAIR (JAV35) Mess deck on HMCS ST CLAIR (JAV36) Austin Valdon in a boxing pose on HMCS ST CLAIR (webmaster's note: its hard to take him serious with those big fuzzy socks on) (JAV37-JAV38) Unknown sailors on HMCS ST CLAIR
(JAV039) Unknown CPO on HMCS ST CLAIR (JAV040) HMCS ST CLAIR sailors ashore (JAV041) Group of sailors on HMCS ST CLAIR (JAV042) Unknown CPO & PO on HMCS ST CLAIR
(JAV43-JAV45) Believed to be photos of the rescue of survivors of HMS MASHONA, sunk by the Luftwaffe after the sinking of the Bismarck From the collection of CPO J. Austin Valdron, RCNVR Courtesy of Harold Valdron
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Lest We Forget
