Starshell ‘A little light on what’s going on!’ Volume VII, No. 65 ~ Winter 2013-14 Public Archives of Canada 100 years of submarines in the RCN! National Magazine of The Naval Association of Canada Magazine nationale de L’Association Navale du Canada www.navalassoc.ca Please help us put printing and postage costs to more efficient use by opting not to receive a printed copy of Starshell, choosing instead to read the FULL COLOUR PDF e-version posted on our web site at http:www.nava- Winter 2013-14 lassoc.ca/starshell When each issue is posted, a notice will | Starshell be sent to all Branch Presidents asking them to notify their ISSN 1191-1166 members accordingly. You will also find back issues posted there. To opt out of the printed copy in favour of reading National magazine of The Naval Association of Canada Starshell the e-Starshell version on our website, please contact the Magazine nationale de L’Association Navale du Canada Executive Director at [email protected] today. Thanks! www.navalassoc.ca PATRON • HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh OUR COVER RCN SUBMARINE CENTENNIAL HONORARY PRESIDENT • H. R. (Harry) Steele The two RCN H-Class submarines CH14 and CH15 dressed overall, ca. 1920-22. Built in the US, they were offered to the • RCN by the Admiralty as they were surplus to British needs. PRESIDENT Jim Carruthers, [email protected] See: “100 Years of Submarines in the RCN” beginning on page 4. PAST PRESIDENT • Ken Summers, [email protected] TREASURER • Derek Greer, [email protected] IN THIS EDITION BOARD MEMBERS • Branch Presidents NAVAL AFFAIRS • Richard Archer, [email protected] 4 100 Years of Submarines in the RCN HISTORY & HERITAGE • Dr. Alec Douglas, [email protected] 8 Deal of the Century 12 Perhaps Start with Mahan? HONORARY COUNSEL • Donald Grant, [email protected] 13 Schober’s Quiz #64 ARCHIVIST • Fred Herrndorf, [email protected] 14 From the Bridge (President’s Report) AUSN LIAISON • Fred F. Abbott, [email protected] 16 The Front Desk (Executive Director’s Report) CHAIR ENDOWMENT FUND • Brooke Campbell, [email protected] 17 Mail Call (Letters to the Editor) OBIT RESEARCH • Pat Barnhouse, [email protected] 18 The Briefing Room (news items of interest) WEBMASTER • Robert (Bob) Bush, [email protected] 21 This Will Have to Do (Bob Welland’s Memoirs) – Part 2 24 The Reading Room (Book Reviews) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STARSHELL EDITOR SEC’Y / COMMUNICATIONS 27 Obituaries and In Memoriam George A. Moore Kenneth B. Lait 1871 Primrose Crescent 308 Kennedy Lane E Kamloops BC V1S 0A5 Orleans ON K1E 3M4 Telephone 250-314-1284 Telephone 613-841-4358 Facsimile 250-314-1286 Advertise in Starshell [email protected] [email protected] We are pleased to print camera ready advertisements at the following rates Starshell Magazine is published quarterly by The Naval Association of Canada (NAC) in February, May, August and November. 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Except for copyright material, 1871 Primrose Crescent, Kamloops, BC V1S 0A5 copying and internal circulation to interested officers is encouraged. Non-members may Phone 250-314-1284 • Fax 250-314-1286 subscribe by sending $15 in Canada, $20 elsewhere for each subscription to the Execu- . [email protected] tive Director 2 Starshell | Winter 2013-14 3 One Hundred Years of Winter 2013-14 | Submarines in the RCN Starshell By Michael Young Author’s Note – This article is an adapted and condensed version of a paper written for the Friends of the Canadian War Museum’s historical research project in collaboration with Michael Braham. The original can be found at http://www.friends-amis.org/pdf/RP14_CdnSubmarines.pdf xcept for headline making events Company had two submarines available unteer Reserve (RNCVR) and the tiny such as the tragic accident aboard for sale. Iquique and Antofagasta had been squadron was commanded by a retired HMCS Chicoutimi in 2004, the built for the Chilean Navy but the Chil- British submariner living in Canada who debate over the proposed acqui- eans refused to accept them since there was brought into the RCN. The addi- Esition of nuclear-powered submarines were significant unspecified deficiencies. tion of some technical personnel from the in 1987-88 or the recent problems associ- After three days of negotiating back cruiser Rainbow meant there was a nucle- ated with returning the Victoria-class to and forth between Seattle, Ottawa and us of naval trained personnel. Initially operational status, Canadians tend to be Victoria, in the middle of the night of 4-5 none had any submarine experience so unaware that Canada even possesses, or August 1914, the submarines slipped out training for virtually all hands was nec- has much involvement Maritime Museum of British Columbia essary. with submarines. There The submarines were is even less awareness of placed at the disposal the chequered history of of the British Admiralty submarines in the Royal since, at the time, the Canadian Navy (RCN) fledgling RCN was fully or of the men who served under the operational in them — a history that control of the Royal will celebrate its Centen- Navy (RN), which de- nial in 2014. cided that they should At the outbreak of remain in BC waters World War I in 1914, the for training purposes. miniscule RCN, then just There they stayed un- four years old, had only til the summer of 1917 the old cruiser HMCS when they were ordered Rainbow based in Esqui- to Halifax, NS, together malt for defence of the with their depot ship coastal waters of British HMCS Shearwater. Thus Canada’s first submarines CC1 and CC2 are pictured at Halifax, Nova Sco- Columbia. The Premier they became the first tia ca. 1918. The patrol vessel HMCS Cartier is in the background. of British Columbia, Sir ships to transit the Pan- Richard McBride, was extremely con- of the yard under cover of darkness. After ama Canal flying the White Ensign. They cerned over the lack of naval forces to an inspection by Canadian authorities in languished in Halifax until 1920 when protect BC waters in the event that the Canadian waters off Esquimalt, a cheque they were sold for scrap. German squadron of Admiral Graf von for $1.2 million was handed over in ex- Although some twelve Canadian na- Spee approached the coast; a concern change for possession of the submarines val officers served in submarines during heightened when Rainbow sailed quietly in the early morning of 5 August. The World War I, two in particular served on 3 August to meet the potential threat following day the Canadian government with distinction. B. L. ‘Barney’ Johnson of the German cruiser Leipzig then off ratified the purchase and commissioned was a master mariner and a marine pi- Mexico and apparently heading north. the vessels in the RCN as HMC Ships CC1 lot with the Vancouver Pilotage Author- McBride acted upon his concern and and CC2. ity who was temporarily attached to the on his own initiative. He had learned that Their crews were drawn from volun- RCN in Esquimalt. The temporary attach- the Seattle Dry Dock and Construction teers from the Royal Navy Canadian Vol- ment became permanent for the duration 4 Starshell of the war. He was commissioned as an pressure from the Admiralty, the RCN re- the RN. Twenty-six officers, all from the Acting Lieutenant in the Reserve and ap- luctantly took the two submarines, desig- RCNVR, underwent submarine training pointed as second-in-command of CC2. nating them CH14 and CH15. Although during the years 1942-1944. Of these, | Subsequently, he was appointed to com- some effort was made to keep the sub- three went on to command British sub- Winter 2013-14 mand one of the submarines building for marines operational, they were laid up marines. Two were awarded the Distin- the RN in Montréal.1 He commissioned permanently in June 1922 after the gov- guished Service Cross (DSC) with LCdr H8 in 1915 and took her across the Atlan- ernment refused to approve the annual Freddie Sherwood from Ottawa earning a tic to Britain.