Naval museum of Québec | Stanislas-Déry

Evolution?

Ships and Peoples

Mostly over the last 200 years, the technological development of ships has been phenomenal, a tribute to the ingenuity of human beings when they must go to war.

Men and women who go into combat on board one of these ships have to adapt. But whether they lived in the 1800's or the 1900's, they are all the same in some respects.  

 

 

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Horaire / Schedule

Winter 2013 Thursday and Friday 13h to 16h

Tour for groups upon reservation

418.694.5387 or info@navalmuseumofquebec.com

Naval Museum of Québec, 170 Dalhousie, Québec, QC, G1K 8M7

The Battle of the St.Lawrence

1942-1944

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE GASPÉ

DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

1939

9 September 1939  Canada enters the war.

September 1939  Following Canada’s entry into the war, two motor launches make up the defensive unit placed in the service of the NOIC (Naval Officer in charge) in Québec.  These two launches, HMCS Chaleur I and HMCS Madawaska, formerly attached to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, are transferred to the authority of the Royal Canadian Navy. Three other vessels make up the rest of the fleet: the tugboat Lanoraie, the service vessel Druid and HMCS Maxime, which sometimes takes over from HMCS Chaleur I in heavy seas.

1940

1940  Gaspé Bay is mandated to shelter part of the British fleet in the eventuality of an invasion of Great Britain.  This site is chosen because it holds a strategic position for the defence of the Gulf and River, and because the configuration of the bay is suitable for establishing a deep-water naval base and protecting it.

29 April 1940  The Canadian Navy’s High Command produces a first ultra-secret plan, Plan G, a system for defending shipping on the St. Lawrence River and in the Gulf in the event of attacks by German submarines.  The plans set forth various measures, spread out over seven phases, with the convoy system planned for the sixth phase.  This plan is amended on 25 April 1941 and replaced by another plan.

Summer 1940  Commencement of construction on the Bombing & Gunnery School, Mont-Joli.  Among other things, this air base is to serve as a relay point, enabling aircraft to patrol a larger zone over the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Erection in Mont-Joli of the buildings to be used by the Eastern Air Command detachment.

June 1940  The auxiliary minesweeper Bras d’Or is stationed in Rimouski, to detect any minelaying operations along the coast.

10 June 1940  Following the declaration of war on Italy, the captain of the Italian merchant ship Capo Noli tries to make a quick departure from Canadian territorial waters.   Pursued by the Bras d’Or, the captain runs the ship aground and scuttles and sets fire to it.  The sailors from the Bras d’Or put out the fire and capture the crew.  The Capo Noli – Canada’s only war prize in the St. Lawrence – is placed in service by the Canadian Navy under the name Bic Island.

July 1940  The Canadian Navy sets up a patrol based in Rivière-du-Loup to carry out checks and strengthen surveillance on the river.  This patrol is responsible for covering the waters between Île aux Coudres and Anticosti Island.  It includes a yacht, the Ambler, and three other smaller vessels: the Eileen, the Cleopatra and the Anna Mildred.  The Ambler is to be assigned to new tasks in Halifax in March 1943.

23 August 1940  Official announcement of the creation of Training Center no. 55 in Rimouski, to be entrusted to Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent.  The CA(B)TC (Canadian Army Basic Training Center number 55)  is to be established by early autumn.

27 August 1940  All the recommendations made by senior officers of the Canadian Navy are ratified by the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defence.  Commencement of construction of the Gaspé base and a panoply of defenses, both fixed (shore batteries, submarine nets, searchlights) and mobile (air and naval patrols).

Autumn 1940  Erection of the buildings of the PWSS (Port War Signal Station) at Saint-Jean, on Île d’Orléans.  This establishment is to become an inspection outpost.

October 1940  HMCS Vison is the first ship to operate out of the Gaspé base.  Returns to Halifax in November when the river closed for the winter.

19 October 1940  Loss of all trace of the Bras d’Or.

30 October 1940  A Defence department communiqué announces the probable disappearance of the Bras d’Or in the river.

3 November 1940  The Admiralty issues a communiqué announcing that the auxiliary minesweeper Bras d’Or is to be regarded as lost, and that all search efforts are called off.  The entire crew of 30 persons are listed as missing.

1941

1941  Extensive defences are set up the Gaspé Peninsula, including a submarine net and shore batteries at Fort Prével, Fort Haldimand and Fort Péninsule.

1941-1943  Construction of the military complex surrounding the Gaspé naval base.

Spring 1941  Completion of construction of the buildings for the Eastern Air Command detachment at the Bombing & Gunnery School, Mont-Joli.

April 1941  Commissioning of naval control base HMCS Chaleur II, established at Québec with responsibility for organizing convoys from Québec to Sydney, Nova Scotia, and for surveillance of the river.  This naval base (NOIC) has, however, been active since September 1939.

25 April 1941  Plan G is amended to Plan GL.  The action plan has four phases, instead of seven, speeding up implementation of the convoy system.  The first phase involves guiding marine traffic by individual ship.  The the second phase takes effect after reports of submarines prowling around distant merchant vessels; escort ships and subchasers then go into action.  In the third phase, the convoy system is set up between Pointe-au-Père and Sydney, Nova Scotia.  This form of deployment applies only after several attacks by or sightings of the enemy.  The fourth phase entails closure of the river to commercial shipping.

May 1941  Construction of the Gaspé naval base.  Work begins on building fortifications at Fort Prével.

June 1941  When the port opens, the armed yachts Reindeer, Raccoon, Lynx and Vison make up the fleet operating out of Gaspé.

18 June 1941  Agreement between the Soeurs Hospitalières (Hospital Sisters) of the Hôtel-Dieu de Gaspé and the Department of National Defence on the provision of 50 beds to be made available for wounded military personnel.   Use of the operating room will also be permitted.  Two huts are built for the circumstances, one to be used as a headquarters and the other as an officers’ mess.

October 1941  Commencement of construction of the part planned for the Mont-Joli Bombing & Gunnery School.

27 October 1941  Official inauguration of a 50-bed ward for wounded military personnel at the Hôtel-Dieu de Gaspé.

1942

28 February 1942  Formation of the 1st Battalion of Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent, for the defence of Canadian soil.

May 1942  Organization of the first convoys on the St Lawrence River.  The ships assemble near the Bic Islands and are supervised by a control office set up in Rimouski.  HMCS Madawaska and the Jalobert, a former pilot boat at Pointe-au-Père, are used for forming these convoys.

1 May 1942   Official opening of the Gaspé naval base, named HMCS Fort Ramsay (buildings, army and air force installations, three shore batteries and a submarine net); by the end of the year, it will have a strength of 34 officers and 291 men.

Night of 8-9 May 1942  At Cape Ray, Newfoundland, suspected sighting of submarine U-553 heading toward the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

10 May 1942  A B-17 bomber of the U.S. Air Force detects U-553 and attacks, but misses its target.  The submarine’s presence in Canada is confirmed a few hours later when ships are sunk.

Night of 11-12 May 1942  The British cargo vessel SS Nicoya is torpedoed by German submarine U-553 15 kilometers north of Pointe-à-la-Frégate, in the Gaspé.  Six men lose their lives.

12 May 1942  A few hours later, the SS Leto, a Dutch ship, suffers the same fate, eight miles north of Rivière-la-Madeleine, in the Gaspé.  About ten crew members perish.

5 June 1942  Erection of a post for observation, telecommunication and remote detection of enemy submarines likely to be making their way through to Québec.  This post, called a Degaussing Gear Ranging Station (DGRS), is located at Rivière-Lafleur, Saint-Jean, on Île d’Orléans.  This station also had the task of monitoring the magnetic fields of Allied ships sailing for Great Britain.  If the magnetic field was too strong, the ships had to return to Quebec for a proper inspection.

29-30 June 1942  U-132 crosses Cabot Strait and, following the example of U-553, heads for the mouth of the mouth of the St. Lawrence.

July 1942  Creation of reserve units out of the organization of Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent, in the Gaspé and Lower St. Lawrence.

Men of the 2nd and 3rd Reserve Battalions of Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent receive orders to enforce the blackout rules in effect for people living along the shore between Île Verte and Chaleur Bay.

6 July 1942  Three of the 12 ships in convoy QS-15 are torpedoed off Sainte-Anne-des-Monts by U-132: the SS Hainaut and SS Dinaric, flying the British flag; and the Greek vessel SS Anastassios Pateras.

Loss of one aircraft and its pilot, deployed after a ship is torpedoed off Mont-Joli.

18 July 1942  Following the sinkings in the St. Lawrence, the M.P. for Gaspé, Sasseville Roy, asks that the House of Commons meet in closed session to review the situation.  Federal members consider measures for ensuring a provide better defence of Canada’s east coast.

20 July 1942  The British ship SS Frederika Lensen is torpedoed by U-132 west of Pointe-à-la-Frégate; 10 seamen lose their lives.  The ship is towed away and grounded.  It is regarded as a total loss.

15 August 1942  Official inauguration ceremony for the Mont-Joli Bombing & Gunnery School.  This school will provide instruction under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

Strength: over 200 men from the three branches of the service.

27 August 1942  U-517 torpedoes the SS Chatham, an American troop carrier, in the Strait of Belle Isle.  Of the 562 passengers, 13 lose their lives.

28 August 1942  U-165 torpedoes the merchant ship SS Laramie which, though heavily damaged, manages to reach Sydney, Nova Scotia.

U-517 attacks the SS Arlyn; nine lives are lost.

Autumn 1942  Recruitment of volunteers for Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent reserve.

September 1942  Assignment of a fleet to the naval base at Gaspé to serve as the Royal Canadian Navy’s escort force in the Gulf: 19 warships including five minesweepers, six Fairmiles, one armed yacht and seven corvettes, together with a few amphibious craft provided by the Air Force.

Night of 2-3 September 1942  At 1:30 a.m., U-517 sinks the SS Donald Stewart, a Canadian cargo vessel, 140 km south of the Strait of Belle Isle.  Three lives are lost.

Night of 6-7 September 1942  U-165 sinks the Greek merchant ship SS Aeas off Cap-Chat,  taking two lives.

Night of 6-7 September 1942  Loss of HMCS Raccoon, an armed yacht assigned to the Gaspé naval base.  The vessel is reported to have been sunk in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by submarine U-165 off Rivière-la-Madeleine.  Four officers and 33 crew members are listed as missing.  Only one body is recovered, on the shores of Anticosti Island.

7 September 1942  U-517 sends the Greek vessels SS Mount Pindus and SS Mount Taygetus to the bottom.  Two persons from the former vessel are lost, and five from the latter.

SS Oakton is then attacked by U-517, with the loss of three lives.

8 September 1942  A German torpedo, probably launched by U-165, strikes the shore at the village of Saint-Yvon.  It misses its target, the steamship SS Meadcliffe Hall.

9 September 1942  Implementation of the fourth phase of Plan GL, i.e. closure of the Gulf and St. Lawrence River to all commercial shipping.  During this period, the Gaspé base continues to support the personnel of three to five minesweepers and 12 to 14 Fairmiles.

11 September 1942  In broad daylight, near Cap-Chat, U-517 sinks HMCS Charlottetown, an escort ship assigned to the Gaspé naval base.  Ten persons are reported missing.

15 September 1942  U-517 sinks two merchant vessels near the shores of Gaspé: the Norwegian vessel SS Inger Elizabeth and the Dutch vessel SS Saturnus.  Both are sailing with convoy SQ-36, made up of 11 ships.

16 September 1942  U-165 sinks the merchant ship SS Joannis.

16 September 1942  The SS Essex Lance is seriously damaged in the waters off Cap-Chat.

23 September 1942  In the area reserved for unbaptized children in the Gaspé parish cemetery, burial of the body of George Triantafillaras, a Greek Orthodox seaman.

24 September 1942  A ministerial order imposes a partial blackout along the coast of the Lower St. Lawrence and the Gaspé between Île Verte and Gaspé Bay, and over an area extending five miles inland.  These measures mean darkening street lights, house windows, car lights, station lights and railway signals.

30 September 1942  German submarine U-69 crosses Cabot Strait and enters the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

9 October 1942  Off Métis-sur-mer, the bulk carrier SS Carolus is sunk by U-69, resulting in 11 deaths.

11 October 1942  U-106 destroys the pulp carrier SS Waterton in Cabot Strait.  No crew members are lost.

Night of 13-14 October 1942  In Cabot Strait, the ferry SS Caribou linking Nova Scotia and Newfoundland is sunk by U-69, with the loss of 136 lives, including 79 civilians and 57 military personnel, out of a total of 237 passengers.

28 October 1942  The United States War Department obtains the necessary authorization to erect American military installations on the North Shore.

November 1942  The Department of National Defence calls on the vigilance of all lighthouse keepers, who are to report the slightest sign of suspect vessels in their area.  The Department uses coded radio messages to transmit its instructions to the lighthouse keepers.

9 November 1942  U-518 lands a secret agent, Werner von Janowski, at New-Carlisle, on the north shore of Chaleur Bay.

10 November 1942, Midnight   The police take charge of prisoner Janowski.  He is taken to Montreal and will be used later as a double agent.

9 December 1942  The blackout measures on the coast of the Lower St. Lawrence and the Gaspé are suspended.

14 December 1942  Headquarters in Ottawa authorizes the creation of a separate unit, to be known as the 3rd Battalion of Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent, for the Gaspé region.

1943

Spring - Summer 1943  Installation of detection radar, at intervals of approximately 10 miles, from Matane to Gaspé; locations include Saint-Ulric, Petite-Matane, Cap-Chat and Cap-Gaspé.

May 1943  End of enhanced surveillance by lighthouse keepers

June 1943  The army sets up an operation aimed at convincing the national press, by means of a grand tour of the Gaspé, of the effectiveness of the measures being taken to defend the coastline of eastern Quebec.

The 3rd Reserve Battalion of Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent has over 2000 recruits.

23 August 1943  CA(B)TC 55 ceases to serve as a training camp, and will be used in future for other purposes, e.g. training activities for the Rimouski trades school, and as a transit camp and training center for coastal defence units from Cape Breton, mainland Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

23 September 1943  Escape of Wolfang Heyda from the German prisoner of war camp in Bowmanville, Ontario.   He attempts to reach Pointe Maisonnette, on Chaleur Bay, where a German submarine is to pick him up.  This is the beginning of Operation Kiebitz.

21 October 1943  HMCS Chedabucto collides with the SS Lord Kelvin off Saint-Siméon.  One life is lost in the mishap.

Late October 1943  The 9th Bombing & Gunnery School, Mont-Joli achieves first rank as a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan school.  There are 154 aircraft and 2844 flyers and officers assigned to the facility.

1944

March 1944  The Mont-Joli airport becomes a ground training school for flyers and a school for officers.

Spring 1944  The St. Lawrence River is re-opened for shipping.

Summer 1944  Destruction of the detection radar sites

15 August 1944  Authorisation by the Department of National Defence for the 3rd Battalion of Les Fusiliers du Saint-Laurent to be renamed the Gaspé-Bonaventure Regiment.

1 October 1944  Demobilization of Fort Péninsule, which in August 1944 comprised some fifteen buildings to house a garrison charged with protecting and operating the shore battery in case of attack.  The facility is dismantled shortly afterward.

14 October 1944  Off Pointe-des-Monts, a torpedo from U-1223 strikes the stern of HMCS Magog. Although kept afloat after the hit, the ship is declared a total loss upon arrival in port.

1 November 1944  The military leave the Hôtel-Dieu de Gaspé because the situation is evolving quickly in Europe and it is sensed that the war is entering its final phase.

2 November 1944  A Canadian merchant ship, the SS Fort Thompson, is struck by U-1223, in waters off Matane, but is merely damaged.

Night of 24-25 November 1944  The corvette HMCS Shawinigan is sunk in Cabot Strait by U-1228.  All 91 crew members are lost.

24 December 1944  HMCS Clayoquot is torpedoed by U-806 off Cape Breton, with the loss of eight lives.

1945

31 March 1945   Cessation of military operations at 9th Bombing & Gunnery School, Mont-Joli.

16 April 1945  HMCS Esquimalt is sunk off Cape Breton by U-190, only a few days before the end of the Second World War, with the loss of 44 lives.

May 1945  When the German authorities capitulate, submarines U-889 and U-190 surrender, becoming Canada’s two war prizes.

1946

31 March 1946  The Gaspé-Bonaventure Regiment is disbanded.

 

 

 

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