HMCS Assiniboine (I18)

HMCS "Assiniboine" (I18) was a "River"-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1939-1945.

She was laid down on 18 October 1930 at J. Samuel White, Cowes and launched on 29 October 1931. She was commissioned as a sclass|C and D|destroyer into the Royal Navy on 30 May 1932 as warship|HMS|Kempenfelt|I18

"Kempenfelt" was decommissioned from the RN on 18 October 1939 and commissioned into the RCN that same day at warship|HMNB|Devonport. Assuming the name HMCS "Assiniboine" (I18), she became the first RCN vessel to be named for the Assiniboine River.

World War II service

On 8 March 1940 "Assiniboine", along with warship|HMS|Dunedin|D93 intercepted and captured the German merchant ship "Hannover" near Jamaica. The "Hannover" was later converted into warship|HMS|Audacity|D10.

On 31 August 1941 "Assiniboine" rescued 3 survivors from the British merchant ship "Embassage" that was torpedoed by U-557 on 27 August about convert|100|nmi|km west of Achill Island.

On 3 May 1942 "Assiniboine" and HMCS|Alberni|K103 rescued 47 survivors from the British tanker "British Workman" that was torpedoed and sunk by U-455 south-south east of Cape Race.

"Assiniboine" was assigned to North Atlantic convoy Escort Group C-1 escorting convoys ONS-112 and SC-94."North Atlantic Run", Marc Milner, 1985, Naval Institute Press ISBN 0-87021-450-0] While escorting SC-94 on 6 August 1942, "Assiniboine" achieved her first victory when she rammed, depth charged and shelled U-210 south of Cape Farewell, Greenland.

Following refit, "Assiniboine" was assigned to North Atlantic convoy Escort Group C-3 escorting convoys HX-221 and ONS-163."North Atlantic Run", Marc Milner, 1985, Naval Institute Press ISBN 0-87021-450-0] On 2 March 1943 "Assiniboine" was damaged by her own depth charges during a battle with U-119. She made Liverpool on 7 March and took 3 months to repair.

On 14 February 1945 "Assiniboine" collided with merchant ship "Empire Bond" in the English Channel. She made Sheerness for repairs and was operational again in early March.

"Assiniboine" was decommissioned from the RCN on 8 August 1945.

Grounding

"Assiniboine" was sold by the RCN at Sorel, Quebec and was being towed to Baltimore, Maryland for scrapping on 7 November 1945 when the tow ship and "Assiniboine" encountered storm conditions several nautical miles north of East Point, Prince Edward Island.

"Assiniboine" parted the tow but was temporarily re-secured by the tow ship and brought stern-first around East Point to more sheltered waters closer ashore near South Lake (several nautical miles southwest of East Point} where both ships were anchored to fix the tow lines.

The weather conditions shifted while the ships were at anchor and they were suddenly exposed to more treacherous conditions. The tow ship attempted to tow the "Assiniboine" south toward the Strait of Canso but the crew of the tow ship did not know that the 7-person skeleton crew onboard "Assiniboine" had raised her anchor before the tow line was tightened. The drifting "Assiniboine" was pushed north by the wind and seas while the tow ship began heading south; the immediate strain of opposing forces on the tow line was too much and the line broke.

"Assiniboine" came ashore on a sandbar at South Lake and the skeleton crew was able to safely evacuate. On 13 November a northerly wind re-floated the destroyer but the ship drifted on a high tide westward and further up the beach, grounding hard only convert|150|ft|m from shore.

Local residents in eastern Kings County attempted to salvage parts of the destroyer and a man was apparently killed trying to remove one of "Assiniboine"'s brass propellers. [ [http://www.edu.pe.ca/eastwiltshire/grass01/Phys3c.htm assiniboine ] ] The tow company and owner of the destroyer washed their hands of the wreck and the vessel, no longer owned by the RCN, was left in limbo as the federal government also attempted to wash their hands of responsibility.

Several futile attempts were made to tow "Assiniboine"'s hulk off the shoreline at South Lake. Eventually the owners authorized local scrap dealers to remove valuable brass and copper from the wreck but by the late 1940s these salvage operations were finished and the warship was left to deteriorate on the Kings County beach.

In 1952, dismantling of the destroyer finally began "in situ" at South Lake and she was cut up and completely removed from the beach within several weeks.

ee also

* List of ships of the Canadian Navy
*List of destroyer classes of the Royal Navy

References