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HMCS ''Sackville'' is 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 ...
and later served as a civilian
research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...
. She is now a
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
located in Halifax,
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, and the last surviving Flower-class corvette.


Wartime service

''Sackville''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 laid down as ''Patrol Vessel 2'' at the Saint John Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Saint John,
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
in early 1940, the second of the s ordered by 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 ...
. She was launched on 15 May 1941 by Mrs. J. E. W. Oland, wife of the captain of the port, with the Mayor and entire town council of her namesake town in attendance. ''Sackville'' was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 30 December 1941 by Captain J. E. W. Oland, husband of the ship's sponsor. Her first commanding officer, Lieutenant W. R. Kirkland, RCNR was appointed on 30 December but did not join ''Sackville'' until 2 January. Kirkland was discharged in March 1942 as "unsuitable" after a poor working-up trip to
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
in late February. The first lieutenant reported that Kirkland had been unable to discharge his duties and had been abusive to his officers. After rescuing the survivors from the sunken Greek ship ''Lily'', ''Sackville'' was unable to re-locate her convoy, ONS 68. The first lieutenant then took the step of relieving Kirkland and assuming command. The original crew was reposted to other RCN ships and the already trained crew of under Lieutenant-Commander Alan H. Easton, RCNR was drafted onto the ship on 6 April 1942. Also in April ''Sackville'' received Canadian-built SW1C
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 ...
and worked up at Halifax and St. Margarets Bay. The ship was finally assigned to Escort Group C-3 of the
Mid-Ocean Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British, and Canadian escorts to these c ...
along with two others ( and ) on 15 May 1942 to replace corvettes going for refit. In August 1942 ''Sackville'' fought a series of fierce actions escorting Convoy ON-115. Deprived of air cover by heavy fog, the convoy was attacked by two successive U-boat " wolfpacks" off the coast of Newfoundland. On August 3, ''Sackville'' caught the German submarine on the surface and, as the submarine dived, made a series of depth charge attacks which badly damaged the submarine. ''U-43'' survived but had to retreat to France for repairs with serious damage to its engines, compressors, a leaking hatch and a crewman with internal injuries. The next day ''Sackville'' attacked as it dived, causing the submarine to break off its attack leaving ''Sackville'' to rescue two survivors from an abandoned but still floating merchant ship. Only a few hours later, ''Sackville'' detected on the surface with radar and landed a four-inch shell on the submarine's
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
followed by a depth charge. ''U-552'' nearly sank but managed to regain control and creep back to Germany heavily damaged. ''Sackville''s attacks had played a key role in allowing the 41 ship convoy to escape with the loss of only two ships. ''Sackville'' continued in her escort role until starting an extensive refit at
Thompson Bros. Machinery Co. Ltd. Thompson Bros. Machinery Co. Ltd. was a family owned and operated shipbuilding and repair facility located in Liverpool, Queens County, Nova Scotia. Founded in the early 1900s, it continued to operate under different owners until 2004. The shipy ...
in Liverpool, Nova Scotia in January 1943. She returned to service in April and was assigned to Escort Group C-1 where she remained until reassigned to a new group Escort Group 9 in July. The group was disbanded following the loss of three of its ships on 20–22 September and the ship assigned to group C-2, where the ship remained on Atlantic escort work until going for refit in
Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
in February 1944. Returning to Halifax in May 1944 the vessel worked up in Bermuda and was then assigned to Escort Group C-2 which left for
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
escorting convoy HX-297 on 29 June 1944. At Derry the boilers were cleaned, which revealed a serious leak in one of them. Repairs were unsuccessful and the ship was no longer considered suitable for convoy escort work. Since the ship had only recently been modernized she was reassigned for training at on 29 August 1944. However, almost immediately afterwards the decision was made to convert her to a loop layer, laying
anti-submarine indicator loop An anti-submarine indicator loop was a submerged cable laid on the sea bed and used to detect the passage of enemy submarines. History In the first years of World War I submarines were fearful, one-sided weapons because they were invisible. In J ...
s across harbour entrances, her damaged boiler removed to provide storage for the cable and the 4-inch gun replaced with a pair of cranes. She remained in this role until paid off in April 1946 and laid up in reserve.


Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted


Civilian service

Most Flower-class corvettes were scrapped shortly after the war, however ''Sackville'' was laid up in reserve. She was reactivated in 1952 and converted to a research vessel for the
Department of Marine and Fisheries Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; french: Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO), is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and sc ...
. The armament was removed, the hull repainted black in place of the original dazzle camouflage and the new pennant number 532 painted on the hull (changed to 113 in the late 1950s). A laboratory was built on the aft superstructure in 1964 and the bridge enclosed in 1968. She remained in service until December 1982, with her last cruise in July 1982.


Museum ship

The original intention had been to acquire , which had been sold to the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
and renamed ''Juan Alejandro Acosta'' but this vessel was wrecked (along with another Flower-class corvette - ''Cristobal Colon'', the former ) by
Hurricane David Hurricane David was an extremely deadly hurricane which caused massive loss of life in the Dominican Republic in August 1979, and was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the country in recorded history. A Cape Verde hurricane that rea ...
in 1979. This left ''Sackville'' as the sole remaining Flower-class corvette. The ship was transferred to the Canadian Naval Corvette Trust (now the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust) on 28 October 1983 and restored to her 1944 appearance (apart from minor details in her camouflage and the presence of the "
barber pole A barber's pole is a type of sign used by barbers to signify the place or shop where they perform their craft. The trade sign is, by a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, a staff or pole with a helix of colored stripes (often red and wh ...
" red and white pattern around her funnel which had been removed before 1944). It had originally been planned to restore the ship to her 1942 appearance but this proved too expensive. She currently serves the summer months as a
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
moored beside the
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The museum is a member institution of the Nova Scotia Museum and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada with a collection o ...
in Halifax, Nova Scotia, while spending her winters securely in the naval dockyard at
CFB Halifax Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT). I ...
under the care of
Maritime Forces Atlantic In the Canadian Forces, Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. It was once referred to as Canadian Atlantic Station. ...
, the Atlantic fleet of Royal Canadian Navy. ''Sackville''s presence in Halifax is considered appropriate, as the port was an important North American convoy assembly port during the war. In September 2003, ''Sackville'' broke loose during
Hurricane Juan A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
and struck the
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
'' Larinda'', a yacht inspired by the 1767 Boston schooner , moored beside her. The schooner's owners sued the Naval Memorial Trust in 2009 but the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruled in ''Sackville''s favour on 4 August 2011, concluding that the Trust had taken all necessary and appropriate precautions to secure ''Sackville''. ''Sackville'' makes her first appearance each spring when she is towed by a naval
tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
from HMC Dockyard to a location off
Point Pleasant Park Point Pleasant Park is a large, mainly forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and still contains the Prince of Wales Tower - the oldest Martello tower in North America ( ...
on the first Sunday in May to participate in the ''Commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic'' ceremonies held at a memorial in the park overlooking the entrance to
Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...
. ''Sackville'' typically hosts several dozen Royal Canadian Navy veterans on this day and has also participated in several
burials at sea Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
for dispersing the ashes of Royal Canadian Navy veterans of the Battle of the Atlantic at this location. In 2018, the ship underwent CAN$3.5 million in repairs at
CFB Halifax Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT). I ...
.


Recognition

In 1988, ''Sackville'' was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...
, due to her status as the last Flower-class corvette known to exist. On 4 November 1998, Canada Post issued a 45¢ stamp featuring HMCS ''Sackville'' as part of the Naval Vessels series. The stamps were designed by Dennis George Page, based on an illustration by Todd Hawkins and on photographs by Canadian Naval Memorial Trust.


HMCS ''Sackville'' memorial centre

plans were being looked at for a $50 million memorial centre which could include a permanent land based berth for the ship, as well as a Canadian Naval memorial and museum. HMCS ''Sackville'' underwent a major refit from February through October 2018.


''Greyhound''

HMCS ''Sackville'' was used as the model for the corvette, HMCS ''Dodge'', call sign Dicky, in the 2020 film, ''
Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...
''. The producers of the movie took numerous 3D scans of the ship's exterior to create the CGI version for the movie.


Gallery

Image:hmcs_sackville.png, ''Sackville'' as restored, moored alongside the
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is a maritime museum located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The museum is a member institution of the Nova Scotia Museum and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada with a collection o ...
in Halifax, Canada. The paint scheme on her hull is dazzle camouflage. Image:HMCSSackville06.jpg, ''Sackville'',
Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...
, October 2006. Image:HMCSSackville06b.jpg, ''Sackville'', Halifax Harbour, October 2006 showing the four-inch deck gun and
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 mortar. The lighthouse-like structure behind the bridge contains the radar. Image:HMCSSackville06c.jpg, ''Sackville'', Halifax Harbour, October 2006, showing the 40 mm anti-aircraft gun and depth charge releasing device at stern of ship. Image:Along the Halifax waterfront (July 1 2007) (687039939).jpg, ''Sackville'', Halifax Harbour, 1 July 2007, alongside a 2-masted sailing ship. A green
maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...
badge is visible on the ship's funnel, a common insignia of Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Image:HMCS Sackville (K181) proue.JPG, Bow view Image:HMCS Sackville (K181) poupe.JPG, Stern view


See also

*
List of ships of the Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is tasked to provide maritime security along the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic coasts of Canada, exercise Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago, and support Canada's multi-national and bilateral interests ...
* List of museum ships *
Ship replica A ship replica is a reconstruction of a no longer existing ship. Replicas can range from authentically reconstructed, fully seaworthy ships, to ships of modern construction that give an impression of a historic vessel. Some replicas may not even ...
*
Ships preserved in museums There are numerous notable ships preserved in museums around the world. These are distinct from museum ships, which are ships where visitors can go aboard to see the ship. List This list is in date order, starting with the oldest ships. * Khufu ...


References


Bibliography

* *


External links


HMCS Sackville official site





Haze Gray and Underway

ReadyAyeReady.com

The 1993 film "Lifeline to Victory" was filmed aboard HMCS Sackville


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927015238/http://hnsa.org/ships/sackville.htm HNSA Ship Page: HMCS Sackville
HMCS ''Sackville'' on the Arnold Hague database at convoyweb.org.uk.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sackville, HMCS Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Canadian Navy Ships built in New Brunswick Museum ships in Canada Museum ships in Nova Scotia History of Halifax, Nova Scotia National Historic Sites in Nova Scotia 1941 ships Maritime museums in Nova Scotia Museums in Halifax, Nova Scotia Naval museums in Canada