HMCS Esquimalt Memorial Cairn

Esquimalt, British Columbia

Type

Other

It was erected on April 10, 1989, by the HMCS Esquimalt Memorial Association, in honour of the crew members who were lost on the HMCS Esquimalt on April 16, 1945. It commemorates the sinking of the last Canadian warship to be torpedoed in the Halifax Approaches, in the early hours of the morning of the 16th of April 1946. There were 44 all ranks who lost their life in the bitter cold water of the North Atlantic for over seven hours adrift in the sea. There were 27 survivors, of which Terrence C. Manuel was one. As the Town of Esquimalt adopted the ship by name, and many of her ship's compliment were from the west it was fitting that a cairn be erected as a memorial there for the casualties of Esquimalt.

Inscription

[front/devant]

[upper plaque/plaque supérieure]

HMCS ESQUIMALT
BUILT IN SOREL, QUEBEC. COMMISSIONED: 25,10,42. PAID OFF: 16,04,45 LENGTH: 162 FT. BREADTH: 28 FT. DRAFT: 8 FT., 3 IN. DISPLACEMENT:
595 TONNES SPEED: 16 KNOTS ARMAMENT: 1-12 POUNDER, 2 OERLIKONS,
2 DEPTHCHARGE THROWERS, 1 RAIL, 1 POM POM. SHIPS COMPLEMENT:
6 OFFICERS, 77 RATINGS. SHE WAS SUNK BY THE U.190 ON THE 16TH DAY
OF APRIL 1945. THE LAST NAVAL SHIP TO BE SUNK IN W.W.II.

[lower plaque/plaque du bas]

BODIES NOT RECOVERED AND
LISTED ON THE CENOTAPH AT
POINT PLEASANT PARK MEMORIAL
HALIFAX, N.S.

[first column/première colonne]

POOL RALPH B
BLAND JOHN B
CONN JAMES R
HUGHES DAVID A
LEROUX LEO J
PARKER JACK R
PEDDIE ROY N
WARE WILLIAM J

SMART JOHN

[second column/deuxième colonne]

GRANAHAN EDWARD J
BELLAZZIO JOSEPH F
CLANCY GREGORY J
FANNING HUNTLEY A
GALLAGHER ANTHONY
FITZPATRICK WILLIAM
HEDSTROM ARNOLD D
JACQUES CARLTON J
LEDREW FREDERICK

PARTINGTON RICHARD

[third column/troisième colonne]

PORTER JOHN C
DEVINS JAMES E
KNOWLES JOHN C
ROBERTS JAMES E
SMITH KENNETH H
STANLEY JAMES C
STAFFORD JOHN H

TRUDEL JOSEPH R

SHAVE CHESLEY N