HMCS ''Alberni'' was a that served in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

(RCN) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Flower-class corvettes were warships designed for

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

. The ship was constructed by

Yarrows Ltd. Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also op ...

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 19 April 1940, launched on 22 August and commissioned on 4 February 1941. The corvette sailed east to join the RCN's fleet in the Atlantic via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

, where upon arrival, the vessel began escorting trans-atlantic

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

. ''Alberni'' took part in the key convoy battle of

Convoy SC 42 Convoy SC 42 was the 42nd of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. SC 42 was attacked over a three night period in September 1941, losing 16 ships sunk and 4 damaged. ...

. In 1942, the corvette was transferred to

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

convoy assignments associated with

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. In 1944, ''Alberni'' was among the Canadian naval vessels assigned to

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the naval component of the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

and escorted support ships to and from the United Kingdom on D-day. On 21 August 1944, while performing an anti-submarine patrol east of the D-day landing site, ''Alberni'' was torpedoed and sunk by the . The ship sank quickly and 59 sailors were killed, with the remaining crew being rescued by

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

motor torpedo boats. A maritime museum in

Courtenay, British Columbia Courtenay ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest community and only city in the area commonly known as the Comox Valley, and the seat of the Comox Valley Regional Dis ...

now honours the name of the ship and its dead.

Design and description

Flower-class

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s like ''Alberni'' serving with the

(RCN) during the

were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The Flower-class corvettes originated from a need that arose in 1938 to expand the

following the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

. A design request went out for a small escort for coastal

s. Based on a traditional

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

-type design, the initial Canadian ships of the Flower class had a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of . They were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a maximum draught of . The initial 1939–1940 corvettes were powered by a four-cylinder

vertical triple expansion A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up h ...

engine powered by steam from two

Scotch boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

s turning one three-bladed

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

rated at . The Scotch boilers were replaced with

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s in later 1939–1940 and 1940–1941 Programme ships. The corvettes had a maximum speed of . This gave them a range of at . The vessels were extremely wet. The Canadian Flower-class vessels were initially armed with a Mk IX BL gun forward on a CP 1 mounting and carried 100 rounds per gun. The corvettes were also armed with a QF Vickers 2-pounder () gun on a bandstand aft, two single-mounted .303 Vickers machine guns or Browning 0.5-calibre machine guns for

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

defence and two twin-mounted .303 Lewis machine guns, usually sited on bridge wings. For

, they mounted two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

throwers and initially carried 25 depth charges. The corvettes were designed with a Type 123

ASDIC Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or ...

sonar set installed. The Flower-class ships had a complement of 47 officers and ratings. The Royal Canadian Navy initially ordered 54 corvettes in 1940 and these were fitted with Mark II Oropesa

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

gear used for destroying contact mines. Part of the depth charge rails were made portable so the minesweeping gear could be utilised.

Modifications

In Canadian service the vessels were altered due to experience with the design's deficiencies. The

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

was moved further back in the ship and the mess and sleeping quarters combined. A direction-finding set was installed and enlarged

bilge The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull. Internally, the bilges (us ...

keels were installed to reduce rolling. After the first 35–40 corvettes had been constructed, the foremast was shifted aft of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and the mainmast was eliminated. Corvettes were first fitted with basic SW-1 and SW-2 CQ surface warning

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

, notable for their fishbone-like antenna and reputation for failure in poor weather or in the dark. The compass house was moved further aft and the open-type bridge was situated in front of it. The ASDIC hut was moved in front and to a lower position on the bridge. The improved

Type 271 radar The Type 271 was a surface search radar used by the Royal Navy and allies during World War II. The first widely used naval microwave-frequency system, it was equipped with an antenna small enough to allow it to be mounted on small ships like ...

was placed aft, with some units receiving

Type 291 radar The Type 291 radar was designed as a search radar for ships destroyer-sized and smaller in 1942. By the end of the Second World War it had been installed in almost every British and Commonwealth destroyer and escort ship as well as many submarines ...

for air search. The minesweeping gear, a feature of the first 54 corvettes, was removed. Most Canadian Flower-class corvettes had their

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

s extended which improved crew accommodation and seakeeping. Furthermore, the sheer and flare of the bow was increased, which led to an enlarged bridge. This allowed for the installation of Oerlikon cannon, replacing the Browning and Vickers machine guns. Some of the corvettes were rearmed with

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...

anti-submarine

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

. The complements of the ships grew throughout the war rising from the initial 47 to as many as 104.

Construction and career

''Alberni'' was ordered on 14 February 1940 from

and the ship's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

on 19 April. She was launched on 22 August 1940 and commissioned into the RCN on 4 February 1941 at Esquimalt. The ship was named after Alberni, British Columbia. The town of Alberni later merged with nearby

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices o ...

to create one town after the tsunami of 1964 which originated in Alaska and wiped out much of Alberni. ''Alberni'' sailed to the

and joined the RCN's Atlantic Fleet in Halifax arriving in April 1941. She was assigned to the

Newfoundland Escort Force The Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF) was a Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's count ...

in May 1941 and tasked as a mid-ocean

escort in the western North Atlantic in the

. The corvette played a role in escorting

in September 1941. The convoy was escorted by the all-Canadian Escort Group 24, comprising the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

, and the corvettes ''Alberni'', and . The convoy passed through poor weather which prevented it from going around the German patrol line "Markgraf", stationed across their route. The patrol was a group of

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s positioned along convoy routes kept moving by commands from shore to avoid detection by convoy escorts. The convoy, comprising 64 merchant vessels came under attack from 9–14 September during which 16 ships were

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

ed. ''Orillia'' was tasked with taking one torpedoed tanker in tow back to harbour. ''Alberni'' and ''Skeena'' damaged the with depth charges. On 10 September the convoy escort was augmented by the arrival of two further Canadian corvettes and . Their undetected arrival allowed them to surprise and sink the sub. With the additional ships, the escort was able to form two rings around the convoy, making it more difficult to attack the merchant vessels. The escort was further augmented by four corvettes and a

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to ...

on 11 September. Five British destroyers joined the escort on 11 September, shifting from escorting the convoy ON 13F. Two of the British destroyers sank on 11 September. With the escort further augmented by another trawler on 12 September ''Skeena'', ''Alberni'' and ''Kenogami'' were sent to refuel at Hvalfjord, Iceland, ending their part in the convoy battle. The corvette continued escorting subsequent North Atlantic convoys until May 1942. On 3 May 1942, ''Alberni'', along with the destroyer , rescued 47 survivors from the British tanker ''British Workman'' that was torpedoed and sunk by southeast of

Cape Race Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", mea ...

. This was followed by a minor refit in May 1942 where her boilers were replaced. From October 1942 until February 1943, ''Alberni'' was allocated for

duties in and around the

, escorting convoys to and from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and the United Kingdom. On 27 October 1942, ''Alberni'', rescued 12 survivors from the American tanker ''Gurney E. Newlin'' that had been torpedoed and damaged by . ''Gurney E. Newlin'' was sunk the following day by . The next day, 28 October, ''Alberni'', along with , rescued 81 survivors from the British whaling ship ''Sourabaya'' that had been torpedoed and sunk the previous day by ''U-436''. ''Alberni'' returned from Torch duties in March 1943 and briefly served with the

Western Local Escort Force Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point (WOMP or WESTOMP) near Newfoundland where ships of the Mi ...

before an assignment with Quebec Force. She spent the next five months escorting Quebec-

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

convoys. She had one major refit in November 1943 at

Liverpool, Nova Scotia Liverpool is a Canadian community and former town located along the Atlantic Ocean of the Province of Nova Scotia's South Shore. It is situated within the Region of Queens Municipality which is the local governmental unit that comprises all ...

which took until early February to complete. She was among the few Canadian Flower-class vessels not to have her forecastle extended. After workups in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

following her refit, ''Alberni'' joined the

-commanded escort group EG 4. In April 1944, she was reassigned to

Western Approaches Command Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the commander of a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The admiral commanding, and his forces, sometimes informally known as 'Western Approaches Command,' were responsibl ...

for a part in

, the naval aspect of the

D-day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

landings. In July, the corvette took part in the landings, escorting assorted support vessels across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. On 26 July, the ship shot down a German

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

aircraft, with the Ju 88 striking the water aft of the ship.

Sinking

Returning from invasion duties, the corvette was tasked to relieve on anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel to the east of the D-day landing area. On 21 August ''Alberni'' was torpedoed and sunk by , commanded by

Hans-Joachim Förster The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded ...

, in the Channel at . The submarine was coated in a rubber

anechoic tile __NOTOC__ Anechoic tiles are rubber or synthetic polymer tiles containing thousands of tiny voids, applied to the outer hulls of military ships and submarines, as well as anechoic chambers. Their function is twofold: *To absorb the sound waves o ...

that absorbed ASDIC signals and limited detection, and the sinking marked the first

ship to be sunk using the technology. ''U-480'' would sink a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

a little over a day later in the same area, followed by two merchant vessels on the same patrol. 59 crew were lost after the torpedo struck the warship on her port side immediately aft of the engine room, causing her to sink in less than a minute. (Acting) Lt. Frank. Williams was awarded the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

's bronze medal for his work in saving members of the crew in January 1945. 30 crew members were rescued by Royal Navy motor torpedo boats (MTB).

Legacy

For the vessel's service during the war, ''Alberni'' received the

battle honours A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

"Atlantic 1941–44", "Normandy 1944" and "North Sea 1944". Divers had been searching for the wreck, with reports in the 1980s of its discovery, but these were discarded for being in too shallow water. In 1999 a privately funded memorial program titled "The Alberni Project" was established to honour all the crew who served on ''Alberni'' from the time she was commissioned in 1941 until her sinking in 1944. With the help from relatives of HMCS ''Alberni'' crewmen, private and public contributions, and community volunteers, TAP became TAPS (The Alberni Project Society) to preserve the times of the

through the stories of the Canadian forces and civilians involved in the battle. A traveling exhibit and memorial was developed in 2005 and continues to make appearances on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

and the lower British Columbia mainland. On 1 September 2013 a permanent museum (The HMCS Alberni Museum – HAMM) was opened at the Comox Centre Mall in

Comox, British Columbia Comox () is a town on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Thousands of years ago, the warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil, and abundant sea life ...

. In November 2016 HAMM moved to the city of

to an expanded facility incorporating Canadian Forces serving in the Great War to the present day.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

The Alberni Project – Canadian Heritage Website

Naval Museum of Manitoba

HMCS ''Alberni'' on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb.org.uk.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberni, HMCS Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II 1940 ships Maritime incidents in August 1944