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HMCS CHEDABUCTO J168
Bangor Class Minesweeper
Built at Vancouver and commissioned there on 27 Sep 1941, CHEDABUCTO left Esquimalt for the Atlantic on 11 Nov 1941, arriving at Halifax with a cargo of explosives.
On 10 Apr 1942, the British freighter SS Trongate, moored in Halifax Harbour north of George's Island at anchorage 4, signals she has fire below decks and that there is TNT on board. Several tugs begin pumping water into her. Around midnight Trongate's crew is sent ashore as she prepares to scuttle. In order to prevent what would have been a second Halifax Explosion, HMCS CHEDABUCTO is ordered to sink Trongate with gunfire. At 3 a.m., 11 April, Trongate sinks after being hit by 20 to 25 4-inch shells. One shell from CHEDABUCTO is later found on a Halifax pier where it had come to rest after passing through Trongate's hull and ricocheting across the water.
Briefly assigned to WLEF she transferred in Jun 1942 to Gulf Escort Force, escorting convoys between Quebec City and Sydney. In Sep 1942, she was assigned to Sydney Force and then, in Jan 1943, reassigned to WLEF. Soon afterward she underwent a lengthy refit at Lunenburg and Halifax, on completion of which in Jun 1943, she worked up at Pictou and was allocated to Gaspé Force. On 21 Oct 1943, CHEDABUCTO was involved in a night collision with the cable vessel Lord Kelvin, and sank 30 miles from Rimouski with the loss of one officer.
Commanding Officers
Lt John Herbert Bowan Davies, RCNR - 27 Sep 1941 - 21 Oct 1943
SLt (E), RCNVR MPK - 21 Oct 1943
They shall not be forgotten
Former Crew Members
Photos and Documents
(CDB001) HMCS CHEDABUCTO J168 // From the collection of Douglas Allan Jamieson // Courtesy of David Jamieson (CBD002) SS TRONGATE - Date and location unknown. Source: Wrecksite.Eu (CDB003) HMCS CHEDABUCTO after collision with cable ship SS Lord Kelvin. A tow rope had been attached in an attempt to save the CHEDABUCTO // Source: The Legion Magazine 22 Oct 2010 (CDB004) Newspaper article on the loss of the CHEDABUCTO // Source: Canada's Virtual War Memorial (CDB005) Minesweeper CHEDABUCTO Rammed - Is Total Loss // From the collection of J. Vincent Wesley, CPO, RCNVR // Courtesy of Marilynn Taylor
Articles on the sinking and salvage of the SS TRONGATE
Sep 1952 edition of the Crowsnest magazine
Article from "The Liverpool Nautical Research Society" "The Bulletin" Vol 41, No. 1, Summer, 1997
Article on the sinking and salvage of the SS TRONGATE from the Brandon Daily Sun
Halifax - British Salvage experts are writing the sequel to a Halifax Harbor drama of the second world War on which the Navy rang Down the curtain. It was at 1.50 on 10 April to 1942, that a naval Shell Tore through the burning holds of the explosives Laden freighter Trongate and harbour water snuffed out the towering flames that had yellowed the sky. Probably less than 15 minutes were needed to sink the 7,000-ton merchantman in la fathoms of water. Salvaging her steel plates will take three divers more than a year. In wartime the convoy with Trongate began that Spring Day 13 years ago in Bedford Basin at the North end of the Harbor where all through the War convoys were marshalled to move across the Atlantic. The freighter s holds bulged with mixed cargo ??500 tons of TNT. Several Hundred tons of Small arms ammunition Wood pulp paper and tobacco. Late in the afternoon fire flickered below decks. Who first spotted it or exactly when is not known. Neither is the cause. Wartime censorship and time itself have obscured much of the Trongate's last hours. Convoy masters decided to winch the vessel out of the crowded basin and down the harbour to the open sea ??? miles away. Shortly before 2 a.m. as the Trongate stood about midway between the Dartmouth and Halifax shorelines in the centre of the harbor flames sheeted skyward from the deck. Rifle and machine gun bullets began going off and the plates glowed against an ominous backdrop of Oil storage tanks on the Dartmouth Side. The Navy held a hurried conference with port officials. It was decided to sink the ship with gunfire before the flames ate into the volatile TNT. Two Canadian and three United states warships turned their guns on the floating furnace. The bark of 4.7-Inch guns crashed through the general din. One Shell skated off the deck of the freighter whizzed across open water crunched through the Wall of a building in Paddy Flemmings spar Yard on lower water Street and thudded into a beam in Flemmings office. It didn't explode. Paddy wanted to keep it for a souvenir but a harassed Navy cleanup squad took it away. A hhell found its mark and the Trongate with clouds of steam showering upwards slid beneath the surface. What was left of the cargo was taken off a few months later. Risdon Beasley Ltd., of Southampton started the current Salvage operations last March. The bulk will yield about 1,000 tons of scrap. More than 700 tons have been raided already by powerful 50-ton hoists aboard the Salvage vessel Topmast 16. 10-ton chunks are cut smaller and the scrap is hauled away. The divers had trouble getting used to the cold harbour bottom water but now don't mind the three hour stints (Page 31, 16 Nov 1955, Brandon Daily Sun, Brandon, Manitoba)
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In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Lest We Forget
