Spring 2020 Report of the Immediate Past President New Club President As I move into my new position of immedi- Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Jon ate past president I thank the membership for Summers joined the Royal Canadian the opportunity to serve as president for the Navy on September 22, 1966, at past three years. I congratulate new president HMCS Cabot in St. John’s New- Jon Summers and new vice president Dave foundland. Paddon for taking on these new positions and commend the executive and board mem- In January 1967, he joined the ship's bers who shall continue to serve. company of HMCS Algonquin DDE 224, as an ordinary seaman for her I welcome Angie Barrington to the board last cruise from Halifax, NS via the and welcome back Bruce Bennett, Ex Offi- Panama Canal to Esquimalt BC. cio, President of the Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association. I look forward to Upon completion of his Seamanship working with you all. As we work through Training at the Great Lakes Training COVID-19 new opportunities have resulted. Center in Hamilton Ontario, CPO1 Summers served as a boatswain in The Annual General Meeting on May 27, several Naval Vessels ranging from 2020, was held via Zoom and provided an the auxiliary minesweeper HMCS opportunity for both in-town and out-of- Scattary to HMCS Cape Scott, town members to participate. It proved to be HMCS Provider, HMCS Thunder, CPO1 Jon Summers (retd) most successful with 45 members signed in. HMCS Fundy and HMCS Skeena. After a trade re-muster to Rad Sea, HMCS Fort Steel. Many good suggestions and comments were he served at the Mill Cove in NS and raised and this social contacting technique then in HMCS Saguenay as a radio CPO1 Summers was appointed For- will most assuredly be adopted to provide operator. mation Chief Petty Officer on June greater communications to all members as 30, 1998, and held this position until we move forward. will also be taking on the While employed in the OPS Depart- June 30, 2001. position as property chairperson and a series ment, CPO1 Summers played an of projects will be addressed and reported on active role in eight NATO Naval In September 2002 he joined the in future Scuttlebutts. Control of Shipping Exercise as an Ships Company of HMCS Scotian in OPS Room Supervisor and as part of Halifax NS and was appointed as the Summer officially starts on June 20 and I the Directing Staff. MOC Advisor for the Naval Commu- wish everyone an enjoyable season and nicators. please stay safe in these challenging times. He was promoted to the rank of Looking forward to seeing you all at the CPO2 on November 01, 1980, and CPO1 Jon Summers Retired from the ‘Nest’ in the near future. attended the CPO/CWO Course at Royal Canadian Navy at HMCS CFB Borden in 1993. He was pro- Cabot in St. John’s NL on September moted to the rank of CPO1 on Jan 01, 22, 2004 Bravo Zulu, 1996. Gary Walsh CPO1 Summers now resides in Immediate Past President During his 38-year career, CPO1 Whiteway, Trinity Bay, NL. He has Summers has served as Cox’n of two children Jessica and Jonathan. HMCS Cabot for four Commanding Officers, has served as Cox’n in East Coast Gate Vessels as well as 1 Welcome Aboard New Members Spring 2020 Out of Town Honorary Members In Town (WWII RCN veterans) David Shea Penny Fifield, Dildo, NL Cdr Peter Chance (HMCS Skeena), Colin Dalton Neil Whiteley, Terara, Australia Victoria, BC Chris Hickey Chris Richardson, Forsyth, GA Gord Woods, HMCS Fennel, Port Frank MacEachern Larry Hall, Clarksburg, ON Hope, ON Rick Mercer, Toronto, ON Norm Perkins, HMCS Skeena, North Life Membership LCdr (Ret'd) S.J.Z. (Alex) Csank, Lt(N) Craig Dalton, Victoria, VanKleek Hill, ON Lisa Chatzikirou, Triton, NL Paul Menard, Bedford, NS BC Board of Directors Elected at AGM The Crow’s Nest Officers’ Club Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. The slate for the Board of Directors for 2020-2021 was confirmed at that time. Officers: President: Jon Summers Vice President: Dave Paddon Secretary: Stephanie O’Brien Treasurer: Margaret Morris Immediate Past President: Gary Walsh Directors: Leroy Murphy Tom Paddon Bruce Dyke Andrew Collins Tom Horrocks Stephen Lee Brian O’Connell Robin Blatch Angie Barrington Ex Officio: Bruce Bennett, President, CNMAA 2 Treasurer’s Report Despite the coronavirus crisis and there is no problem paying the in- ask. If my mouse and slipped and all the uncertainty in the world surance, utilities and taxes during credited the wrong member with a today, the Crow’s Nest is in good the lockdown. Many members have dues payment, I’ll quickly correct shape physically and financially. submitted their dues quickly and it it. Also, if anyone wants extra time The social program is temporarily is very much appreciated in order to to pay, just ask. No explanation is halted but there is no reason why replenish the contingency required. we won’t rebound back as soon as fund. Some have even added an COVID-19 is behind us. extra donation. Others may have If you have any questions or con- more important matters with health, cerns about your membership With the production of the docu- family or careers so delays are per- status, email me through the mentary in 2019, our surplus for fectly understandable. Club’s email address the past financial year is very slim [email protected], write to but, thanks to previous surpluses, Happily, the Club has a good finan- me care of the Club or feel free to we have a good contingency fund. cial cushion to weather the storm. call me at home (709 754-6730). I I will be sending reminders out soon am handling Club business from my As I mentioned in my email of for those who haven’t paid yet. We dining room table these days and I April 8th, these extra funds were have over 500 on our membership welcome calls. intended for unexpected property roll. There are multiple Browns damage. With an old building in a (some with an “e” and some with- Stay safe, stay well during these harsh climate, we have to be ready out). It is a similar situation with challenging days. Like all of us, I for anything. Clark(e)s and Green(e)s. look forward to sharing a few pints and stories at the Club soon. A pandemic wasn’t in the plan but There are Stacks and Stamps, Moore the contingency fund will tackle & Moores. You get the idea. If you Margaret Morris the problem anyway. For now, have any questions, don’t hesitate to ZOOM Service Used for AGM adapted with the video, audio-only or both. If re- times while con- quired, it lets you record sessions to tinuing the tradi- view later. Over half of Fortune 500 tions established companies reportedly used Zoom in many years ago. 2019. Since the out- The first Crow’s Nest ZOOM An- break of the coro- nual General Meeting was held on navirus pan- Wednesday, May 27. It was well- demic, people attended and the consensus is that it have had to con- was a tremendous success. fine themselves The Crow's Nest has survived many for fear of contracting COVID 19 One of the benefits of the ZOOM changes since it was founded in The club and its members adapted platform is that it allows out-of- 1942. In the beginning, members and followed the necessary rules to town members the opportunity to would view Corvettes, Destroyers ensure members' safety. The club fully participate in the AGM. and Merchant Ships from the Club's also embraced new technology. For windows. Now, they see ships in- the first time in the club's history, One can't help wonder what mem- volved in the offshore oil industry, our Annual General Meeting was bers from years ago would think of cruise ships and yachts that pay a held off-premises on ZOOM. this new technology? visit during the summer season. ZOOM is a cloud-based video con- ferencing service you can use to The Crow’s Nest changed and virtually meet with others, either by 3 Christmas and New Year’s Eve at The Crow’s Nest Although the 2019 holiday season has passed, we wanted to share some photos taken at The Crow’s Nest during that time. While the “Nest” saw many celebrations over Christmas and New Year's there were two that stood out. St. Nick visited our annual Christmas dinner and members welcomed 2020 with a Roaring ‘20s theme. Here are some photos from those events. 4 S.S. Nerissa, The Final Crossing Book Review By Gary Greene miles from her destination, she was The book sheds light on a little sunk by U-552 (Erich Topp). Of the known Canadian tragedy. In fact, it In the past few years, some secrets 291 people on board, 207, including is the only non-fiction book devoted and lesser-known stories of WWII 14 Newfoundlanders, lost their exclusively to the Nerissa which I are just starting to emerge as offi- lives. It was the third-largest loss of could find in my online search of cial documents become declassified life caused by U-Boats in the UK library holdings and bookstores. It and other materials such as wartime approaches during WWII. is an interesting read especially for diaries are being discovered. Wil- students of maritime, naval, WWII liam Dziadyk has been researching Neither the Royal Navy nor the or Newfoundland and Labrador and writing about the SS Nerissa, Royal Canadian Navy held a formal history.