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Book Description
Chilliwack able seaman Ralph Chartrand recalls the action:
When the sub started to surface, everything that could shoot went into action and we fired all we could. While the crew of U-744 was jumping out of the conning tower, St. Catharines was closing in, but our captain outmanoeuvred Chilliwack in front to make sure that this was our sub. He gave the order "Prepare to ram," but soon the sub was empty, so we didn't ram. We lowered a lifeboat with a boarding party and they proceeded to U-744. While the lifeboat was tied to the sub, some members boarded the sub. then a big wave hit our lifeboat and flipped the crew into the water with the German Sailors. We took 17 prisoners on board.
It was almost a major coup. Three lifeboats reached the Type VII C boat. German code books and the cypher machine were seized, but all three seaboats capsized in the rough sea and only one book was saved. All the Canadians were picked up. So, too, were 40 Germans. Icarus then dispatched the unsalable U-744 with a torpedo. Eleven Germans died, including the captain.
Praise for Corvettes Canada.
"It was the ubiquitous corvette, built in Canada, manned by volunteers and often as not based in a Canadian or Newfoundland port, that carried the burden of our Atlantic war...and few wartime sailors escaped at least some time aboard them.
"For the most part, their experiences have gone unrecorded--especially those of the lower deck--and time will soon erase what the enemy and the sea itself could not. Fortunately, Mac Johnston has salvaged the experiences of 250 of these fast-departing corvette veterans, and has drawn their story together into a superb collective memoir of the Atlantic war.
"Johnston has woven these memories...and the history of the wartime RCN into a tight fabric, one that is both entertaining and extremely valuable. If you have never read anything on the Canadian navy's part in the Battle of the Atlantic, start with this one; if you've read everything that's already available, you will find this one a gem." --Marc Milner, University of New Brunswick
"I like your presentation. It's right from the horse's mouth so to speak. It is so authentic, I say it is a classic. It's as true a story as can be told. Corvette men who read your book, contributors or not, will marvel at your format and will live again the tortures of the Atlantic, the friendship of shipmates, the action stations alarm bell and the roar of depth changes...
"Your book proves that these Corvette men were tough to stand the day-to-day tensions, rough seas, dangers and the boredom that was part of their sea life. You have done a wonderful story." -- Leo McVarish, HMCS Alberni, Winnipeg, Man.
From the Inside Flap
The victory at sea was a dangerous and deadly six-year struggle to deliver the necessities of life and war from North America to the United Kingdom. On the one side were the hunted -merchant ships sailing in convoys protected by warships. On the other side were the hunters-German submarines determined to sever the Atlantic Supply line and strangle the United Kingdom into submission. Canada played a significant role in this struggle by producing and sending to sea more than a hundred small escort vessels known as corvettes.
In Corvettes Canada, Mac Johnston re-creates life aboard corvettes through the worlds of the veterans themselves. Within a framework of the basic events of the war, this book is an epic piece of oral history and is essentially the product of the memories of more than 250 men, collected by correspondence in a project that got underway with an initial personalized letter to several hundred corvette veterans in 1990. Hundreds of additional letters followed as more veterans were identified. The letter count rose to 1,400 and then 1,900 to flesh out the corvette story.
From the fall of 1940 until May 1945, Corvettes Canada follows these small warships as they shepherd convoys of merchant ships carrying weapons, food, oil, raw materials and manufactured goods from North America to the United Kingdom. On the return trip, the escorts bring back the empty vessels for reloading.
As told in the worlds of the veterans, the routines of life aboard a corvette are punctuated by sudden burst of fierce action--the life-and-death moments for warships, merchant ships and German submarines. This was but one enemy--the other was the North Atlantic itself, a powerful force that brought severe cold, icy storms and fierce gales.
In addition to the famous Newfie-Derry Run on the North Atlantic, corvettes also saw duty in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the triangle run to New York and Boston, in the Caribbean, in the Mediterranean and in the English Channel, as well as the Pacific Ocean.
Corvettes Canada is a remarkable achievement: an honest, engaging story of war told through first-hand experience and a celebration of the courage and resilience of young sailors whose efforts were critical to victory in Europe. The memories are accompanied by a treasure trove of photographs which bring that time to life. In total, the book is an achievement of a kind that will be an enduring legacy for generations of readers.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stories of the first sailors to stop the U-boats,
By Theodore A. Rushton (PHOENIX, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Corvettes Canada: Convoy Veterans of WWII Tell Their True Stories (Hardcover)
Canadians are unduly modest, if I may humbly say so myself; but even at that it's surprising that it took 63 years after World War II ended for this superb account of the men who first blunted the German advances.True enough, Canadians were not the ones who won the war. Credit for victory belongs to Russian manpower, American machinepower and British stubbornpower. Instead, it was the British refusal to accept peace after the fall of mainland Europe; plus Canadian efforts to keep open the vital sea lanes across the North Atlantic. Johnston tells just how it was done, and at what cost. Everyone knows about the 'Battle of Britain'. A few know it was American 100-octane gasoline that enabled British fighters to match the Luftwaffe. Almost no one knows it was mainly a handful of Canadian sailors, hastily trained and often poorly equipped, who did enough to prevent the U-boats from stopping all of those tankers from reaching Britain. For 500 years, the Atlantic has been the world's most important ocean; in 1941/42, it was mainly Canadian corvettes that kept it open for Britain. Johnston presents this long overdue account of this heroism; he did extensive work in gathering accounts of about 250 sailors. He tells of their heroism, even though few boast of any bravery; for Canadian sailors, it was a job to be endured. They went about it like hockey players, a distinct contrast to the frequent flashy American victory dances after even easy touchdowns. It's much more than hardship and triumphs; Johnston includes the controversies, bumbling, errors and near mutinies that detracted from Canadian efforts. It's a well-rounded picture; the printed references are mainly references to ships and numbers, the bulk of his book is stories from the sailors who were at sea. It's a book that should have been written by the late 1940s, instead of the dull dry "official" accounts which tend to ignore ordinary sailors. Personally, have spent many a night in a Canadian Legion Hall, it's the personal stories of warriors that always outclass official histories. Johnston is a skilled reporter, and this book shows the best examples of a true reporter's skills in contrast to the lazy but often frequent "press release journalism." There's an old saying in journalism, "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." For Johnson, in this book, it may well be rewritten, "if a sailor says the Atlantic was wet ... check it out." He did. I know; I've been there (merchant marine, not the navy). It's popular in recent years to talk about "the tipping point", the last little nudge before the rush of events. In 1940, the "tipping point" was shutting down the Atlantic enough to force Britain to terms, if not surrender. It was Canadian sailors who "tipped" events against the U-boats by just enough to prevent defeat.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Long-Overdue Tribute to RCN Corvettes!,
By Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Corvettes Canada: Convoy Veterans of WWII Tell Their True Stories (Hardcover)
Mention of the Battle of the Atlantic brings to mind American and British destroyers darting about, trying to save plodding merchantmen from ruthless U-boat wolfpacks. Yet, in fact, Royal Canadian Navy corvettes were a mainstay of Atlantic convoys, their crews compiling a noteworthy combat record. Canadian author Mac Johnston tells their stirring story in this 2008 John Wiley & Sons Canada release. Subtitled CONVOY VETERANS OF WWII TELL THEIR TRUE STORIES, it is an expanded and updated version of a book first published in 1994.Ill-prepared for war's outbreak, RCN brass had scrambled to create a viable fighting force. Opting for a modified whaler-vessel now christened a corvette, they fielded a design armed with a 4-inch gun forward, various .30- and .50-caliber machine guns sited around the ship and depth charges aft. The design wasn't fast, didn't have great endurance and was a 'wet boat' forward. It was, however, cheap and easy to build. Crews, many of whom had never sailed on a river not alone the Atlantic, were hurriedly trained. The crews received little training on anti-submarine tactics nor was training given to ships within a group to help them function as a team. Then too, although corvettes were designed for coastal work, they were mistakenly committed to the North Atlantic run. Against this backdrop, Johnston creates a vivid, you-are-there portrait of life on RCN corvettes based on the reminiscences of over 250 corvette veterans. In essence, Johnston takes the reader below decks to see what life was really like for a WW II corvette sailor. In a word, it was rugged. Johnston devotes chapters to the appalling North Atlantic weather, shipboard routines, food, morale, leadership, combat and so on. Given all the burdens faced by RCN corvette crews, their final record - 20 RCN corvettes received sole or shared credit for a U-boat kill - is a testament to the courage and determination of those young men. (Ten RCN corvettes were lost in return). Aside from the gripping accounts by corvette crewmen, CORVETTES CANADA includes a wonderful selection of wartime photographs of ships, crew, combat scenes, rescue ops, ports and what-not. The pix of corvettes totally encased in ice gives a graphic idea of what crews faced from Mother Narture let alone U-boats. Until something better shows up, I think CORVETTES CANADA may well be THE definitive account of those small ships and their brave crews. Highly recommended. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The unsung heroes of the Battle of the Atlantic,
By Steven Birchard "Steve B" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Corvettes Canada: Convoy Veterans of WWII Tell Their True Stories (Hardcover)
This is a story that almost no one seems to know about. I cant imagine being inside a 200 ft. tin can, in the worst possible weather for 3 or 4 years, fighting faster, better equipped U-boats (the corvettes were modified whalers with a 4 inch gun), with only a few breaks in between the battles. The corvettes weren't designed for prolonged ocean travel(mostly for coastal patrols) and yet they did the bulk of the allied ocean convoy work. I haven't finished the book yet, but I am thoroughly enjoying it so far.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The story of the first sailors to stop the U-boats,
By Theodore A. Rushton - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Corvettes Canada: Convoy Veterans of WWII Tell Their True Stories (Hardcover)
Canadians are unduly modest, if I may humbly say so myself; but even at that it's surprising that it took 63 years after World War II ended for this superb account of the men who first blunted the German advances.True enough, Canadians were not the ones who won the war. Credit for victory belongs to Russian manpower, American machinepower and British stubbornpower. Instead, it was the British refusal to accept peace after the fall of mainland Europe; plus Canadian efforts to keep open the vital sea lanes across the North Atlantic. Johnston tells just how it was done, and at what cost. Everyone knows about the 'Battle of Britain'. A few know it was American 100-octane gasoline that enabled British fighters to match the Luftwaffe. Almost no one knows it was mainly a handful of Canadian sailors, hastily trained and often poorly equipped, who did enough to prevent the U-boats from stopping all of those tankers from reaching Britain. For 500 years, the Atlantic has been the world's most important ocean; in 1941/42, it was mainly Canadian corvettes that kept it open for Britain. Johnston presents this long overdue account of this heroism; he did extensive work in gathering accounts of about 250 sailors. He tells of their heroism, even though few boast of any bravery; for Canadian sailors, it was a job to be endured. They went about it like hockey players, a distinct contrast to the frequent flashy American victory dances after even easy touchdowns. It's much more than hardship and triumphs; Johnston includes the controversies, bumbling, errors and near mutinies that detracted from Canadian efforts. It's a well-rounded picture; the printed references are mainly references to ships and numbers, the bulk of his book is stories from the sailors who were at sea. It's a book that should have been written by the late 1940s, instead of the dull dry "official" accounts which tend to ignore ordinary sailors. Personally, have spent many a night in a Canadian Legion Hall, it's the personal stories of warriors that always outclass official histories. Johnston is a skilled reporter, and this book shows the best examples of a true reporter's skills in contrast to the lazy but often frequent "press release journalism." There's an old saying in journalism, "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." For Johnson, in this book, it may well be rewritten, "if a sailor says the Atlantic was wet ... check it out." He did. I know; I've been there (merchant marine, not the navy). It's popular in recent years to talk about "the tipping point", the last little nudge before the rush of events. In 1940, the "tipping point" was shutting down the Atlantic enough to force Britain to terms, if not surrender. It was Canadian sailors who "tipped" events against the U-boats by just enough to prevent defeat. |
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