naval affairs

NAC News – Edition 306 HMCS Swansea

NAC News – Edition 306 HMCS Swansea

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of May 24, 2019

Fellow Members:

Rod Hughes

Editor NAC News  rhughes@shaw.ca(comments welcome to help improve this service)

Contact David Soule executivedirector-nac@outlook.comif you wish someone (who may be a member or perhaps a good candidate to join) to be added to the NAC News email distribution.

★   Editor’s stars of the week

Keep in touch with the NAC

If you are receiving NAC News, but are not a member, please consider joining NAC         https://www.navalassoc.ca/branches/joining-membership-renewal/

Link to Starshell Magazine  https://www.navalassoc.ca/naval-affairs/starshell/

Other Interesting Web Sites  https://www.navalassoc.ca/naval-affairs/links/

Archived weekly NAC New Links  http://nac-vi.ca/news/

Should you wish to donate – NAC Endowment Fund  https://www.navalassoc.ca/national/nac-endowment-fund/

Keep in touch with the RCN

TWITTER      @RCN_MRC  @Comd_MARPAC  @MARPAC   @RCN_MARLANT                           #RCNavy or #MarineRC

YouTube         Royal Canadian Navy or Marine royale canadienne

flickr               Royal Canadian Navy / Marine royale canadienne

vimeo https://vimeo.com/thenavylamarine

NOTICES

  • Go Fund Me for Mark Norman (Editor – read past updates of the plan for the fund from Lee Hammond, and a personal thankyou from Mark Norman.  Note – for good reasons the fund raising continues.  $441,460 of $500K raised by 3,536 people over 16 months –  https://ca.gofundme.com/51lc5d4
  • Lt(N) Hampton (Hammy) Gray Memorial Fund- A fund for a memorial in honour of “Hammy” Gray to grace a newly designed entrance to the BC Aviation Museum in Sidney, B.C. is underway. $25,000 is needed to make the plan a reality. NAC-VI has agreed to accept donations on behalf of the project. Should you wish to donate, a cheque made payable to NAC-VI, can be mailed to the: Naval Association of Canada – Vancouver Island, Box 5221, Victoria BC V8R 6N4.  Please write Lt Gray Memorial on the memo line and include a return address as tax receipt and thank you letter will be forwarded. You can find more detail below in “Scuttlebutt”.
  • CANSEC 2019 – Canada’s Premier Defence and Security Show – May 29-30 to be held at the EY Exhibition Centre (near Ottawa airport).  https://www.defenceandsecurity.ca/events/details&evtID=343
  • Navy Bike Ride 2019 – June 8, Ottawa/Gatineau – Check out this fun family event.  http://navybikeride.ca
  • 2019 Maritime Gala Ball – Saturday, June 15, 2019 Hilton Lac Leamy Gatineau QC – This event, supported by the Commander of the RCN and the Commissioner of the CCG, will celebrate the many successes of our Canadian Maritime community.  Tickets on sale at https://www.navalassoc.ca/occasions/maritime-gala-ball-2019-15-june-2019/
  • NOABC 100thAnniversary and 2019 NAC Conference–2 – 6 October in Vancouver. Details for travel arrangements and a broad programme overvieww can be found below.  A detailed daily schedule is forthcoming.  https://www.navalassoc.ca/occasions/noabc-100th-anniversary-and-nac-special-meeting-2-6-october-2019/

CANADA

USA & AMERICAS

INDO-PACIFIC

ATLANTIC & EUROPE

MIDDLE EAST

GLOBAL INTERESTS

SCUTTLEBUTT

  • Lt(N) Hampton (Hammy) Gray Memorial Fund  – A place for Hammy Gray (Editor – details drawn from Starshell)  A retired RCN sailor Joe Buczkowski felt strongly that we must erect a memorial to Hammy here in Victoria so that young Canadians in the future may know of Hammy Gray’s bravery and sacrifice.  The memorial cairn will be black marble with etchings of Hammy and his Corsair aircraft.  The memorial will be set in a landscaped area of quiet reflection at a newly designed entrance to the BC Aviation Museum in Sidney, B.C.  $25,000 is needed to make the plan a reality.  The Naval Association of Canada (NAC) Endowment Fund has donated $2,500. NAC-VI has agreed to accept donations on behalf of the project, and the NAC-VI Treasurer (Diana Dewar) is holding the funds donated to the Lt(N) Hampton (Hammy) Gray Memorial Fund.  Should you wish to donate, a cheque should be mailed to the: Naval Association of Canada – Vancouver Island, Box 5221, Victoria BC V8R 6N4.  The cheque should be made payable to the NAC-VI and write Lt Gray Memorial on the memo line. Please include a return address as tax receipt and thank you letter will be forwarded.
  • Western Approaches – the bunker from which they won the war (Editor – Lengthy but interesting video) https://youtu.be/lVWw628Mkac
  • How the Japanese Carriers were so effective (Editor – a quirky video but good points raised)  https://youtu.be/a8U3rkTXAlM

SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES May

(Month by month building a comprehensive list of significant RCN/Maritime events – if you see any glaring omissions or errors please inform me, and any more modern significant dates are welcomed.  The list currently draws from LEGION magazine, the Directory of History and Heritage’s comprehensive “Significant Dates in Canadian Military History”, and the “Canada Channel”)

  • 1 May 1961  415 Maritime Patrol Squadron is reformed at Summerside, Prince Edward Island, flying Argus maritime patrol aircraft.
  • 3 May 1937   A Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve half-company was authorized in Thunder Bay (Port Arthur at the time) and later developed into HMCS Griffon, the current local Naval Reserve unit.
  • 4 May 1910   The Canadian Navy, later redesignated as the Royal Canadian Navy, is authorized after Royal assent is given to the Naval Service Act of Canada.
  • 4 May 1911   Her Majesty’s Dockyard Esquimalt is transferred from British to Canadian authorities.
  • 4 May 1945  The cruiser HMCS Uganda sails with an American task force to bombard Japanese airfields as part of the Okinawa campaign.
  • 7 May 1944  HMCS Valleyfield, a frigate, is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-548 in the Atlantic Ocean with a loss of 125 sailors.
  • 8 May 1942  U Boat 553 is the first enemy submarine to enter the Gulf of St. Lawrence to attack Canadian shipping.
  • 8 May 1967  The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act is given Royal assent and begins the process of unification of the previously-separate Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force.
  • 10 May1918  For his actions at Ostend, Belgium, Rowland Bourke of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve earns the Victoria Cross.
  • 12 May 1942  The German submarine U-553 sinks the steamers Nicoya and Leto between Gaspe and Anticosti island.
  • 12 May 1945  HMCS Victoriaville (frigate) escorts the surrendered U-Boat 190 into Bay Bulls, Newfoundland.
  • 13 May 1943  HMCS Drumheller, HMS Lagan and an aircraft from the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 423 Squadron combine to sink the German submarine U-753 in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 13 May 1945  German submarine U-899 officially surrendered to the Royal Canadian Navy near Shelburne, N. S. becomes the only German sub to surrender in Canadian waters during Second World War.
  • 14 May 1917 Lieutenant R. Leckie, Royal Naval Air Service, flying a Curtiss H-12 flying boat shoots down the German Zeppelin L.22 over England.
  • 15 May 1941  Ten corvettes in UK shipyards are formally commissioned as RCN ships.
  • 16 May 1945   HMCS MATANE is sent to escort 14 surrendered U-Boats from Trondheim to Loch Eriboll.
  • 17 May 1963  Approval is given for the Royal Canadian Navy to begin work on the first Canadian military hydrofoil, HMCS Bras D’Or.
  • 18 May 1914  The Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR) is authorized as part of the Royal Canadian Navy.
  • 21 May 1917  The Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) is established by Royal Charter.
  • 21 May 1939  King George VI unveils the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
  • 22 May 1931  HMCS SAGUENAY is commissioned at Portsmouth-one of the first ships built for the RCN.
  • 24 May 1941   HMS Hood is sunk by the Bismarck in the Denmark Straits: three Canadian midshipmen serving on the battle cruiser are killed.
  • 30 May 1939   King George VI presented his Color to the RCN in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, B. C.