For Posterity's Sake         

A Royal Canadian Navy Historical Project

HMCS THIEPVAL

HMCS Thiepval

 

Launched: 1917

Commissioned: 24 Jul 1918

Paid off: 19 Mar 1920

Re-commissioned: 01 Apr 1923

Paid off:

Sunk: 27 Feb 1930

 

Built at Kingston Shipbuilding Co., Kingston, Ont, she was launched in 1917 at Kingston, Thiepval was in commission between 24 Jul 1918 and 19 Mar 1920, when she was turned over to the Department of Marine and Fisheries as a patrol vessel. Taken back into the RCN, she was commissioned 02 Apr 1923, for service on the west coast. In Feb 1924, one of the few ships in the post-First World War Royal Canadian Navy, Thiepval became the first Canadian warship to visit the Soviet Union and Japan when it provided support for a British attempt to fly around the world. She was detailed to proceed across the north Pacific to Hakodate, Japan, to deposit fuel and lube "dumps" for the round-the-world flight of Maj. Stuart MacLaren. Travelling over 11,000 miles in the process, Thiepval also salvaged what remained of the aircraft after it was wrecked at Nikolski, USSR, on 03 Aug 1924. Thiepval was wrecked on an uncharted rock in Barkley Sound, B.C., on 27 Feb 1930.

 

Ship's company photos          Photos and Documents          HMCS Thiepval - The accidental tourist destination

 

Commanding Officers

Lt, William James Robert Beech, RCN - 11 Feb 1924 - unk

LCdr Harold Reed Tingley, RCN - ?? - 27 Feb 1930 

 

     In memory of those who have crossed the bar    

They shall not be forgotten

A-B

Beech, William James Robert

____-____

Drafted to Thiepval 11 Feb 1924 as Lt, RCN

Betts, Wallace Havelock

1897-1962

Served in Thiepval 01 Feb 1919 - May 1919 as a W/T 3c, RNCVR

 

 

 

S-T

Shirley, Robert

____-____

Drafted to Thiepval 22 Feb 1924 as Lt, RCNVR

Tingley, Harold Reed

____-____

 

 

 

 

Photos and Documents

 

HMCS Thiepval in Nazan Bay, Atka Island, in the Aleutians

 

Nazan Bay was one of HMCS Thiepval's last stops before the diminutive trawler crossed the north Pacific on the way to the Soviet Union and Japan. This hand-coloured photograph gives an idea of the barren shores Thiepval would visit during this 1924 journey. A secret component of the mission involved examining Alaskan and northern Japanese ports to determine whether the United States or Japan was contravening the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty by fortifying these areas. Reports by Thiepval's commander, W.R.J. Beech, detailed resources, the presence of military or government officials, and the state of communications in several northern ports.

Source: George Metcalf Archival Collection

CWM 19710050-001_16

Courtesy of the Canadian War Museum

12-Pounder Cannon, HMCS Thiepval

 

Members of Thiepval's crew maintain the ship's main armament, a 12-pounder cannon mounted on a platform in the bow. Thiepval's limited weaponry was sufficient for the ship's peacetime patrol work. After being transferred to the west coast from Halifax in 1919, Thiepval's duties included counting seals, patrolling against rum-runners, and ensuring that American fishing boats did not enter Canadian territorial waters. Years after Thiepval's 1930 sinking, divers raised this gun and placed it on display at nearby Ucluelet, British Columbia.

Source: George Metcalf Archival Collection

CWM 19710050-001_86

Courtesy of the Canadian War Museum

HMCS Thiepval in Petropavlovsk harbour, 1924

Bruno was adopted in northern Japan by the crew of HMCS Thiepval and brought to Naden in 192

Source: CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum

 

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