naval affairs

NAC News – Edition 315 HMCS New Glasgow (River Class)

NAC News – Edition 315 HMCS New Glasgow (River Class)

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of July 26, 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  https://www.navalassoc.ca/naval-affairs/nac-news/
TWITTER – @navalassn
Should you wish to donate– 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

CANADA

USA & AMERICAS

INDO-PACIFIC

EUROPE

MIDDLE EAST

GLOBAL INTERESTS 

SCUTTLEBUTT

  • Commemorative Air Force salutes Her Majesty The Queen and military veterans(Editor – for the naval aviators, fun videos at the end)
  • Video: Superyacht Strikes Pier, Destroys Sailboat in Port of Leuca(Editor – for all you sailboat owners)
  • The submarine that sank a train: the U.S.S. Barb(Editor – a truly astonishing submarine wartime story)
  • The Strange Story of Hermann Göring’s Yacht
  • The Memory Project is expanding!    (Editor – The Memory Project Speakers Bureau is expanding! An initiative of Historica Canada, The Memory Project is a volunteer speakers bureau that arranges for veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members to share their stories of military service at school and community events across the country.  The speakers have reached 2.5 million Canadians since 2001. The Project receives requests year-round from across the country.  This is a great opportunity for you to share your story, your way and bring history to life for Canadians.  Every veteran has a story to tell.  If this volunteer opportunity is of any interest to you or anyone you know, please fill out the linked Become a Speaker form.  They would like to send you some of their promotional materials to help spread the word.  Please let them know if you prefer printed or digital materials, and where to send them.)
  • 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.

SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – July

(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 July 1923 – The Royal Canadian Navy barracks in Halifax, known as HMCS Stadacona, is commissioned.
  • 1 July 1934 – Commodore Percy W. Nelles becomes the first Canadian-born and Canadian-trained Chief of the Naval Staff.
  • 1 July 1944 –MTB 460 (Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat) Lost to a mine in the English Channel.  The commanding officer and 9 men were lost.
  • 2 July 1940 – 861 German and Italian prisoners of war are rescued by HMCS St. Laurent after their transport ship was torpedoed on its way to Canada.
  • 3 July 1944 – Four Canadian motor torpedo boats sink two German merchant ships and damage other vessels in the English Channel.
  • 4 July 1943 – Canadian vessels of the 29th and 65th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotillas conduct raids on the French coast near Cherbourg.
  • 5 July 1950 – HMC Ships Athabaskan, Cayuga and Sioux sail from Esquimalt, British Columbia, to join the United Nations naval forces operating in Korean waters.
  • 6 July 1944 – HMC Ships Ottawa and Kootenay, along with HMS Statice, sink the German submarine U-678 while on patrol in the English Channel.
  • 7 July 1944 – (Canadian Motor Torpedo Boat)  MTB 463 Lost to a mine in the English Channel.  No crew was lost, although 5 men were wounded.
  • 8 July 1954 – Canada’s first icebreaking arctic patrol vessel, HMCS Labrador, is commissioned.
  • 9 July 1914 –  HMCS Rainbow begins preparations for the international seal patrol in the North Pacific Ocean.
  • 10 July 1943 –  Canadian landing craft drop soldiers of the 1st Canadian Division off on the coast of Sicily during the Allied invasion known as Operation HUSKY.
  • 15 July 1950 – HMCS ATHABASKAN, CAYUGA and SIOUX of the Pacific Command depart Esquimalt for Korea.
  • 15 July 1958 – The first review of the Royal Fleet ever held in Canadian waters takes place under the eyes of Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret off the coast of Vancouver Island at Royal Roads.
  • 17 July 1940 – HMCS Skeena rescues the crew of a torpedoed merchant ship, the SS Manipor, in the waters north of Scotland.
  • 19 July 1943 – HMCS HURON (Destroyer) is commissioned at Newcastle on the Tyne, England.
  • 20 July 1944 – HMCS MATANE (frigate) is hit by a German glider bomb off Brest and badly damaged.
  • 23 July 1951 – The Royal Canadian Navy (Reserve) begins recruiting women for service with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (the Wrens) for the first time since the Second World War.
  • 24 July 1917 – The Military Service Act is passed allowing for conscription of single men.
  • 24 July 1942 – HMCS St. Croix sinks the German submarine U-90 while on patrol in the North Atlantic Ocean.
  • 29 July 1948 – HMCS Royal Roads is transformed into a Canadian Service College and begins training flight cadets, as well as naval cadets.
  • 29 July 1972 – HMCS Iroquois, the first of the DDH 280 class destroyers, is commissioned.
  • 31 July 1940 – HMCS Prince Robert, after conversion from a merchant vessel, is commissioned as an armed merchant cruiser.
  • 31 July 1942 – HMCS SKEENA and WETASIWIN sink U-588 in the North Atlantic.
  • 31 July 1942 – The Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service is authorized.