Gerald Craigs in the Royal Canadian Navy

Gerald Craigs in RCN uniform

Gerald Craigs in RCN uniform

These pictures show my father in his Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) uniform. He served on several ships, including the corvette H.M.C.S. Camrose, the frigate H.M.C.S. Longueuil, and the British minesweeper H.M.S. Postillion. He served on the Postillion just long enough to deliver it to the British Royal Navy.

Gerald Craigs in RCN uniform


H.M.C.S. Cornwallis

 This is a picture of the class my father graduated from naval training with at H.M.C.S. Cornwallis in Nova Scotia.


The picture below, taken in June, 1945 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, shows my father (at bottom left) with some other crew members of the frigate H.M.C.S Longueuil just as they were returning from Europe at the end of the war. This ship had just spent nearly a year doing mid-ocean convoy escort. My father would have been 20 years old at this time.

H.M.C.S. Longueuil crew

This is a picture of the frigate H.M.C.S Longueuil.

H.M.C.S. Longueuil



H.M.C.S. Camrose

On January 8, 1944 the corvette H.M.C.S. Camrose participated, along with the British frigate H.M.S. Bayntun in sinking U-757 in the North Atlantic south-west of Iceland (in position 50.33N, 18.03W). It was sunk by depth charges from the two ships, leaving 49 dead (all hands lost). This picture shows the Camrose at the time of the sinking. Although my father served on the H.M.C.S. Camrose he was not a crew member at that time.

H.M.C.S. CAMROSE

Ship Type:
Corvette		 Class:
FLOWER Class 1939-1940
Displacement:
950 Tonnes		 Length:
205.1 Feet		 Breadth:
33.1 Feet		 Draught:
11.5 Feet
Top Speed:
16 Knots		 Pendant Number:
K154		 # of Officers:
6		 # of Crew:
79
Armament:
1-4" Gun, 1-2 pdr, 2-20mm, Hedgehog
Builder:
Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel, Que.
Particular Service:
Operations Torch and Neptune.
Laid Down:
17-Sep-40		 Launched:
16-Nov-40		 Commissioned:
30-Jun-41		 Paid Off:
22-Jul-45
Remarks:
Focsle Extended, Pictou, NS, 15 Oct 43
Fate:
Broken up at Hamilton, Ont. 1947


An ASDIC hut

 This is an ASDIC hut. My father's job in the RCN was to operate the ASDIC, a sort of early form of SONAR. ASDIC stands for Anti-submarine Detection and Investigation Committee. Unlike SONAR, which was later developed by the Ameicans and could "see" in a 360 degree radius, ASDIC could only "see" what it was directly pointed at, so if the ASDIC was not pointed directly at a U-boat, it could not detect it.


An ASDIC hut

An ASDIC hut



A corvette engine room

An engine room on a corvette



An Atlantic convoy in 1942 assembling at Halifax harbour

An Atlantic convoy in 1942 assembling at Halifax harbour



Canadian Corvettes as anti-submarine escorts, protecting war convoys to Europe

Canadian Corvettes as anti-submarine escorts, protecting war convoys to Europe