HMCS ST CLAIR I65

Wickes Class Destroyer (USN)

Town Class Destroyer (RCN)

Commissioned on 01 Mar 1919 as USS WILLIAMS, she served with the Pacific Fleet until 1922, when she was laid up at San Diego. Re-commissioned in 1940, she served briefly with the Neutrality Patrol before being transferred to the RCN at Halifax on 24 Sep 1940, as HMCS ST CLAIR. Assigned to EG 4, Greenock, she arrived in the Clyde on 11 Dec 1940 to undertake escort duty for Western Approaches Command. On 24 May 1941, ST CLAIR was diverted to assist in the search for the battleship Bismarck by Home Fleet ships. On 27 May 1941, during the return passage to Clyde, after the search for the German battleship Bismarck, with HMS TARTAR and  HMS MASHONA, they were attacked by five German bombers west of Galway, Ireland. HMCS ST CLAIR shot down one of the bombers; HMCS MASHONA was hit by bombs and capsized. After picking up MASHONA'S survivors, ST CLAIR sank the hulk. Assigned to NEF, she collided with the oiler Clam on 17 Jun 1941, shortly after her arrival St. St. John's, and remained under repairs until 02 Dec 1941. In Mar 1942, she joined WLEF and in Jun 1943, was assigned to its EG W-2. Except for two-months' absence that summer, attached to HMCS CORNWALLIS, she remained with the group until Dec 1943, when she was ordered to St. Margaret's Bay to serve as a depot ship for RN submarines used as A/S training. In May 1944, she was taken to Halifax for repairs, remaining there until paid off 23 Aug 1944. She was then reduced to a firefighting and damage control training hulk in Bedford Basin, where her remains still lay as late as 1950.

Photos and Documents          The Ship's Bell

Commanding Officers

LCdr Dickson Carlisle Wallace, RCNR - 24 Sep 1940 - 05 Apr 1942

LCdr Gerald Ormsby Baugh, OBE, RCNR - 06 Apr 1942 - 11 Jan 1944

Lt James Evelyn Burnett, RCNVR - 08 Mar 1944 - 23 Aug 1944

     In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice    

     Lest We Forget     

BLANCHET, Joseph G.E.

Stoker 1c, RCNVR

died - 24 Dec 1941

     In memory of those who have crossed the bar    

They shall not be forgotten

Former Crew Members

Photos and Documents

George Boynett, from Toronto, ON, on HMCS ST CLAIR I65 in 1943

From the collection of AB Howard Charles Abbott, RCNVR

Courtesy of Roger Litwiller

(RW-STC001) Jim Morrison (left) and R. (Andy) Anderson on HMCS ST CLAIR

(RW-STC002) Cousin Andy on HMCS ST CLAIR (not the same Andy as in STC001)

From the collection of PO Robert Webster, RCNVR

HMCS ST CLAIR on 5 March 1944 acting as depot ship to RN submarines being used for Anti-Submarine training in St. Margaret’s Bay.

Source: Roger Litwiller Collection, Allen E. Singleton, RCNVR photo