, . I • ! I i I. I i r I ...' '~CROWSN EST Vol.. 4 No .. 12 THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY'S MAGAZINE OCTOBER, 195i LADY OF THE MONTH This is one place where the small fellows occupy as much room as the big CONTENTS ones. In the same spot that has featured Page such ships as the Magnificent, Ontario and Quebec appears. the 136-foot RCN News Review .2 wooden minesweeper HMCS Cordova, training tender too HMCS Discovery, the Vancouver naval division. The Cordova School For Reserves 4 is the former YMS-420 of the United States Navy and saw service off Okinawa in the late stages of t-he Second World OFficers and Men 6 War. She was purchased by the RCN last year and towed to Esquima/t '(see Crowsnest, April 7952). After being refitted, the ship was commissioned in Hunter Cops Cock .. ol·the~Walk 12 . August as HMCS Cordova and sailed proudly, as pictured, to Vancouver. (£-79930). A Memorable Occasion 14 *** Each year, in closing the cover on one volume of AFloat and Ashore ...,..,.. .. ... ~ .,.. 16 The Crowsnest and starting to work on the next, we have observed the occasion by paying our respects and voicing our thanks to those who have been chiefly responsible for the continuing existence Five Fig},ting Months ........ 22 of this magazine. If' is a pleasant duty, one we would perform much more often, except for the fear that in repel'i1'ion we Man of the Month ...,..... " , ...' .... 23 might seem to lose sincerity. And most. sincere is our salute to the authors, artists, photographers and others whose combined Lower Deck Promotions ..... .. ... 24 contributions have enabled us to put together each of the '12 issues which have gone into the making of this latest, fourth volume of The Crowsnest. The ,Navy Plays ....... 26 For the bulk of its material The Crowsnest depend~ on correspondents in ships and establishments and on officers and men who, from time to time, take it upon themselves to compose articles for the magazine. All of them do these chores voluntarily. They receive no pay and, outside of a form letter of acknowledge­ ment and this annual bouquet, precious little in the way of recognition. We must admit that now. and then we grumble to ourselves over misspelled names, the absence of Cover Photo ~ "Give it to 'em, boys!" At least that's what initials, omission of pertinent facts and other editorial these Nootka gunners seetTI to be saying" as~!they watch ·carrier­ headaches. However, those are things that con be remedied by a little extra work on the part of the based planes move in to attack conlmunistjcoastal:~positionsin editors; and are unimportant. The importal'lt fact is North I{orea. The Nootka had her turn, just before this, shooting that each month, from an amazing number and variety of sources, comes the material wherewith to up shore installations and trading shots with enemy batteries. put together a magazine. SU10ke from severa;!' g~~1"jndicates that the destroyer's shells and .:}.. ~. To all those sources--in ships and on shore, in the aircraft bombs ..have found their mark. (NI(-1597). the service and 'on civvy street-go our thanks. We frankly feel that enough nice things cannot be said tlbout them, The Editors. Page one R.G.N. News Review Magnificent's Airmen to be bagged by an aircraft - and and Balb()a, Canal Zone, behind her Score Mainbrace Successes three "enemy" aircraft shot down, in the Ont~rio was the scene of bus; . preparatl()ns for the reception on One hundred and seventy warships addition to attacks on another sub­ marine and aircraft". board of certain nautical notables of the NATO courttries'ranged from including King Neptune and Dary north of the Arctic Circle, along the Three days later the Magnificent's' flyers bagged another submarine. The Jones. The occasion: Crossing the coasts of Norway and Denmark and Line and the initiation of landlubbers into the western Baltic for nearly two "kills" were the only ones made by aircraft of Task Force 171, the into the mysteries of the sea. two weeks in September. Continuing south, with a full pro- They were the forces participating carrier support force which was made up of British, American and Canadian . gram of naval training laid on for in Exercise. Mainbrace, in which the days at sea, the Ontario was ships' .arid . aircraft, on a realistic flattops. op~rat!orial The final phase of the exercise sch.eduled to arrive in Valparaiso, footing, explored the re­ Chlle, for a busy round of official qUlrenie~ts of the defence of Europe's took place in the Skagerrak, where the warships supported a landing by calls, ceremonies and entertainment. northwestern bastions. The five-day round of events Canada's :contiibutionto' Main­ marines on the Danish coast. A dramatic moment came on the iIi \4alparaisoand nearby Santiago brace included ~MCS Quebec and ended, the Ontario was to put to sea on HMCS Magnificent, with No. 8.81 night of Tuesday, September 23, when, to mark the end of exercise October 9 on her way to the southern Squadron of Avenger anti-submarine tip of the continent. aircraft and No. 871 Squadron of the vast fleet turned on its lights and ,presented the appearance. of a city With her she carried a wreath Sea Fury fighters embarked in the which was to be dropped on the Jatter. on the waves. Side by side, refuelling or awaiting the signal to disperse, ocean at the scene of the Battle or" The Quebec slipped from the harbor Coronel where four Canadian mid­ of Narvik in Norway's Land of the ,rode t.he warships of eight NATO countnes. shipmen - the first Royal Canadian Midnight Sun on the second day of Navy casualties - lost their lives in the exercise and'took up the role of a The Quebec steamed for the Firth of Forth and the Magnificent for the 1914 in the action which was a prelude lone enemy raider of the Orange to the Battle of the Falkland Islands. force. She was to attempt to slip by a Clyde. After a breather in port the heavy carrier striking force including two ships set sail for their home port the carriers HMS Eagle, US Ships of Halifax, where they were due Mail Arrangements Midway and Franklin D. Roosevelt October 12. For Ontario Cruise and the battleships USS Wisconsin Mailing arrangements for the On­ and HMS Vanguard. HMCS Ontario Enters tario's cruise call for letters and Two days later the Quebec changed Southern Hemisphere addressed as follows: over to the Blue side to join the .HMCS Ontario is heading south Rank, Name, Official Number carrier striking force and steam south WIth the sun on her long cruise HMCS Ontario, to Denmark for a strike against the around South America and will reach CNPO 5073, Kiel Canal. the southernmost point of her journey Care Postmaster, Montreal . The Magnificent's participation in about the middle of this month. The postal rates are ten cents a the exercise early earned her a "Well _Her visits to San Diego, California, quarter ounce for air mail or five done" from Rear-Admiral W. G. A. cents for Armed Forces letter. Parcels Robson, commander of the carrier are limited to 10 pounds at 15 cents a support force of which she was a part. pound. The post office has asked that The me5sage came at the end of Athabaskan Going Back th,e ,use of parcel post be kept to a the first day of Mainbrace and fol­ For Third Tour mmimum. lowed night landings by four Aven­ '::-'~;;1 HMCS Athabaskan, already pos: 'gers. sessing one of the longest records of Iroquois Plasters The "enemi' was not the only Korean service of any United Nations Targets, Scatters Troops worry of the forces engaged in Main-· destroyer, goes back. late. this month brace. The weather deteriorated on for a third term of'duty in the war Sharply intensified air warfare in theatre. .. which bombing raids were' pressed the third day and, by' the fourth, The Athabaskan, under t'he com­ gale~ of 40 knots, rain squalls and home right to the borders of Man­ mand of Commander J. c. Reed, is ~huria 30-foot waves had forced cancellation scheduled to sail from Esquimalt and Siberia took the spotlight of the flying program. .. October 29, She has been designated as m the Korean war theatre during The storm had blown itself out relieving ship for HMCS Iroquois. S€ptember. There was increased ~tfffide'ritly' Since July 5, 1950, the busy ~iAtha­ ground activity, too, with Chinese by the following day to bee" has spent 22 months on Special allow the Magnificent's planes to take Force duty, Now, after refluing,' she R'eds putting up stiff battles in their to the air and rack up an impressive will return to Korean waters and add efforts to gain control of ridges held record. Pilots claimed one submarine to that record, by UN troops. destroyed - !he first of the exercise ,.Nor was there any., slackening...in ': Page t:Wo patrol and bombardment activities of UN warships, except at the first of the month when cat1riers had to lash their aircraft to their decks and erect barriers against the 50-knot winds accompanying Typhoon Mary. On September 3, while the.typhoon was sweeping across Korea, HMCS Iroquois used shore fire control spot­ ting to fire at gun positions, troops and bunkers south of Haeju on the west coast. Direct hits were reported by the fire conU-ol party, but the extent of the damage was not determined.