º Volume VII, No. 70, Spring 2015 Starshell ‘A little light on what’s going on!’ CANADA IS A MARITIME NATION A maritime nation must take steps to protect and further its interests, both in home waters and with friends in distant waters. Canada therefore needs a robust and multipurpose Royal Canadian Navy. National Magazine of The Naval Association of Canada Magazine nationale de L’Association Navale du Canada www.navalassoc.ca ON OUR COVER… HMCS Annapolis displaying to full advantage the classic lines of her class. To quote, in part, Macpherson and Barrie (“The Ships of Canada’s Naval Forces 1910-2002,” Vanwell Publishing 2002): “The Annapolis-class com- NAVAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA prised two ships [Annapolis and Nipigon] were “A two ship class incorpo- ASSOCIATION NAVALE DU CANADA rating from their launching the design elements of the St. Laurents [often referred to as the ‘Cadillacs’] as then being rebuilt, most notably the twin funnels, hangar and VDS.” She served her country well and on April 4th, Starshell 2015, was purposely sunk to the bottom of Halkett Bay Marine Park, BC to ISSN-1191-1166 serve as an artificial reef “for divers to enjoy and sea life to call home.” For National magazine of the Naval Association of Canada additional information, please see page 19. Magazine nationale de L’Association Navale du Canada Source, date and location of photo unknown but most likely DND. www.navalassoc.ca IN THIS EDITION… Patron • HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh NAC Conference Calgary – Canada’s Third Ocean 3 HONORARY PRESIDENT • H. R. (Harry) Steele From the Editor 4 From the Bridge 4 PRESIDENT • Jim Carruthers, [email protected] From the Front Desk 6 PAST PRESIDENT • Ken Summers, [email protected] NAC Regalia Sales 6 Agenda for 70th Annual General Meeting 8 TREASURER • King Wan, [email protected] Director Candidate Endorsements 9 NAVAL AFFAIRS • Daniel Sing, [email protected] Proxy Form Instructions 10 Proxy Form 11 HISTORY & HeritaGE • Dr. Alec Douglas, [email protected] Naval Affairs Guest Editorial – “Canada’s Arctic Security” 13 HONORARY COUNSEL • Donald Grant, [email protected] Arctic / Offshore Patrol Ship Diagram 15 Letters to the Editor 16 ARCHIVIST • Fred Herrndorf, [email protected] The Briefing Room – Assorted Items of Interest 17 AUSN LIAISON • Fred F. Abbott, [email protected] Schober’s Quiz #67 21 In Search of the Past 22 CHAIR ENDOWMENT FUND • Michael Morres, [email protected] Some 2010 Naval Centennial Essay Winners: Where are they now? 23 • Welland Memoirs – Episode 7 – ‘We were losing the war!’ 27 OBIT RESEARCH Pat Barnhouse, [email protected] Bill’s Corner: Sir Galahad and the RCN - Some Ironies 32 WEBMASTER • Robert (Bob) Bush, [email protected] Starshell Book Reviews 37 Endowment Fund Donation Form 37 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STARSHELL EDITOR Obituaries 38 SEC’Y / COMMUNICATIONS George A. Moore Tame the Winter and See the Wild (South Africa Tour) 39 Kenneth B. Lait 1871 Primrose Crescent Our Navy - HMCS Shearwater (Sloop) 40 308 Kennedy Lane E Kamloops BC V1S 0A5 Orleans ON K1E 3M4 Telephone 250-314-1284 Telephone 613-841-4358 Facsimile 250-314-1286 [email protected] [email protected] Advertise in Starshell STARSHELL is published quarterly by The Naval Association of Canada (NAC) in We are pleased to print camera ready advertisements at the following rates February, May, August and November. The editor is solely responsible for the selection of material. Contributions are encouraged and should be sent direct to Other rates including those for our website are 1 Issue 4 Issues/per issue the editor. available on request. The advertiser assumes all Full page $220 $180 PLEASE NOTE: ALL MATERIAL MUST REACH THE EDITOR NO LATER liability for content and/or claims against The 2/3 page $190 $150 THAN THE 15TH DAY OF THE MONTH PRIOR TO THE MONTH OF PUBLICA- Naval Association of Canada which may arise from 1/2 page $160 $130 TION. All photographs submitted for publication must be accompanied by suit- it. Typesetting and art work services available at 1/4 page $90 $80 able captions and accreditation. CHANGES OF ADDRESS ARE TO BE SENT TO 1/8 page $70 $55 extra cost. Contact Starshell editor for details. THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NOT THE EDITOR. The opinions expressed in this publication are deemed to be exclusively those of Starshell is printed in Canada by Postlink Corporation, Ottawa the author(s) and are not necessarily shared by The Naval Association of Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy or the Department of National Defence. If copyright is specified for any item, permission to copy must first be obtained through the edi- tor, otherwise material may be copied without permission provided appropriate Editorial services, layout and design are provided by attribution is given to both the author(s) and STARSHELL. ® Cascade Creek Publishing DISTRIBUTION and SUBSCRIPTIONS – STARSHELL circulation exceeds 2,000 George A. Moore, President copies and is distributed to members of NAC, HMC Ships and shore establish- 1871 Primrose Crescent, Kamloops, BC V1S 0A5 ments, NDHQ, selected Ministers, Senators, MPs and other interested individu- Phone 250-314-1284 • Fax 250-314-1286 als. Except for copyright material, copying and internal circulation to interested [email protected] officers is encouraged. Non-members may subscribe by sending $20.00 in Canada, $25.00 elsewhere for each subscription to the Executive Director. NAC/NOAC - CALGARY BRANCH http://www.calgarystampede.com/ ____________:Presents Conference & AGM 2015 June 25th to June 28th 2015 Calgary Alberta Canada Canada's Third Ocean A One and one half day conference on Canada's Arctic University of Calgary June 26th and 27th Register soon – events will fill up quickly See the NAC website: http://www.navalassoc.ca Registration information, conference program and tourist information Book now directly at our Official Hotel by May 25, 2015 Best Western Village Park Inn 1804 Crowchild Trail NW 1-888-774-7716 or www.villageparkinn.com (quote Naval Association of Canada for $169.00 - $159.00 new lower rate!) Includes hot buffet breakfast Check out things to do in Calgary including the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth! http://www.visitcalgary.com http://www.visitcalgary.com From the editor… NAVAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA George A. Moore | Editor | [email protected] ASSOCIATION NAVALE DU CANADA am very pleased this issue to welcome noted pdf edition, I feel obliged to continue to pro- with full information as to their content, i.e., naval artist F. R. (Hamish) Berchem CMSA vide enhancements to the traditional printed names, titles, nature of award, etc., taking Iback to the end cover of Starshell. Many of version as well. place within their Branch be submitted to me you will remember his fine series of drawings I was successful this issue in convincing re- for publication in Starshell. Only a small num- which were published in Starshell under the tired Senator Bill Rompkey to share his learned ber of branches seem to do this on any form banner of “Our Ships” some years ago. thoughts on our Arctic with our readers— of regular basis and it is important that our The current series of charcoal sketches and specifically the Royal Canadian Navy’s members’ achievements as well as other no- broadens the subject matter to “Our Navy” role in the protection of same. The Senator’s table events taking place in the Branch such and you will find the first of these featured knowledge of the many challenges facing our as Endowment Fund donations, be given the on our back cover. It depicts HMS Shearwa- Arctic are widely known to say the least and national recognition they deserve in Starshell. ter which was subsequently renamed HMCS it goes without saying that his highly valued And finally, I was very pleased to see the Shearwater in 1914. thoughts and opinions should be shared with many responses to that which was published Starshell continues to evolve both in con- as many Canadians as possible. Should we in our last issue take the form of a record num- tent, layout and, we trust, quality. While the choose to ignore or downplay the navy’s role ber of ‘Letters to the Editor.’ ‘BZ’ to you all! economics continue to demand we convince in Canada’s third ocean, we do so at our peril. as many of you as possible to opt out of the While I have your attention, would Branch Yours aye, printed copy in favour of the on-line, coloured Presidents kindly ensure that photographs, George From the bridge… NAVAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA Jim Carruthers | National President | [email protected] ASSOCIATION NAVALE DU CANADA u SOME ISSUES organization, should be in sync. We might ask: focused on our naval heritage. The key is that I Over a number of months I have heard a few what does Canada need, who are we, where belong to these other organizations as I do not rumblings, questions being asked: do we want to go and how do we get there? expect my NAC membership to cover those We operate on the thesis that Canada’s very real needs. I belong to NAC because • What is NAC? What is our role? Navy needs support and we as members of I know Canadians must work to make sure • How does this function with our the Naval Association of Canada accept this as Canada has the capable and effective Navy it National and Branch structure? our primary role. needs. The question as to who we are is perhaps u While we have discussed these issues at our confusing and I suspect the genesis of angst ARE BRANCHES LOSING? AGMs and during visits to Branches, these that some Branches and individual members Some debate continues to bubble up regard- discussions have not touched the majority of may be feeling.