naval affairs

NAC News – Edition 361

NAC News – Edition 361

Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of June 12th 2020

Edition –  361   “It cannot be too often repeated that the modern war, and especially in modern naval war, the chief factor in achieving triumph is what has been done in the way of thorough preparation and training before the beginning of the war.”  Theodore Roosevelt address to US Naval Academy, 1902  (Editor – timeless)

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

Contact David Soule executivedirector-nac@outlook.com if 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 or leave a memorial – NAC Endowment Fund

NAC reference to assist veterans and/or seniors is located at Veteran’s Corner

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

  • ★★★ NAC National AGM:  Tuesday 16 June 2020 at 1200 Ottawa time (via GoToMeeting)  Details including background material, agenda, and proxy nomination/ballot forms are posted to the NAC National website.  I encourage all members to at least send in your “vote” and proxy holder nomination in case you cannot participate. This is your NAC membership right! Details in regard GoToMeeting login will be sent no later than Monday AM 15 June.
  • Navy Bike Ride 2020 – Battle of the Atlantic Challenge: This is a virtual event and you can register thru the summer. The event runs 13 June to 30 August 2020.  Check it out! While the original one-day ride event was cancelled, this virtual bike ride event is a great opportunity to support your Navy, support their charities of choice and keep fit. Check it out! Your NAC will be a sponsor – an Orca class sponsor! And it is free! (but do feel free to step up and buy the tee and while you are at it – donate to their charities of choice!)
  • Vanguard Launches First-Ever Canadian Submarine Event  (Editor – The next big RCN procurement challenge!  The Deep Blue 2020 Forum, a one-day event, will take place on 29 October 2020, details to follow)

___________________________________

CANADA

___________________________________

USA & AMERICAS

____________________________________

INDO-PACIFIC

___________________________________

EUROPE

___________________________________

MIDDLE EAST

_______________________________

GLOBAL INTERESTS

_______________________________

SCUTTLEBUTT

__________________________________

SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – JUNE ( A busy month!)

(If you see any omissions or errors please inform me, and any more modern significant dates are also welcomed.  The list draws primarily from the Directory of History and Heritage’s comprehensive “Significant Dates in Canadian Military History”, the now defunct “Canada Channel”, “Legion Magazine”, Roger Litwiller’s excellent web site, the encyclopedic guidance from Fraser McKee, and anywhere else I can find credible information.)

  • 1 June 1758  Vice Admiral Edward Boscawen of the Royal Navy arrives at Gabarus Bay, 10 km west of Louisbourg, just after midnight in dense fog from Halifax, Nova Scotia; with thirty nine warships, supply ships and ten transports, crowded with 13,000 regular troops, Highlanders, light infantry, rangers, and colonial militia. The expedition is commanded by Maj Gan General Jeffery Amherst, with his field commander, Brig Gen James Wolfe; the British do not attempt to land troops until June 8 because of heavy surf.
  • 1 June 1758 – A British fleet, under Admiral Saunders, leaves Louisbourg for Quebec carrying James Wolfe and his army.
  • 1 June 1813  HMS Shannon, Captain Philip Broke, captures USS Chesapeake, Captain James Lawrence, in a 15 minute fire fight off Boston harbour; tows her to Halifax; naval battle sees 48 American sailors killed, 23 British. Boston, Massachusetts
  • 1 June 1831  Sir James Ross first discovers the position of the North Magnetic Pole on the west coast of Boothia Peninsula; takes possession of the North Magnetic Pole and adjoining territory in the name of King William IV, and erects a cairn; spends his third Arctic winter in Victoria Harbour. Boothia, Nunavut
  • 1 June 1840  Samuel Cunard navigates his 700 ton wooden paddlewheel steamer Unicorn to Halifax; after two week trip from Liverpool with 27 passengers. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1 June 1876  The Royal Military College of Canada opens in Kingston, Ontario, with a class of eighteen cadets.
  • 1 June 1943  HMCS Conestoga is commissioned in Galt, Ontario, as the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service training establishment.
  • 1 June 1943  The first German mines are swept in the approaches to Halifax harbour.
  • 1 June 1968  Canada signs Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty along with the US, Britain, USSR and 57 other countries. United Nations, New York
  • 1 June 2004  United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti assumes responsibility for supporting transitional government and reforming national police force; Canadian police and military personnel to play a major role. Port-au-Prince, Haiti
  • 2 June 1891  Shipping – RMS Empress of Japan is the second of the Canadian Pacific Steamships “Empress” ships to arrive at Vancouver harbour, via the Suez Canal and Hong Kong; Canadian Pacific Steamships had signed a contract for subsidized mail service between Britain and Hong Kong via Canada. Vancouver, BC
  • 3 June 1910  The Honourable Louis P. Brodeur is appointed the first Minister of the Naval Service.
  • 3 June 1963  Canada declares 12 Mile Limit; (19.3 km) exclusive fisheries zone off the Canadian coast; effective May, 1964. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 3 June 1991  Letters Patents are published for an insignia denoting Mentions in Despatches.
  • 4 June 1742  The first warship built in New France called the CANADA is launched.
  • 4 June 1812  US Congress votes for war against Britain; the conflict will begin June 18, 1812, when President James Madison officially proclaims the United States to be at war.
  • 4 June 1976  Canada declares it is extending its 12-nautical-mile coastal fishing zone to 370 km (200 nautical miles) offshore fisheries jurisdiction zone, effective January 1, 1977; mature northern cod were estimated at 75 million, down from 900 million in 1962; Canada to set numbers of fish harvested and quotas for foreign fleets, because fish stocks are being depleted by new technologies such as sonar and freezing facilities which let the ships stay at sea longer.
  • 5 June 1741 -Vitus Bering sails from Kamchatka Peninsula to explore North America.
  • 5 June 1792  Spanish navigators Dionisio Galiano and Cayetano Valdés leave Nootka Sound and sail into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, reaching Puerto de Núñez Gaona (Neah Bay, Washington), where a Spanish post is being built by Salvador Fidalgo.
  • 5 June 1944  Sixteen RCN minesweepers help clear the English Channel in preparation for the D-Day landings.
  • 6 June 1943  HMCS Prince Robert is recommissioned as an anti-aircraft cruiser.
  • 6 June 1944  Approximately one hundred and ten Canadian warships participate in the Allied landings in Normandy.
  • 7 June 1942  The US merchant ship Coast Trader torpedoed by Japanese Navy submarine I-26 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca inside Canadian waters; the vessel had set off from Port Angeles, Washington, bound for San Francisco with a cargo of 1,250 tons of newsprint in its hold; wreck discovered in 2013 survey by the Canadian Hydrographic Service, organized by Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard, using a remote-controlled robotic submarine; the same Japanese submarine will shell the Estevan Point lighthouse a few days later.
  • 7 June 1958  HMCS Restigouche is commissioned as the first of a class of destroyer escorts meant to replace the St. Laurent class.
  • 7 June 1965  Department of National Defence replaces navy, army, and air force commands with six functional commands. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 8 June 1893  Steamship Mower arrives in Victoria B.C. from Sydney, Australia; first steamer of the Canadian Australian Line.
  • 9 June 1789  Spanish captain Estebán José Martínez captures trader John Meares’ schooner Northwest America in Nootka Sound near Vancouver Island.
  • 9 June 1941 World War II – HMCS Saskatoon is commissioned in Esquimalt.
  • 9 June 1944  HMCS Haida commanded by Cdr Harry G. DeWolf, DSO, RCN, HMCS Huron commanded by LCdr Herbert S. Rayner, DSC, RCN, and other destroyers from the 10th Destroyer Flotilla sank the German destroyers ZH1 and Z32 in the English Channel.
  • 10 June 1803  Warship HMS Dart carries the so-called Garrison clock (“old town clock”) to Halifax, N.S.; ordered by Prince Edward, it will be installed October 20 in a building built for it on the eastern slope of Citadel Hill.
  • 10 June 1878  Fort Rodd Hill built to protect Esquimalt in the event of a war with Russia.
  • 10 June 1910  Rear-Admiral Charles E. Kingsmill, RN (Retired), is appointed the Director of the Naval Service.
  • 10 June 1931  HMCS SKEENA commissioned at Portsmouth – one of the first ships built for the RCN.
  • 10 June 1940  The Canadian government declares war on Italy.
  • 11 June 1813  Nova Scotia privateering vessel, Liverpool Packet, owned by Enos Collins and associates, is captured by American privateer schooner Thomas; the schooner is re-named the Portsmouth Packet, until it is regained by HMS Fantome and HMS Epervier after a 13-hour chase, in October 1813.
  • 11 June 1940  Canadian warships come under fire for the first time when HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Restigouche encounter German warships at St. Valery en Caux.
  • 11 June 1940  HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Restigouche evacuate military personnel from Le Havre, France, exchanging gunfire with German artillery batteries in the process.
  • 11 June 1944 HMCS Sioux commanded by A/LCdr Eric E.G. Boak, RCN with Polish destroyers sank (schnellboot)S-136 off Normandy.
  • 11 June 1999  The United Nations sets up peacekeeping mission, including 600 Canadians consisting of HMCS Protecteur, an infantry company, and transport planes to support the mission in East Timor.  Operation Toucan will help organize elections, support the new government and establish the rule of law; Canadian participation ends February 23, 2000.
  • 13 June 1940  The Honourable Charles Gavan Power is appointed Minister of Department of National Defence.
  • 13 June 1941  Newfoundland’s sea defences are brought under Canadian control with the appointment of Commodore L.W. Murray, RCN, as the commander of Newfoundland Force.
  • 14 June 1941  Warships of the Newfoundland Escort Force begin convoy escort operations in the North Atlantic Ocean.
  • 15 June 1920  The demobilization of the wartime RCN is completed with the disbandment of the Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve.
  • 15 June 1938 – HMCS Ottawa is commissioned at Chatham, England.
  • 15 June 1940  The Erik Boye is sunk by submarine U38 in passage off Land’s End thereby becoming the first Canadian flagged merchant ship to be sunk as a casualty of the Battle of the Atlantic.
  • 16 June 1921  The Royal Naval College of Canada is closed.
  • 16 June 1943  HMCS Waskesiu is commissioned into the RCN, becoming the first of sixty RCN frigates built in Canada.
  • 17 June 1991  The Government of Canada announces the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea and the Gulf and Kuwait medal.
  • 19 June 1812  The United States formally declares war against Great Britain.
  • 19 June 1951  HMCS Cayuga begins the second of three tours to Korea.
  • 20 June 1923  HMCS Brunswicker, a current day Naval Reserve Division, was raised as a RCN Volunteer Reserve half-company in Saint John, NB.
  • 20 June 1942  HMCS Edmundston (corvette) rescues 31 crewmembers from the SS Fort Camosun that had been disabled by a Japanese submarine near the Washington coast.
  • 21 June 1749  A military expedition led by Colonel Edward Cornwallis arrives at the harbour at Chebucto, NS and establishes the Halifax military base.
  • 21 June 1940  HMCS Fraser evacuates Free French troops and future Canadian Governor-General, Lieutenant-Colonel G.P. Vanier, from France.
  • 21 June 1940  The National Resources Mobilization Act is passed provides for conscription for home defence and registration of all adult males and females.
  • 21 June 2001  Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson unveils the National Aboriginal Monument, Ottawa, to commemorate the sacrifice of aboriginals in both world wars and Korea.
  • 22 June 1940  The last class of RCN Volunteer Reserve officers graduate from HMCS Stone Frigate.
  • 22 June 1967  HMCS ONONDAGA (submarine) commissioned at Chatham Dockyards.
  • 23 June 1919  The Air Board is formed in Canada to control all aspects of aviation, including military.
  • 23 June 1961  The Antarctic Treaty comes into force. The continent is declared a scientific reserve and military activity is banned.
  • 23 June 1968  HMCS OKANAGAN (submarine) commissioned at Chatham Dockyards.
  • 23 June 1995  HMCS Winnipeg Commissioned at Esquimalt BC.
  • 24 June 1762  A French fleet commanded by Chevalier de Ternay captures Bay Bulls and St. John’s, Newfoundland.
  • 24 June 1943  HMCS Sault Ste. Marie is commissioned as the first Algerine-class minesweeper produced for the RCN.
  • 24 June 1944  HMCS Haida commanded by Cdr Harry G. DeWolf, DSO, RCN, with HMS Eskimo and a Royal Air Force patrol aircraft sink the German submarine U-971 in the English Channel.
  • 25 June 1940 HMCS Fraser is lost with 47 crew lost after colliding with a British warship, HMS Calcutta in the Bay of Biscay.
  • 25 June 1965  RAdm Walter Hose is buried at Windsor, Ont.  Considered the founding sponsor of the RCNVR & Naval Reserves post-RNCVR.
  • 25 June 1950  North Korean forces cross the 38th Parallel and invade South Korea and the Korean War starts; nearly 27,000 Canadians serve, 1,558 are wounded, 516 die.
  • 25 June 1963  HMCS Assiniboine is recommissioned as the RCN’s first helicopter-carrying destroyer.
  • 25 June 1994  HMCS SAGUENAY is sunk off Lunenburg as a diving park.
  • 26 June 1923  HMCS Queen, a current day Naval Reserve Division, was raised as a RCN Volunteer Reserve half-company in Regina.
  • 26 June 1959  Canadian warships assigned to Atlantic Command participate in the opening ceremonies of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
  • 27 June 1918  Fourteen nursing sisters are among the 234 who die when the Canadian hospital ship HMHS Llandovery Castle is torpedoed by a U-boat.
  • 28 June 1922  The National Defence Act is passed, incorporating the Department of the Naval Service, the Department of Militia and Defence and the Air Board as a new Department of National Defence.
  • 28 June 1977  HMCS Huron (2nd) represents Canada at the Silver Jubilee naval review at Spithead.
  • 28 June 2001  Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson officially dedicates the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces at Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa.
  • 29 June 1992  HMCS Halifax is commissioned as the first of the new Canadian Patrol Frigates
  • 30 June 1921  HMC Submarines CH-14 and CH-15 are paid off.
  • 30 June 1941  HMCS Wasaga is commissioned, becoming the first Canadian-built Bangor-class minesweeper.
  • 30 June 1950  The Canadian Parliament supports the government motion to assist the United Nations in its position on the Korean situation.