Overview

The Canadian escort group C 2 was comprised of the RCN destroyers Gatineau and Chaudiere, the frigate St. Catharines, the Corvettes Chilliwack and Fennel, and the RN destroyer Icarus. These six and the RN corvette Kenilworth castle combined to sink U-744 in the North Atlantic in a prolonged drama on March 5 and 6, 1944. At 32 hours, this the second-longest successful hunt of the war. Chilliwack able seaman Ralph Chartrand recalls the action: When the sub started to surface, everything that could shoot went into action and we fired all we could. While the crew of U-744 was jumping out of the conning tower, St. Catharines was closing in, but our captain outmanoeuvred Chilliwack in front to make sure that this was our sub. He gave the order Prepare to ram, but soon the sub was empty, so we didn't ram. We lowered a lifeboat with a boarding party and they proceeded to U-744. While the lifeboat was tied to the sub, some members boarded the sub, then a big wave hit our lifeboat and flipped the crew into the water with the German Sailors. We took 17 prisoners on board. It was almost a major coup. Three lifeboats reached the Type VII C boat. German code books and the cypher machine were seized, but all three seaboats capsized in the rough sea and only one book was saved. All the Canadians were picked up. So, too, were 40 Germans. Icarus then dispatched the unsailable U-744 with a torpedo. Eleven Germans died, including the captain. Praise for Corvettes Canada : It was the ubiquitous corvette, built in Canada, manned by volunteers and often as not based in a Canadian or Newfoundland port, that carried the burden of our Atlantic war...and few wartime sailors escaped at least some time aboard them. For the most part, their experiences have gone unrecorded - especially those of the lower deck - and time will soon erase what the enemy and the sea itself could not. Fortunately, Mac Johnston has salvaged the experiences of 250 of these fast-departing corvette veterans, and has drawn their story together into a superb collective memoir of the Atlantic war. Johnston has woven these memories...and the history of the wartime RCN into a tight fabric, one that is both entertaining and extremely valuable. If you have never read anything on the Canadian navy's part in the Battle of the Atlantic, start with this one; if you've read everything that's already available, you will find this one a gem. (Marc Milner, University of New Brunswick). I like your presentation. It's right from the horse's mouth so to speak. It is so authentic; I say it is a classic. It's as true a story as can be told. Corvette men who read your book, contributors or not, will marvel at your format and will live again the tortures of the Atlantic, the friendship of shipmates, the action stations alarm bell and the roar of depth changes...Your book proves that these Corvette men were tough to stand the day-to-day tensions, rough seas, dangers and the boredom that was part of their sea life. You have done a wonderful story. (Leo McVarish, HMCS Alberni, Winnipeg, Man).

Full Product Details

Author:   Mac Johnston
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Imprint:   John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 20.70cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 22.50cm
Weight:   0.674kg
ISBN:  

9780470154298

ISBN 10:   0470154292
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   01 March 2011
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction. Map of Atlantic Ocean Convoy Routes. Acknowledgments. Chapter 1. They didn't even have uniforms for Us /The race to Build escorts. Chapter 2. There was nothing like an echo to shake you up /Corvette and U-boat Capabilities. Chapter 3. Engine stopped and lights glaring, but you had no time to think of death /The Iceland Run, 1941. Chapter 4. Blood brothers to a cork when it came to riding out a rough sea /Bad weather and the first corvette losses. Chapter 5. I do remember him telling me it was so cold on the North Atlantic, so cold... /The sinking of HMCS Spikenard. Chapter 6. I met my husband at the Staten Island USO /The main convoy routes, 1942. Chapter 7. You can imagine what a smelly, dirty-looking crew we were after a few days at sea /Living conditions aboard corvettes. Chapter 8. If you want real tough, take life aboard a corvette while seasick /Seasickness. Chapter 9. One dollar per day per man at sea /Food and cooks. Chapter 10. Wartime at sea in the Atlantic was certainly a far cry from the relatively quiet time in the Pacific /New theatres, 1942. Chapter 11. From the bridge above came the captain's command--Abandon Ship!' /The Mediterranean, 1942-43. Chapter 12. The winter, the sea -- these were the enemy /From rough to ready, 1943. Chapter 13. It's morale that's important /Corvette life and characters. Chapter 14. There was no flash -- just a huge wall of water into the sky /The Slogging continues, 1944. Chapter 15. A few days later we learned that we had been searching for Glenn Miller...No wreckage was ever found /The English channel, 1944-45. Chapter 16. The war is Over! Splice the main brace /war's end to present. Bibliography. Index.

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Author Information

Mac Johnston has recently retired from his post as Editor and General Manager of Legion Magazine . He has travelled extensively to Canadian battle sites, war cemeteries and memorials around the world. Mac is well regarded and well connected in the universe of the Canadian military. He is a former parliamentary reporter and past member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. He resides in Ottawa.

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