REMEMBERING

HMCS Ottawa leaving Halifax harbour, September 1940 Photo: Courtesy of Public Archives of Canada H206

Remembering the tragic loss of HMCS Ottawa

Sketch of HMCS Ottawa torpedoed and sinking, September 1942. Artist: L.B. Jenson, c 1986.

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By Kevan Pipe

By the end of the Second World War, Canada possessed the fourth largest navy in the world. From six ships and fewer than 4,000 personnel in 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) expanded exponentially in just six years to 95,000 members and 434 commissioned vessels. These ships ranged from auxiliaries to cruisers and included more than 120 corvettes, which sailed mostly on trans-Atlantic convoy duty. There were also six River-class destroyers, all named after the majestic rivers of Canada.

The tragedy that struck one of those ships, HMCS Ottawa, was one of Canada’s worst-ever naval losses. On September 13, 1942, 80 years ago this month, the destroyer was torpedoed by a German submarine in the North Atlantic with the loss of 114 brave young sailors as well as 20 merchant-marine sailors who had been rescued from the Empire Oil tanker after it was torpedoed just days before. In total, 134 souls were lost on that fateful night, 930 kilometres due east of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Among the casualties: a Glebe resident, 22-year-old Sub-lieutenant Keith Wright; the ship’s commanding officer, 28-year-old C.A (Larry) Rutherford of Halifax; and the ship’s doctor, Surgeon Lt(N) George Hendry of Toronto. Amazingly, 69 fortunate survivors were plucked out of the frigid waters by nearby ships, 65 from the Ottawa and four from the Empire Oil.

HMCS Ottawa was commissioned in May 1932 at the famed dockyards in Portsmouth, England as HMS Crusader of the Royal Navy. Six years later, she and three similar destroyers were sold to the Royal Canadian Navy as the ominous clouds of war gathered on the horizon. The Crescent-class destroyer was 100 meters long with a beam of just over 10 meters. With a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 kms), her cruising speed was 28 km/h with an initial crew of 145 officers and sailors, but she could reach maximum speed of 67 km/ hr in battle conditions.

HMS Crusader was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on June 15, 1938, and re-named HMCS Ottawa as a River-class destroyer, alongside the St. Laurent, Fraser and Restigouche. The Ottawa was dispatched to Canada’s west coast but was ordered back to Halifax when war broke out in September 1939. These River-class ships were the critical backbone of Canada’s destroyer fleet, leading the Mid-Ocean Escort Force throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. The Ottawa escorted convoys of supply ships to England and back for re-supply for six long years, usually crewed now by 10 officers and 171 sailors.

Her first trans-Atlantic crossing was in December 1939 when she escorted the convoy carrying half of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to England (including Private Arthur Campbell Wilkinson, a Glebe resident). Heavily armed, she carried torpedo tubes, depth charges and various forms of gunnery, including both anti-aircraft and a main 4.7-inch gun. In August 1940, the Ottawa began serving principally in the North Atlantic 10th Escort Group based out of Greenock on the Clyde in Scotland and was involved in multiple rescues of survivors from torpedoed merchant-marine ships. On November 8, 1940, alongside HMS Harvester, she was credited with sinking the Italian submarine Commandante Faa di Bruno, which was attacking a convoy.

The Ottawa was ordered back to Canada in June 1941 as part of the RCN Newfoundland Escort Force, and it escorted six separate convoys to and from Iceland into January 1942. That May, she was transferred to the MidOcean Escort Force Group C 4, escorting convoys to and from Londonderry on the perilous journey between Newfoundland and Northern Ireland. That route including crossing the dangerous “Black Pit” in the mid-Atlantic, an area which was out of range of protective air patrols and where most ships were targeted by enemy submarines.

Convoy ON127 was departing Londonderry on September 5. The newest form of surface radar was to have been installed on the Ottawa prior to departure; however, late arrival of the equipment and the need to depart on time meant the ship sailed without upgraded protection.

With HMCS St. Croix acting as lead escort, the convoy was discovered by a “wolfpack” of 13 German U-boat submarines five days into the dangerous twoweek crossing. Two tankers were sunk that afternoon and several more merchant ships were lost that night, with Ottawa rescuing 24 survivors when the Empire Oil was sunk. The convoy fought hard to avoid being scattered and tried to keep the German subs from surfacing as it raced towards the area where air cover from Newfoundland would resume. On September 11 and 12, this ferocious battle continued, and more ships were lost. On the afternoon of September 13, spirits must have risen as the first airplane from Newfoundland arrived briefly, forcing a surfaced U-boat to submerge.

That night, HMCS Ottawa was getting dangerously low on fuel and supplies but had taken the lead position as two new escorts, HMS Witch and HMCS Annapolis, arrived to beef up convoy defences and to relieve Ottawa from duty so she could return immediately to port for refueling along with HMCS St. Croix. Unfortunately, Ottawa’s older radar failed to pick up the low profile of U-91, captained by Heinz Walkerling, which was on the surface – it was a typical strategy to come up after dark because they were faster on the surface. At 23:03, U-91 fired one torpedo which hit the Ottawa two minutes later, effectively destroying her front end, though she remained afloat.

The St. Croix, 4,000 meters away, spotted the attack and immediately raced to assist the Ottawa, stopping along the way to try to pick up survivors. U-91 waited for this and fired another torpedo at the St. Croix at 23:18. Amazingly, the torpedo went under the St. Croix, but hit the Ottawa, breaking her in two, causing her to sink within minutes.

The 69 survivors were rescued by escort ships as the convoy sailed by. Fortunately, they were in the gulf stream, so the water temperature was a relatively warm 15 degrees Celsius; had it been less than 100 kilometres north, the frigid waters of the North Atlantic would have made it difficult to survive more than a few minutes.

As it was, it took more nearly five hours to pluck them all from the water. They were taken aboard the St. Croix as well as HMCS Arvida and HMS Celandine, then transported to St. John’s for medical care and recuperation.

As documented in the inquiry held weeks later, if the upgraded radar had been installed prior to departure, HMCS Ottawa likely would have picked up the surfaced U-boat. As a result, the RCN made it a priority to outfit all ships with this new radar as soon as possible.

HMCS Ottawa ship’s company in June 1942 Photo: Courtesy of Naval Museum of Manitoba

The lost souls of HMCS Ottawa and all others lost at sea (2,852 in total, both naval and merchant marine) during the Battle of the Atlantic are remembered at the Halifax Memorial in Point Pleasant Park overlooking the approach to the harbour.

HMCS Ottawa lives on in today’s Royal Canadian Navy. There have now been three more ships named Ottawa. H31, a G-class destroyer was named in April 1943, and DDH 229, a new destroyer, served from 1956 to 1992. The Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa 341, commissioned in 1996 in Cornwall as the 12th and final ship of Canadian Patrol Frigate Project, continues to sail the world, serving Canada proudly. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific with her home port in Esquimalt, B.C.

Present day HMCS Ottawa sails the world assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific, with her home port in Esquimalt, B.C. Photo: Courtesy of Government of Canada HMCS Ottawa - Canada.ca

For additional information, St. Matthew’s Anglican Church has a copy of the 2007 book, Our Gallant Doctor – Enigma and Tragedy: Surgeon Lieutenant George Hendry and HMCS Ottawa, 1942, by James Goodwin. It tells the story of the Ottawa in detail as well as the personal misfortune of Dr. Hendry. It is available for reading.

Kevan Pipe is a Glebe resident and member of St Matthew’s Anglican Church communications committee.

VOTE! Get out and

Keith Francis Wright, Glebe resident and St Matthew’s choir member, killed on September 13, 1942, in the sinking of HMCS Ottawa.

Remembering Keith Francis Wright

By Kevan Pipe

Keith Wright was born March 8, 1920, the son of Captain Athol Wright, a veteran of the First World War, and Olive Wright. The family lived at 160 Third Avenue. Keith had three older brothers and attended both Mutchmor Public School and Glebe Collegiate. The family attended St. Matthew’s Anglican Church where Keith sang in the choir.

In 1933, the Wrights moved to Jasper, Alberta where Athol worked as superintendent of Jasper National Park. Keith completed high school in Jasper, graduating in 1938, when the family returned to Ottawa, residing at 85 Grove Avenue in Old Ottawa South.

He entered McGill University in Montreal that fall and joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps on Dec. 17, 1940. He also joined Kappa Rho Tau fraternity on campus. He was enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering (mechanical) Class of ’42 and after writing his third-year exams, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve as a naval engineer on March 5, 1941, just two months after his father passed away. Keith passed his training courses at Kings College, Halifax and was designated as a probationary Sub. Lt., RCNVR in December 1941. He sailed on HMS Mauritius to Singapore and South Africa before being assigned to HMCS Ottawa in 1942.

On September 13 that year, HMCS Ottawa was escorting a westbound convoy across the North Atlantic when it was hit by two torpedoes fired two minutes apart by German submarine U-19. The Ottawa sank. One hundred and fourteen men died, almost two thirds of the crew. Keith Wright was among the victims. He was last seen by the ship’s captain in the wardroom when the destroyer was first attacked. The family was advised four days later that Keith was lost at sea; a month later, it was confirmed he was killed in action. His body was never recovered. He was just 22. (Interestingly, the U-91 captain Heinz Walkerling survived three separate tours of U-boat duty in 1942-43, sinking five ships in total, and was then assigned to torpedo school as an instructor for the balance of the war. He lived until September 16, 2001.)

In June 1943, in a service presided over by the Bishop of Ottawa, a brass, processional cross was dedicated in memory of chorister Keith Francis Wright and donated to the church by his mother. She told the Ottawa Journal, “My feeling of pride in his service and sacrifice overshadows my sorrow. I am so proud of my boy because he has not lost his life but has given it, and in giving it, he has saved others.”

Wright is remembered at Halifax’s Naval War Memorial – his name is engraved alongside those of the other 2,851 Canadian Navy sailors and merchant mariners who lost their lives at sea during the Battle of the Atlantic. He is also remembered at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Glebe Collegiate and McGill University.

Kevan Pipe is a Glebe resident and member of St Matthew’s Anglican Church communications committee.

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Thirty Years Ago in the Glebe Report

This retrospective is filed bi-monthly by Ian McKercher of the Glebe Historical Society. The society welcomes the donation or loan (for copying) of any item documenting Glebe history (photographs, maps, surveys, news articles, posters, programs, memorabilia, etc.). Contact Ian at 613-235-4863 or ian.s.mckercher@gmail.com. Note: All back issues of the Glebe Report to June 1973 can be viewed on the Glebe Report website at www.glebereport.ca under the PAST ISSUES menu.

Market value assessment

In anticipation of the October 14, 1992 Regional Council vote on Market Value Assessment (MVA), the September 18,1992 Glebe Report was dominated by nine submissions. In favour of MVA: 0, against MVO: 9.

The front-page article by Inez Berg carried the headline “MVA – Get the facts, figures and fight it!” Readers were encouraged to attend upcoming public meetings to voice their opinions, and directions were given on effectively lobbying regional councillors.

Her editorial advocated postponing the vote on MVA until after the Ontario Fair Tax Commission submitted its final report in 1993.

Lengthy letters-to-the-editor denounced MVA. Ilsa Kyssa argued that MVA would have a devastating effect on pensioners and low-income earners whose house values may have gone up, but the ability to pay increased taxes could only be realized if owners sold their homes.

Doug McKeen of the Glebe Business Group wrote that MVA was an unfair, unjust tax, and small, independently owned family business in the Glebe would experience tax increases which would far exceed their potential profits.

Henry Drystek insisted that MVAs were inflated. The home he purchased in 1988 was assessed for $50,000 more than he actually paid for it because the assessment office averaged sales prices in an area and disregarded particular sales they considered unusually low.

Judy and Dick Peacocke pointed out that assessing a $200,000 house in Kanata the same as a $200,000 house in the Glebe seemed fair but was not. The Kanata house was almost assuredly on a larger lot, would consume more and newer services (roads, lighting, garbage collection, sewer and water lines, etc.) which Glebe residents had been paying taxes to cover for years.

GCA President Beatrice Raffoul proposed that MVA should be combatted relentlessly. Councillor Jim Watson stated that if MVA was approved, 88 per cent of the people in Capital Ward would see their taxes go up.

Ian Lee and David Webber stated that “the proposed MVA is unjust, inequitable and unfair, for it penalizes homeowners, young people with large mortgages and people who improve their homes and take pride in their community.”

Two separate articles on the negative aspects of MVA had earlier dominated the June 1992 Glebe Report.

Watson outlined how MVA could have a negative impact on the Glebe. He explained that current (1992) property taxes were based on 1980 assessments. The proposed changes would see taxes calculated based on the current market value of each property. Mr. Watson stated that “market value assessment was an unfair tax system, particularly for people on fixed incomes.”

Jim McCarthy’s front-page article went into more detail on “the evils of MVA in older neighbourhoods.” He wrote that 88.6 per cent of residential properties in Capital Ward would experience tax increases. He felt MVA was particularly unfair to long-term residents, lower income property owners, the elderly and tenants. It penalizes owners for improving their properties, contrary to the best interests of the community. It taxes potential but unrealized capital gains and bears no relationship to the municipal services consumed. He felt MVA was expensive, flawed and required much subjective judgement on the part of assessors.

by Ian McKercher

Volume 21, Number 8, September 18, 1992 (36 pages)

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