The history of HMCS Sackville.

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Two hundred and ninety-four. Of the Allied naval vessels built during the Second World War, it’s the two hundred and ninety-four small corvettes that came to symbolize the trials and final triumph of the Battle of the Atlantic. All but one lost to time with the veterans who served on them. The single surviving corvette, HMCS Sackville, is a symbolic reminder that history preserved is history remembered.

“The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominant factor throughout the war”

~ Winston Churchill

Sackville was one of 122 corvettes built in the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia shipyards that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the war. Sackville was commissioned Dec. 29, 1941 in Saint John, N.B. and escorted convoys from St. John’s, Nfld. to Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It was one of the original members of the famous Barber Pole Group.

The 205-foot Sackville, named after the town of Sackville, N.B., certainly earned it’s stripes.

Winston Churchill said the Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945) was “the dominant factor throughout the war” and described the quickly constructed corvettes as the “cheap but nasties.”

The Beginning

They were the workhorses of the North Atlantic, escorting convoys and engaging German U-boats to maintain the critical lifeline to Britain. Sackville and it’s sister ships played a significant role in ensuring Allied victory in the Atlantic.

Reservists primarily made up the crews of the 122 Canadian corvettes. They formed the core of the ocean escort groups, defending convoys of merchant vessels from the U-boats. On any given day, dozens of ships carrying food, fuel and other war materials departed Halifax and other East Coast ports for the United Kingdom.

BATTLE

ATLANTIC

OF THE

August 1942

Sackville’s most memorable engagement happened in early August 1942 in the North Atlantic when it engaged three U-boats in a 24-hour period and put two out of action before they were able to escape.

Sackville was then under the command of Lieutenant Commander Alan Easton, DSC (author of ’50 North’). As part of a western bound convoy 250 miles east of Newfoundland, it encountered a U-boat on the surface. At a range of less than a quarter mile, it fired a starshell and forced the U-boat to crash-dive.

It then steamed into the swirl of water left by the submerging U-boat and fired a pattern of depth charges. The powerful blast threw the U-boat to the surface before it slipped back into the water and disappeared.

And 90 minutes later, Sackville engaged another surfaced U-boat in a lethal ballet. When Sackville zigged to ram, the U-boat zigged to avoid, but not before Sackville fired a four-inch shell that punched a large hole in the base of the conning tower forcing the sub to return to port.

September 1943

In September 1943, Sackville came under attack as part of another escort group for the combined westbound convoys ON 202 and ONS 18. During the engagement, the U-boats sank several merchant ships and four escorts including HMCS St Croix, all with a heavy loss of life. During the action, Sackville was rocked by an explosion that severely damaged it’s number one boiler, probably caused by one of the corvette’s depth charges detonating a torpedo close alongside.

When efforts to make repairs were unsuccessful, it was decided to take Sackville from active service, remove the defective boiler and use it as a training ship for HMCS Kings officer training establishment and harbour loop layer. After the cessation of hostilities, Canada’s other corvettes were sold to other navies or scrapped but Sackville was converted and continued to serve as a naval and civilian oceanographic research vessel until it was paid off in 1982.

KI81

Preserving a symbolic piece of history.

In 1983 the Naval Officers Association of Canada took the lead and the volunteer Canadian Naval Memorial Trust (CNMT) was established to acquire and restore Sackville to it’s 1944 configuration. CNMT has more than 1000 trustees in Canada and abroad and its mission is to preserve Sackville as a memorial to those who gave of themselves or their lives in service to Canada. It continues to be a symbol of a defining national achievement in winning the war at sea.

In 1985, the Government of Canada designated Sackville as Canada’s Naval Memorial to honour the 2,000 sailors who lost their lives at sea and to honour all generations of Canadian sailors including those who continue to serve.

Each year the ship welcomes thousands of visitors at it’s summer berth next to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on the Halifax waterfront. In the winter, it’s berthed in HMC Dockyard and throughout the year it supports various naval, community, youth and corporate events and activities.

Visitors can experience life aboard a Flower Class corvette through displays, artifacts and audio-visual presentations, and learn of the pivotal role of the RCN in the Battle of the Atlantic. During the hostilities, the navy expanded from 3,500 regular and reserve members and a dozen ships in 1939 to 100,000 members and more than 400 ships by 1945.

On June 29, 2010 in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the RCN, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh visited Sackville during the International Fleet Review in Halifax and unveiled a plaque to mark the significance of Canada’s Naval Memorial. In August 2011, Governor General David Johnston, patron of the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust, toured the ship and met with veterans and other trustees.

HMCS Sackville is an iconic symbol of the Battle of the Atlantic and the sacrifice of those who gave their lives and of all those who served and continue to serve Canada at sea. Planning is underway to ensure the long-term preservation and operation of the ship. You can help us in our mission by donating to preserve HMCS Sackville.

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