The City of Ottawa named this roadway Ralph Hennessy Avenue, in November 2015, in honour of Vice-Admiral Ralph Lucien Hennessy, DSC, KStJ, CD.
Ralph Lucien Hennessy was born in September 1918 in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the time of his birth, his father Colonel Patrick Hennessy, was serving in First World War in Europe, but the family returned to Canada in 1920. Ralph joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a Cadet in 1936 and spent the next three years training with the Royal Navy and was aboard a patrol ship shelled by the forces of the Spanish Civil War.
When the Second World War broke out, he was assigned to HMCS Assiniboine, a destroyer that played a role in the hunt for the battleship Bismarck. By August 1942, Lieutenant Hennessy was second-in-command on Assiniboine, assigned to protect convoys of merchant ships. During one ocean crossing, Assiniboine engaged a German submarine, U-210, in a surface battle. The Canadian ship was set ablaze when hit by a shell. Hennessy led the crew’s fight against the fire as the ship’s captain, directed the attack against U-210, sending the sub to the bottom of the Atlantic by ramming it twice. Hennessy was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross by King George VI for his actions during the encounter and would survive 80 convoy escorts during the war.
After the war, Hennessy remained with the Royal Canadian Navy and went on to command HMCS Micmac, as well as serving ashore in various training positions. He also commanded HMCS Quebec, HMCS Algonquin and the First Canadian Escort Squadron. In 1956, he served in London, England with the Canadian Joint Staff. Returning to Canada in 1958, he held senior naval personnel positions before being posted to Ottawa and promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1966. During the tumultuous integration period, he became the Principal Naval Adviser, the de-facto Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. Vice-Admiral Hennessy was appointed Chief of Personnel in 1969, a position he held until his retirement in 1971. He died at the age of 95 in June 2014.
