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US Navy – Air Units
US Navy – Lufteinheiten
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USMC – Air Units
USMC –
Lufteinheiten
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Marine International
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Waffensysteme
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Marine News
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Sonderberichte
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Dies & Das
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In eigener Sache
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Canada – Royal
Canadian Navy / Marine Canadienne
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Destroyer
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G 89 / DDE 217 - HMCS Iroquois
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HMCS Iroquois (DDE 217)
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DND photo
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Type,
Class:
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UK Tribal Class Destroyer /
Escort Destroyer / built as G 89 |
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Builder:
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Vickers Armstrong Ltd.; Newcastle-on-Tyne; Scotland, U.K.
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STATUS:
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Laid down: September 19, 1940 (as Athabaskan) Launched: September 23, 1941 Commissioned: November 30, 1942 Decommissioned: October 24, 1962 Fate: sold for scrap; scrapped at Bilbao,
Spain in 1966; |
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Homeport:
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Crest
Motto:
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> Relentless in Chase < |
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Technical Data:
(Measures, Propulsion, Armament,
Aviation, etc.)
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see: INFO
>> Destroyer
/ Tribal Class |
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Pictures,
photos & more ...
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HMCS Iroquois as DDE 217 |
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HMCS Iroquois as G 89 |
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…
Information & History … |
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A BRIEF
HISTORY OF H.M.C.S. IROQUOIS
source: extracted from the official HMCS Iroquois
(DDH 280) website and meant to be in the public domain.
HMCS IROQUOIS1. was
the first "Tribal" destroyer to commission in the Royal Canadian
Navy and her arrival marked a new departure in naval warfare for the rapidly
expanding Canadian navy. As far back as the dark days of 1940,2.
when the RCN comprised little more than a scant force of some six pre-war
"River" Class destroyers, and even before the first stalwart
corvette had made her way to sea, Canadian naval planners were beginning to
think in terms of an offensive strategy which would carry Canada's war at sea
to the very doorstep of the enemy. Aggressively armed, the Tribals were
designed as hard hitting, swift moving ships of war which would operate with
the Royal Navy's Home Fleet destroyers in the North Atlantic and in the
danger studded waters about the British Isles. IROQUOIS' keel was laid down
in the Vickers-Armstrong Yard at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 19 September, 1940. The
following year, on 23 September, she was launched by Mrs Vincent Massey, wife
of the High Commissioner for Canada. A disappointing series of delays,
occasioned by the shortages of material and labour in beleaguered Britain,
postponed her eventual commissioning date for still another year. The main
body of IROQUOIS' company began to arrive in the United Kingdom in October
1942 and were accommodated in HMCS NIOBE. Courses were arranged at RN
establishments for a large proportion of the personnel, since many of them
had had little or no previous experience in destroyers. On Monday, 30
November 1942, at Newcastle, under the command of Commander W.B.L. Holms,
RCN, and with the Naval Chaplain on the staff of the Flag Officer-in-Charge,
Tyne, officiating, IROQUOIS was commissioned in the RCN. IROQUOIS passed the first nine
days of December 1942 storing ship and carrying out preliminary power trials.
On 11 December the destroyer proceeded from Methil on the Firth of Forth for
the windswept Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow, "where all seems
devised for the welfare of ships and the discomfort of men". Upon
arrival, 12 December, IROQUOIS came under the administration of the
Rear-Admiral (Destroyers) Home Fleet for working-up exercises. During
"work-ups" in the turbulent winter waters off the Orkneys,
weaknesses in IROQUOIS' hull structure began to appear. On 29 January
the destroyer returned to North Shields on the Tyne where four weeks were
required to make good the damage and install additional stiffenings. Work was completed by 24
February 1943 and IROQUOIS shaped course for Londonderry whence she
sailed independently to Halifax for examination by dockyard and
building officials who were to begin construction of Tribal destroyers in
Canada. Unfortunately, the ship had run into heavy weather off the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland and upon her arrival in Halifax on 6 March it was
again found necessary to dock the ship for repairs. Many of the difficulties
which had plagued IROQUOIS during her long and tedious "work-up"
resulted from the fact that since the original tribal structure had been
developed by the Admiralty, a vast amount of new equipment and armament had
been added and the ship's hull had not the strength to carry it. It was
not until IROQUOIS had been adequately strengthened that this trouble was
finally overcome. The RCN Tribals which were later built in Canada were
stiffened during construction. But IROQUOIS, Canadian pioneer in the
"Tribal" Class of destroyer, was to experience to the hilt all the
frustrations, set-backs and tribulations which accompany inevitably the
adoption of a new class of warship. At noon on 15 March, IROQUOIS
left Halifax for the return voyage to Britain, stopping en route for a brief
call at St. John's, Newfoundland. Shortly after proceeding Out to sea,
on 19 March, the destroyer ran into a severe north-westerly gale. At the
height of the storm, two of IROQUOIS' men, attempting to go to the aid of an
injured shipmate, were washed overboard and lost. Arriving back at Scapa on 24
March, IROQUOIS was allocated for service with the Home Fleet and the next
three weeks were taken up with exercises in northern waters. During the
latter part of April 1943, IROQUOIS was employed on close escort duty
with such mighty warships of the British navy as the battleships KING GEORGE
V and MALAYA. While in company with the latter, on 24 April, IROQUOIS ran
into her old bugbear, heavy weather, sustaining damage which put her
back into dry dock again, this time at Devonport. During her period in
dry dock, the severely tried destroyer was subjected to still further
damage when an RAF barrage balloon, which had broken from its moorings during
a gale, landed on the ship just abaft the after funnel carrying away the
wireless antenna. On 3 June IROQUOIS became
operational again and, having been transferred to the Plymouth Command,
proceeded to sea in company with the Polish destroyer ORKAN and HMS
WENSLEYDALE to provide an anti-submarine escort for the RN battleship
RAMILLIES bound for the Clyde. The remainder of the month passed in a
busy round of activity, escorting Gibraltar bound convoys out to sea and
returning with incoming ones. On 9 July 1943, IROQUOIS sailed as part of the
escort for the liners CALIFORNIA, DUCHESS OF YORK and PORT FAIRY, bound from
Britain to Freetown, Sierra Leone, where the transports were to embark troops
for service in the Middle East. Towards evening on 11 July,
the convoy and its escorts were steaming a zig-zag course some 300 miles west
of Vigo, Spain, in calm, cloudless weather. At 2035 an enemy plane was
sighted, shadowing the convoy and hovering just out of gun range. Half
an hour later it was joined by two more Focke-Wulfs and shortly afterwards
the planes came in to the attack, down sun, from the north-west. The aircraft
concentrated their attacks on the troop transports CALIFORNIA and DUCHESS OF
YORK which were shortly mortally ablaze. IROQUOIS was singled out for
attack at 2136 but a heavy barrage from her 4" high angle guns and
multiple pom-pom forced the plane to alter sharply away. Three minutes later another
Focke-Wulf came in for a second attack on IROQUOIS. Her Captain ordered
"full ahead" and violent avoiding action was taken; the bombs fell
harmlessly astern. The enemy then withdrew eastwards leaving the escort
(two destroyers and a frigate) to carry out the difficult and arduous task of
rescuing survivors. Submarines were known to be in the vicinity and at
first IROQUOIS, then the RN frigate SWALE, who joined the group from
Gibraltar, carried out an anti-submarine sweep during the rescue operation.
Together the escorts succeeded in picking up some 1880 survivors, 660 being
accommodated in IROQUOIS. The ship's company performed throughout the
ordeal with great skill and determination; many feats of gallantry and
devotion to duty were noted by the Commanding Officer. At 0135 on the
12th, having given orders to MOYALA to sink the hulks of the DUCHESS OF
YORK and CALIFORNIA with torpedoes, IROQUOIS shaped course for
Casablanca where the survivors (some of them seriously wounded) were disembarked.
Commander Holms and two of IROQUOIS' crew were afterwards presented with the
Czechoslovak Military Cross for rescuing nine Czechoslovak officers borne in
the troop ships. Before she left Casablanca,
the destroyer embarked one German officer and five ratings to be landed in
the United Kingdom. These prisoners were survivors of U-506. a 740 ton
enemy submarine which had been sunk on 12 July 1943 by a US Liberator
aircraft operating from the Gibraltar area. They had been picked up by
HM Destroyer HURRICANE and conveyed to Casablanca. It is interesting to
note that their Commanding Officer, who did not survive the sinking, had
claimed to have sunk, during the three patrols he did in the submarine,
seventeen ships, totalling in all 99,961 tons.3. IROQUOIS,
on the evening of 19 July, proceeded to sea in company with her sister ship
HMCS ATHABASKAN and the Polish destroyer ORKAN, with orders to carry out a
sweep against enemy submarines and shipping in the Bay of Biscay. The
group patrolled in the "Musketry" 4. area of the
bay. At 2225 the 21st, IROQUOIS sighted a Spanish fishing vessel to the
eastward, the MONOLO of Corunna, and, on being instructed to sink her, did so
after embarking her crew of fourteen. At 0827 the following morning,
IROQUOIS sighted and sank another, the ISOLINA COSTADE, while a third, the
VIVERO, fell a victim to ORKAN's guns. These vessels were sunk in an
area which had been prohibited to them by Admiralty several months before
because there was good reason to believe that they were less interested in
fishing than in the more profitable occupation of spying. In the
southern Bay of Biscay approaches, where British shipping movements were
important, there was ample opportunity for it. Warnings had been issued
repeatedly by broadcasts and leaflets dropped by aircraft, as well as by
intercepting British warships. This was the first action taken against them
to enforce the orders. Westward of the area about fifteen more fishing
vessels were sighted spread over a large area. As they were not in a
position likely to prejudice the success of the operation, they were not
molested. The following day ORKAN fired on a lurking Focke-Wulf 200 aircraft
and drove it off. On the afternoon of the 24th,
the group were directed by a Sunderland to a position where they found a raft
containing five survivors of U-55^ which had been sunk by aircraft on the
20th. Dead bodies in life belts were also seen in the area.
During the early morning of the 25th, survivors of U-459. sunk by the RAF,
were rescued. These were made up of five officers and thirty two
men. Survivors of a Wellington aircraft which had been shot down during
the action against this submarine, were also sought by the group. IROQUOIS,
some three miles from ORKAN found the aircraft's dinghy. In it
was the tail gunner, but four other reported survivors were not seen.
5. Upon completion of this
mission with the Plymouth Command, IROQUOIS was dispatched northwards to
rejoin the Home Fleet. Her arrival at Scapa was delayed, however, due
to another period in dock, this time to repair damage sustained while in
collision on 28 July with the trawler KINGSTON BERYL in the Irish Sea.
Arriving at Scapa on 26 August, IROQUOIS was assigned to the desolate
"Murmansk Run", the treacherous route to North Russia, where
bitterly needed supplies for the hard pressed Russian front were convoyed
through waters daily searched by Nazi U-boats and aircraft and menaced by
German battleships and cruisers. IROQUOIS' first assignment
(Operation "Holder") into Arctic waters was not, however, carried
out as convoy escort but as part of a special naval force dispatched to North
Russia with vital war supplies, a number of important passengers and mail for
British personnel at Polyarnoe, North Russia. The destroyers IROQUOIS
and HURON with HMS ONSLAUGHT, left Scapa on 1 October for Skaalefiord in the
Faeroes, where, after refuelling, they shaped course for Kola Inlet.
The destroyers arrived at Murmansk at 0200 on 6 October and, after speedily
disembarking passengers and cargo, sailed again at 2215 on the same day,
carrying with them several members of the Russian diplomatic corps. Back in port only two days,
IROQUOIS was sent out again to take part in operation "F.Q.".
This operation was designed to carry relief personnel and stores to the
garrison at Spitzbergen and it was timed to coincide with operation
"F.R." (the passage of a number of Russian minesweepers and small
A/S vessels to Murmansk) so that the heavy covering naval force would be
available for both operations. IROQUOIS, with HMCS HAIDA, HM Ships
VIGILANT, JANUS, HARDY and USS CORRY, formed the destroyer screen for the
British battleship ANSON, the fleet carrier USS RANGER and the cruiser HMS
NORFOLK, which comprised the support force. On 2? October IROQUOIS was
ordered to the Clyde to pick up the destroyer depot ship HMS TYNE and escort
her back to Scapa. After her arrival back at base on the 30th, IROQUOIS
lay alongside TYNE until 5 November cleaning boilers. In operation "F.T."
which occupied the next three weeks, IROQUOIS, with her sister Tribals HAIDA
and HURON, formed part of the destroyer flotilla under HMS ONSLOW assigned to
escort convoy JW-54A to Russia and convoy RA-54B on the return journey.
The convoys to North Russia had been discontinued during the summer months of
1943 and JW-54.A was the first one to sail when they were resumed in November
of that year. Convoy JW-5U, consisting of 19 merchant ships, left Loch
Ewe on I? November. Its progress was impeded by a north-westerly gale
on the first day out and though U-boats were known to be in the vicinity, all
ships arrived safely.6. On 26 November IROQUOIS was
alongside at Polyarnoe, when a Russian submarine, returning to her base
at the end of a 21 day patrol, entered the harbour firing a salute of four
guns. The Admiral in charge explained to the curious Canadians that
this salute was to indicate that the submarine had been successful in sinking
four enemy ships. In keeping with a Northern Fleet custom, the Admiral
further elaborated, four pigs and a liberal amount of vodka would be
immediately bestowed upon the submarine's crew. On Christmas Day, 1943, the
four Canadian Tribals were at sea escorting convoys on the "Murmansk
Run". ATHABASKAN was part of the close escort for RA-55A,
returning from Kola Inlet to Britain and IROQUOIS, HAIDA and HURON were on
escort duty with JW-55B, the third convoy in the new series destined for
Russia and the fateful convoy which was to lure the SCHARNHORST to her
destruction. Unhappily for Grand Admiral Doenitz, Commander-in-Chief of the
German navy, who reasoned that since two convoys had already passed
unmolested by German forces, the enemy would probably be less prepared for
trouble, a heavy British battle fleet had put to sea to reinforce the passage
of north-bound JW-55B and home-bound RA-55A. Ironically enough, the
suspicions of the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, flying his flag in the
battleship HMS DUKE OF YORK, had been aroused by the very ruse which the
enemy had employed to trap them. On 23 December Force 1, comprising the
RN cruisers BELFAST7., " NORFOLK (who had stalked the
BISMARCK to her doom) and SHEFFIELD had steamed down the Norwegian coast from
Kola Inlet in the event the SCHARNHORST, hidden in her anchorage at
Altenfiord, might be tempted to come out. At 2300 on the same day, Force
28. steamed out of Akureyri, Iceland, ready to do battle if the
German raider should put to sea. The SCHARNHORST, blithely unaware that
any capital ships were in the area, departed Altenfiord escorted by the
German 4th Destroyer Flotilla at 1900 on 25 December. It was to be her
last sortie into the North Atlantic. During the next twenty four hours,
SCHARNHORST twice attempted to close convoy JW-55B and twice was driven off
by the accurate gun-fire of the British cruisers in Force 1. From their
station as close escort for the merchant ships the Canadian Tribals watched
with understandable concern the glow of the fire-works over the
horizon. At this point HMS ONSLOW, Senior Officer of the convoy escort,
passed the code word "Strike"—the order for the destroyers to form
up on their divisional leaders for a torpedo attack. This order was
cancelled shortly afterwards when the SCHARNHORST retired. Despite the
fact that the German battle cruiser possessed fire power far superior to the
British cruisers present, (who endeavoured to hold SCHARNHORST until
the DUKE OF YORK, hurrying up from the south-west, could engage her) the Nazi
warship chose to rely on her superior speed and fled. Not, however, that the
SCHARNHORST was in any way lacking in gallantry. As the only capital
ship in northern waters in operational readiness, she was under orders from
Doenitz not to risk destruction in a duel with heavy ships. When the superior
guns of the DUKE OF YORK finally caught and crippled her, SCHARNHORST went
down, about 60 miles north east of Norway's North Cape, with her colours
flying and all guns that had not been disabled still firing. The convoy,
meanwhile, proceeded on its way. Constantly shadowed by both German U-boats
and aircraft, the merchant ships were all brought safely into Kola Inlet on
29 December. As the year 1943 drew to a
close, IROQUOIS could look back on the first six months of her operational
career with a feeling of satisfaction. Her ship's company was surely
and firmly welding the destroyer into a first class fighting ship.9
But IROQUOIS' severest tests and greatest triumphs were to come in 1944--the
year of the invasion, when the destroyer, in company with other Allied
warships was to distinguish herself in a series of night actions off the
French coast particularly in the Bay of Biscay. IROQUOIS arrived back at
Scapa, after an uneventful return voyage with RA-55B, on 6 January. Shortly
afterwards she was transferred, along with HAIDA, to the Plymouth Command in
order to strengthen the naval forces pressing home the attack against enemy
shipping along the French coast and to establish a firm control of the entire
Channel area in readiness for the grand assault in June 1944. From the
4th to the 13th of February, IROQUOIS, together with HAIDA and ATHABASKAN,
was recalled for duty with the Home Fleet to take part in: Operation
"Posthorn". This was planned as an air strike from the carrier
HMS FURIOUS 10. against enemy shipping in the shoal studded waters
between Stadlandet and Ytteroerne on the Norwegian coast. The German
coast-wise traffic off Norway was of great importance to the enemy's hold on
the northern areas of that country for it was the primary means of
communication with the remote Nazi garrisons stationed there. The three
Canadian Tribals formed part of the destroyer screen for the heavy support
force consisting of the battleships HMS ANSON and FS RICHELIEU and the RN
cruisers BELFAST and NIGERIA 11. The hunt for enemy shipping,
however, did not prove very fruitful and, no worth-while targets being
encountered by the aircraft, an attack was carried out on an alternate
objective, the beached SS EMSLAND. A merchant ship of 5,200 tons, the
EMSLAND had been damaged earlier by aircraft of the Coastal Command and was
now undergoing repairs. An attack was successfully carried out and the
battle force returned to Scapa on 12 February. None of the surface ships saw
any action throughout this operation. On 18 February 1944 IROQUOIS
departed Plymouth for Halifax where she was to go into refit. While on
passage, some 250 miles off the French coast, IROQUOIS' asdic operator gave
the alert that torpedoes were approaching on the starboard bow. The
destroyer was successfully manoeuvred to comb the tracks of the torpedoes,
believed to be "gnats" 12., fired from a submerged
U-boat. After a brief stop-over at Horta in the Azores, IROQUOIS
arrived in Canada on 26 February 1944. A refit began in Halifax which
lasted until 26 May. On 1 June she sailed for Liverpool via St. John's,
Newfoundland. She arrived back in England on 8 June, two days after D-Day,
when the eyes of a tense world watched with hope and with prayer as the
Allied forces of liberation challenged Hitler's Panzer divisions on the
blood-stained beaches of Normandy. To IROQUOIS' crew, secured alongside at
Liverpool, undergoing intensive courses in harbour training while new radar
equipment was being installed, it must have proved a frustrating time
indeed. But plenty of action awaited her return to the Plymouth Command
and IROQUOIS' company would have many occasions to sing the praises of her
new radar equipment. On 1 August 1944, IROQUOIS
sailed to rejoin the 10th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth. During this
month the ship really hit her stride and her Commanding Officer, Commander J.
C. Hibbard, DSC, RCN, noted with pride in his report for August that: "August 1944 has been
HMCS IROQUOIS' best month since commissioning. IROQUOIS' first operational
assignment after her refit was a series of sweeps in operation
"Kinetic" 13. designed to destroy enemy shipping along
the French coast. Early in July it had become apparent that Germany meant to
hold on to the west coast ports along the Bay of Biscay as long as
possible. La Rochelle, La Pallice, St. Nazaire, Lorient and Brest,
although no longer effective U-boat bases, since the Nazis had begun
withdrawing their submarines northwards to Norway, were still held by large German
garrisons which denied the Allies the use of these ports and harassed naval
operations in the area. Isolated by land, these garrisons continued to
be slenderly fed by sea, and operation "Kinetic" was designed with
the object of permanently breaking up their coastal supply links. Small
merchant vessels, heavily protected by armed trawlers, converted
minesweepers, and occasionally by destroyers, crawled up and down the coast
in short hops by night, under cover of shore batteries and with the added protection
that the mined and rocky shoal waters gave to them. Even discounting
the danger of air attack from nearby air-fields, it was not a healthy place
for Allied cruisers and destroyers. Force 26, consisting of the
British cruiser BELLONA (Senior Officer), the RN destroyers TARTAR and
ASHANTI and the Canadian Tribals HAIDA and IROQUOIS, was sweeping near lie
d'Yeu in the Bay of Biscay on the night of 5 August when radar echoes of an
enemy convoy working slowly to seaward of lie d'Yeu were picked up. The
British-Canadian force held their fire until the moment when they could cut
in between the enemy and the land, and at 0034 on the 6th the order was given
to move in and engage the enemy. When the action was broken off two hours
later, the convoy and its escort, believed to have totalled 6 or 9 ships, had
gone down to almost total destruction. IROQUOIS' Commanding Officer noted
later in his account of the action that: "A young and
inexperienced ship's company went through their baptism of fire showing
most commendable steadiness such that the greatest possible use was made of
the opportunity presented to achieve the object of destroying enemy
ships."
However, the damage to HAIDA
was not crippling and Force 26 regrouped and went into attack a second enemy
convoy at 0335. The results of the second action were inconclusive
although some damage was believed to have been inflicted and the convoy
forced to put back to port. At 0630, with daylight approaching, Force
26 was ordered by Commander-in-Chief Plymouth to return to harbour. As
the group altered to the westward to comply, IROQUOIS was detached to reinforce
EG-2 and EG-11, 14. "hunter-killer" groups which were
engaged in tracking down U-boats in the English Channel. At 1611 on 6
August, while IROQUOIS was patrolling in line abreast with the 2nd Escort
Group, HMS LOCH KILLIN destroyed U-736 in a brief single-handed attack with
her newly fitted Squid 15. . Three officers and sixteen ratings
from this U-boat were picked up and transferred to HMCS KOOTENAY for passage
to Plymouth16. On the night of 14/15 August
1944, IROQUOIS took part in another operation against enemy shipping in the
approaches to La Rochelle. On this occasion IROQUOIS formed part of
Force 27 with the British cruiser MAURITIUS (Senior Officer), and the
destroyer HMS URSA. A small enemy convoy rounding Les Sables d'Olonne on a southerly
course was engaged at 0305 on the 15th. In the brilliant bursts of
Force 27's star-shell, the enemy was revealed as two merchant vessels and an
Elbing destroyer. At once, the destroyer turned to cover the convoy with
smoke, at the same time firing a broadside of torpedoes. All torpedoes passed
harmlessly ahead of IROQUOIS. Immediately afterwards, shore batteries on Les
Sables d'Olonne and Ile de Ré opened a hot and heavy barrage of fire
against the Force. The fire was uncomfortably accurate, but by good
fortune all of the Allied ships escaped damage. At the end of the
engagement the two merchant ships were burning fiercely but the
destroyer, having suffered a number of hits, escaped at high speed. At 0335 the Force was reformed
and a northerly course resumed. An hour later, IROQUOIS' radar (which
performed with remarkable efficiency during these operations) picked up
another contact at six miles. This proved to be a small tanker which
was repeatedly hit by all three ships until it had run itself aground.
Towards morning, at 0620, a convoy of several ships crawling down the
coast east of Ile d'Yeu was engaged by the destroyers, the shoal waters being
too treacherous in which to risk the cruiser. The enemy, believed to
consist of two merchant ships escorted by two "M" Class
minesweepers, returned the fire with much spirit. The enemy ships,
however, were quickly silenced and, as Force 27 withdrew, the ships, burning
heavily, had beached themselves. At 1015 on 16 August the Force shaped
course to return to Plymouth, well-pleased with the results of their patrol: 2 medium merchant vessels set
on fire, beached and destroyed.
At 0017 on the 23rd, IROQUOIS
obtained a contact close inshore off Pointe du Raz. Force 27 stood out
to sea for a tantalizing 20 minutes to let the enemy get well--out into the
bay. IROQUOIS was then ordered to lead the ships in, in line ahead,
followed by URSA and MAURITIUS. Fire was opened at 0209 at a range of
4,000 yards. Star-shell illumination revealed an enemy convoy of two
armed merchant ships, one "M." Class minesweeper and a flak ship.
According to MAURITIUS' account of the action: "The enemy immediately
made smoke and turned to give an end-on target, returning Force 27's
fire with spirit. The shore battery at Audierne joined in, but on
the whole their fire was ragged and inaccurate. One medium sized merchant
ship was hit almost immediately by MAURITIUS, blew up and sank at once.
The remaining three ships were repeatedly hit, one trawler being driven
aground on fire in the entrance to Port Audierne. The second
merchant ship was set heavily on fire and sank close westward of the reef off
Port Audierne. The minesweeper was stopped, damaged and aground,
not many hundred yards from the place Captain Pellew, with two frigates
in 1797 drove the French 80-gun Ship-of-the-Line DROITS DE L'HOMME ashore,
causing over 1,000 French sailors and soldiers to perish." 18.
Forty minutes later the
destroyers formed astern of MAURITIUS and altered course to the south-west to
search for any other convoy which might be attempting to cross the Bay of
Biscay. At 0336 IROQUOIS' radar again picked up a firm contact moving
on a south-easterly course. Again the Canadian destroyer was ordered to
lead the Force in to intercept. Fire was opened fifteen minutes later
against an enemy force of two armed trawlers, one minesweeper and one
sperrbrecher19. By 0455 the entire enemy force had been
destroyed. A boarding party from URSA was later sent aboard the
minesweeper aground on the shoal off Port Audierne. Eleven prisoners
were taken along with various charts and documents. It was afterwards
learned from the French Forces of the Interior at Penmarch that some 150
Germans fleeing from the burning ships had been captured by them. It
was a good night's hunting and when the final tally was made the score stood
at: five armed trawlers, one sperrbrecher, one coaster and one flak ship sunk.20.
IROQUOIS' activities off the
coast of France during the last week of August 1944 constituted a relatively
peaceful assignment. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay and
to land armed parties at various points along the coast and outlying
islands. Where the Resistance Forces (FFI) were strong, she was to
establish liaison with the leaders of the underground and gather intelligence
information. On the afternoon of 26 August,
a party of four from IROQUOIS equipped with a portable W/T set disembarked
and went ashore at Port Joinville on Ile d'Yeu. The day previous, the
last of the German garrison had evacuated the island, taking with them the
Mayor and nineteen citizens for having weapons in their possession.
Also, prior to their departure, they had looted the local post office and
wrecked all radar equipment on the island, as well as the lighthouse, which
was the third largest in France. IROQUOIS' men received a hearty
reception from the FFI 21. and the 4,000 French civilians on the island.
The local population, anxious to show their pleasure, not only co-operated to
the full, but, with the last of their remaining store of food, entertained
the group at a party. There was a festive note in the air and Frenchmen
everywhere were eager to celebrate an occasion dear to their hearts. On
this day, 26 August 1944 General De Gaulle had made his triumphant entry down
the Champs Elysees to mark the formal liberation of Paris. On the 27th and 28th of
August, IROQUOIS carried out similar landings at St. Guenole on the Penmarch
Peninsula where the FFI were very active. The landing parties returned
to the ship with valuable information concerning enemy movements, the
positions of shore batteries and the extent of mining in coastal waters.
IROQUOIS' routine of watch-keeping off the Biscay coast was broken early in
September when the destroyer was detached on a special assignment, (Operation
"Octagon"), to act as destroyer escort, as far as the Azores, for
the SS QUEEN MARY bound for Canada. Among her valuable cargo of
passengers the liner carried Prime Minister Churchill, on his way to meet
President Roosevelt for their second historic meeting at Quebec. Upon her
return to Plymouth, IROQUOIS was taken in hand for boiler cleaning prior to
her return to the Biscay area. A final assignment to land armed parties at
Les Sables d'Olonne on the 23rd and 30th September 1944 completed IROQUOIS'
operations in the Biscay area. On the 16 October she departed Plymouth,
detached from the 10th Destroyer Flotilla and temporarily transferred to the
Home Fleet at Scapa Flow. Three weeks later, on 6
November, IROQUOIS was back under the operational control of
Commander-in-Chief Plymouth where she remained until the middle of March
1945. Throughout this period the destroyer operated on detached duty as close
escort for capital ships and troop transports in the dangerous coastal waters
off the British Isles where schnorkel-equipped U-boats now lurked.
Prior to the general introduction of schnorkel in the summer of 1944, only
the boldest of U-boat "aces" dared to traverse these in-shore
waters where their chances of escaping unscathed were slim indeed.
Schnorkel revolutionized the tactical grounds on which the submarine war was
fought. Operating often in defiance of
Allied air power, it threatened one of the pillars on which ascendancy over
the Nazi underwater fleet had been built. Between the l8th and 28th
December 1944, two enterprising U-boat captains patrolling in the English
Channel, sank eight ships—a small number in comparison with the vast volume
of shipping which now ploughed the convoy lanes in support of the advancing
armies of liberation, but what was disquieting was the fact that they escaped
to tell of their success. Their immunity to air and surface attack
aided by the difficult asdic conditions prevalent in in-shore waters, the
U-boats, on the eve of the Allied victory in Europe, were enjoying their
greatest successes since the brisk spring of 1943. After a busy winter on close
escort duty, IROQUOIS spent a short period boiler cleaning at Plymouth early
in March 1945. On 16 March she departed for Scapa Flow to take part in
a series of operations with units of the Home Fleet. IROQUOIS sailed
from Scapa for the first of these operations "Cupola"), on 19
March, as part of Force One 22. detailed to lay mines in the
narrow waters off Granesund on. the coast of Norway. The operation was
successfully carried out on the 20th under excellent weather conditions and
without enemy opposition. The destroyers saw no action and remained
throughout in company with the heavy units standing about a hundred miles out
to sea beyond the enemy's own mine barrier. Four days later, on 24 March,
IROQUOIS set out again from her base at Scapa, this time as part of
Force Two 23. . The operation 24. was planned as an air
strike against enemy shipping in the Trondheim leads, but, not finding any
worthwhile targets on the morning of 26 March, the bomb-carrying Avengers
attacked radar and other important installations along the channels. On
the morning of the 28th a second strike was flown off against several enemy
merchant ships, two of them being set on fire. Although the surface forces
saw no action, three ME 109's were destroyed in combat and one Allied Barracuda
aircraft was lost 25. . IROQUOIS, in company with the
RN destroyers ONSLOW, (Senior Officer), ZEALOUS and ZEST took part in a
surface ship action (Operation "Foxchase"), against shipping off
the Norwegian coast 26. on 4 April 1945. At 0011 four medium-sized
merchant vessels, accompanied by three escort vessels, were engaged in a
vigorous exchange of gun-fire. All the destroyers scored hits on the convoy
which promptly altered course and made for shore. Unfortunately, the Senior
Officer, believing that the danger from E-boats and submarines in the
vicinity (IROQUOIS reported two on the surface at 0035) made the battle area
too hot for the destroyers, gave orders to withdraw to seaward. Intelligence
reports later revealed, to the disappointment of the Force, that no enemy
ships had been sunk and none seriously damaged. IROQUOIS' next assignment
(Operation "Roundel") took her back to the familiar convoy route to
North Russia. With her sister Tribals HAIDA and HURON, IROQUOIS formed part
of a heavy force 27. detailed to escort JW-66 28. to
Kola Inlet. Although the inevitable
surrender of German forces was now, after six years of bitter conflict, close
at hand, and everywhere in Europe Nazi strength was shrinking to the
battleground around Berlin, at sea, the enemy's submarine flotillas still
fought with much of their old skill and daring. On 22 April 1945, three days
before the destroyers shepherded JW-66 safely into the anchorage at Vaenga
Bay, two merchant ships had been torpedoed and sunk close by the mouth of
Kola Inlet. So it was that to the last day of the war,29. merchant
ships had still to move in convoy and in the waters off Russia and Norway the
danger from U-boats remained as acute as ever. Considerable enemy activity
enlivened IROQUOIS' return passage to Britain with convoy RA-66.
Shortly before the convoy departed (midnight on 29 April), frigates of the
Royal Navy 19th Escort Group succeeded in destroying two U-boats, U-307 and
U-286. in the approaches to Kola Inlet. In retaliation, the enemy
claimed one of the Group's frigates, HMS GOODALL. Although RA-66 passed
through the danger area without loss, the going was hard, and both HAIDA and
IROQUOIS reported "near misses" by torpedoes. It was to be the last
chance the enemy was to have at the Canadian Tribals. The convoy
arrived without loss at the Clyde, 6 May 1945, in time to celebrate the
Allied victory in Europe. Only the fighting was over;
much work remained to be done. On 9 May, IROQUOIS was ordered to Rosyth
where she formed part of the destroyer screen for the British Force
proceeding to Oslo, returning Crown Prince Olaf, after years of exile, to his
capital. Having completed this operation, IROQUOIS steamed for
Copenhagen where she joined the British cruisers DEVONSHIRE and DIDO and the
RN destroyer SAVAGE. On 24 May she sailed, as part of this force, to
escort the German cruisers PRINZ EUGEN and NURNBERG to Wilhelmshaven where
they were to await their disposal by the Allies. For Canada's Tribals, the job
in European waters was drawing to a close. On 4 June 1945, HAIDA, HURON
and IROQUOIS, in company, shaped course for Halifax. Here the ship was to be
taken in hand for tropicalization prior to her departure for the Pacific
where she was slated to join the British Fleet in the war against Japan.
IROQUOIS arrived in harbour on 10 June and two weeks later went into
refit. However, before this was completed, the Japanese surrender on
the 14th of August brought the war in the Far East to an end. Her refit
complete by the middle of December 1945, IROQUOIS was allocated to the
Reserve Fleet early in the New Year 30. She was paid off 22
February. POST WAR In three months time, on 27
May 1946, IROQUOIS recommissioned as Depot Ship for the Reserve Fleet (East
Coast) taking over the duties of Senior Officer Ships in Reserve from HMCS
QU'APPELLE whose crew transferred to IROQUOIS. Routine care and
maintenance on the destroyers in reserve was carried out by IROQUOIS'
company; all other maintenance was conducted by Reserve Fleet personnel borne
in the establishment ashore, HMCS SCOTIAN. Throughout the winter of 1946-47,
the three Tribals, HAIDA, HURON and IROQUOIS, each a veteran of many gallant
exploits in European waters, remained secured alongside "Jetty
Zero" in the sheltered waters of Halifax harbour. In February 1947 when SCOTIAN
was paid off as the administrative and accounting authority for the Reserve
Fleet, IROQUOIS took over her duties and the staff of the Senior Officer
Ships in Reserve (SOSR) transferred to IROQUOIS. During the summer of
1947 the former Nazi U-boat, U-19031. having spent a brief
period in commission as an RCN submarine, was allocated to the Reserve Fleet
under the control of IROQUOIS while awaiting her final demise by RCN forces
on 21 October 1947. In November 1947, IROQUOIS was
taken in hand for a series of refits, which were not completed until a year
and half later. On 24 June 1949 IROQUOIS advanced from "Reserve" to
"Operational" Commission and Reserve Fleet personnel were transferred
to HMCS LA HULLOISE who succeeded her as Depot Ship for the Reserve
Fleet. After a great deal of last minute bustle and preparation,
IROQUOIS put to sea, 9 July 1949, with 101 UNTD cadets 32. borne
aboard for training. Throughout July and August the destroyer cruised
along the eastern seaboard, putting in for brief visits at Provincetown,
Mass., New Haven, Conn., Saint John, N.B., and Corner Brook and
St. John's in Newfoundland. Upon her return to Halifax, IROQUOIS
was paid off into Reserve Fleet on 3 September 1949. On 15 June 1950, the program
to install anti-submarine weapons in IROQUOIS was begun 33.
A year and a half later, on Trafalgar Day, 21 October 1951,
IROQUOIS recommissioned under Commander W. M. Landymore, RCN. A word on
IROQUOIS' badge would be in order here. This is founded on the unofficial one
prepared in 1942, which was in turn taken from a painting by the late C. W.
Jeffries. Depicted-in gold, is the head of an Iroquois warrior, cut off
at the base of the neck, with the peculiar cox-comb "hair-do" and
top-knot for scalp removal. There is war paint on the face, two eagle
feathers in the hair and a gold ring pendant from the ear. Ship's colours are
black and gold. The motto, approved in August 1957, reads: "Relentless
in Chase". After an inspection by
Rear-Admiral DeWolf who visited the ship to view her new weapons, IROQUOIS
steamed out to sea, 13 January 1952 for full power trials. On the 28th she
was sailed to Norfolk, Virginia, where she came under the operational control
of Commander Operational Development Force for evaluation trials. The first
week in February was spent at sea in the approaches to Norfolk carrying out
preliminary exercises. Here, on 6 February, the ship's company was grieved to
receive the official announcement of the death of their beloved
Commander-in-Chief, His Majesty King George VI. Upon their return to the
Norfolk Naval Base, a solemn memorial service was held to honour the memory
of the late Monarch. On completion of her trials on
13 March, IROQUOIS received the following message from the American Commander
in charge of her operational development: "Congratulations on
expeditious completion of trials. Your efficient execution of all tasks and
hearty cooperation greatly admired. COMOPDEVFOR appreciates opportunity to be
shipmates with such a fine Command."
KOREAN WAR ERA When IROQUOIS arrived in the
operational area a few days later, the war in Korea was already two years
old. For the past twelve months, since July 1951, attempts to reach a truce
negotiation had been underway; unfortunately, with scant success. If
any anxiety was felt throughout the ship that they might not be in time to
"fire a gun in anger", they could take- -some comfort from the
knowledge that HMCS CAYUGA, whom they were relieving in Korea, had felt the
same misapprehension a year earlier when she arrived in the area.
However, even those who wished that it would, the war was not to be brought
to an end for yet another year. True, the bitterly fought see-saw operations,
in which spectacular advances were followed by staggering withdrawals, as
first the Communists, then the United Nations forces, parried for position in
the nightmare struggle of advance and retreat, belonged to the past. By July 1951, when the peace
talks first began at Kaesong, the major battles had been fought, the heaviest
casualties suffered, the majority of the incredible number of prisoners
taken. Entrenched along the 38th parallel, the armies faced each other across
the "no man's land" of the buffer zone, each side ruthlessly
defending his position, cautiously probing for weak spots in the other's
defences. From July 1951, until the armistice was signed on the 27th of July
1953, the military situation generally remained static. The bored
reflection, "war is mainly waiting", was never more truly borne out
than by these two years on the battleground of Korea as the armies dug in to
hold and survive while the seemingly endless "peace talks" dragged
on in the tents at Panmunjom. Savage outbursts of local activity flared
up from time to time as a rugged hill-side or a barren ridge became the
object of dispute; and men died, or were taken prisoner, or endured, as
through two long years the "waiting war" went on. For the United Nations naval
forces, the war was settling into a routine of vigilance and blockade. The
heavy -naval bombardment in support of the UN forces backed up at Pusan, the
daring and spectacular amphibious landings at Inchon, the assault at Wonsam,
all belonged to the action filled first year of the war in Korea; each had
taken it's place beside the great "combined operations" of history.
After 1951 the Canadian
destroyers in the Far East were committed to the task of maintaining the UN's
"iron ring" about Korea. Primarily the naval task was a
blockading one. Local operations involved breaking up the enemy's
coast-wise traffic, the defence of the friendly west coast islands, and the
bombardment of rail installations which skirted the foot of the cliff-bound
east coast. Not a small part of the duty of RON destroyers was the
screening of aircraft carriers for the telling strikes which were made
against enemy troop concentrations, supply dumps, bridges and--other vital
installations. The monotonous task of screening duty, however, was
frequently enlivened by orders to proceed close in shore to bombard enemy
shore positions or to assist guerilla forces in landings along the shore or
on outlying islands in order to gather intelligence and take prisoners. IROQUOIS' first tour of duty
in Korean waters lasted for five months and during this period the destroyer,
back in an active war zone for the first time in seven years, and her first
taste of fighting in the Pacific, was to carry out a varied program of
activities. On 20 June 1952, she took over from ATHABASKAN, who was preparing
to sail home to Canada, the duties of Commander, Canadian Destroyers Far
East. Her first operational assignment, screening the American carrier
USS BATAAN, took her on 23 June up the west coast of Korea to the area of the
hotly contested 38th parallel. Teaming up with HM Cruiser CEYLON and HM
Frigate AMETHYST, she made an attack on the southern tip of Ongjin
Peninsula. British planes, acting as spotters, directed fire on the
coastal defences in the approaches to Haeju and also called for fire on
troops digging in behind the coast. Enemy guns, on attempting to return
the fire, were quickly silenced by the concerted attack of the three
warships. Every third night IROQUOIS was detached to carry out in-shore
patrols in the Paengyong Do 34. area under CTE 95.12 35. HMS
BELFAST. While operating with IROQUOIS in the vicinity of the island of
Chodo on 5 August the British cruiser, veteran of many epic sea battles
in the Second World War, sustained a direct hit from an enemy shore
battery. After a period at Kure, Japan,
for maintenance, IROQUOIS returned to the operational area in the vicinity of
Haeju on 30 August as Commander Task Unit 95.12.4. On arrival off the
peninsula north of Mu-Do, a heavy bombardment of enemy positions was carried out
using shore fire control spotting teams and air spots from HMS OCEAN. The
results, recorded IROQUOIS' Commanding Officer, were "excellent".
On the night of 3 September a tropical storm— "Mary"—moved into the
area, forcing the destroyer to withdraw to seaward. Apparently IROQUOIS
found the China Seas typhoon kinder than the winter waters off Scapa Flow for
she rode out -the storm unscathed. The following week, on 10
September, IROQUOIS together with the American carrier SICILY took part in
Operation "Siciro", the code name being compounded from the two
warships' names. "Siciro" was designed as an assault by three
Wolf-pack companies 36. against a point on the Peninsula of Chomi
Do in the Bay of Haeju. The guerilla forces, about 350 strong, were led
by US army officers and NCO's. The Wolf packs pushed off from the
island of Yongmae Do at 0100 on the 10th. While the assaulting forces
borne in junks, some steam, some sail, were making the three mile passage
across the mud flats to their objective, IROQUOIS' gun-fire softened up the
edges of the peninsula. The British cruiser BELFAST made a timely
appearance in the Haeju area and her offer to assist in the operation was not
refused. IROQUOIS' Commanding Officer described the 90 minute naval bombardment
as a "battle of wits between the Ships' Gunnery Officers who wished to
have a reasonable ammunition expenditure and the spotter who was determined
to empty our magazines as rapidly as possible. A reasonable compromise
was achieved and both the spotter and the ships were satisfied with the
outcome". SICILY'S aircraft arrived at
0620 to lend effective support to the withdrawal of the Wolfpack forces, and
by 0830 the junks, with the assaulting force intact, were on the return
journey to Yongmae Do. Enemy casualties were reported later to be close
to 400. Several gun positions had been destroyed and three agents who
had been in enemy hands were recovered and brought back. Four South
Korean Guerillas suffered light wounds. IROQUOIS' Commanding Officer
summed up the venture with these words: "One would have thought
that "Siciro" On 26 September IROQUOIS
sailed from Sasebo for Yang Do far up the east coast of Korea where she relieved
HMS CHARITY on the 29 September. In the situation report turned over to
IROQUOIS, CHARITY had commented: "I had no hesitation anchoring day and
night when at Yang Do—this has been going on for fifteen months. I
don't know how long the enemy will allow it to go on for." The
answer, IROQUOIS soon found out, was "fifteen minutes". No sooner
had CHARITY weighed and proceeded than the anchorage came under fire.
The nearest shells missed IROQUOIS by some 400 yards, but the incident
heralded the active days to come. North Korea's rail system ran
north and south along the east coast of the peninsula and it was in these
waters that Canadian destroyers gained fame as ace members of the "Train
Busters Club". Unfortunately, during IROQUOIS' first operational
assignment in the area, she was to suffer the only RCN casualties of the
Korean war. During her patrol "CHARITY" had stopped a train by
gun-fire at the coast's edge, just south-west of Sonjin. The line had
been blocked for several days, and faced with feverish attempts by the enemy
to clear it, UN naval vessels were detailed in shore to see that it remained
blocked. On the 2nd of October,
IROQUOIS, together with the American destroyer MARSH, carried out a
successful bombardment of the area. As the two ships turned to seaward
at the close of the engagement, shore batteries opened fire and shortly
afterwards a full salvo bracketed IROQUOIS. Despite her evasive tactics
and an attempt to clear the area at high speed, IROQUOIS sustained a direct hit
in "B" gun position. The destroyer's guns replied and the shore
battery was soon effectively silenced. Aboard IROQUOIS, one officer and one
seaman had been killed instantly. A second rating, critically injured, died a
few hours later. Ten other men were wounded. Her fighting efficiency,
however, was in no way impaired, and 'the destroyer, having transferred her
dead and wounded to USS CHEMUNG, an American supply ship carrying a surgical
team, returned to complete her patrol in the area. On the morning of 6 October,
with a guard of honour drawn from HMCS CRUSADER, Lieutenant-Commander John L.
Quinn, Able Seamen A. E. Baikie and W. M. Burden were buried with full naval
honours in the British Commonwealth Cemetery at Yokohama, Japan. At the same
time, aboard IROQUOIS, ten miles to seaward of where the action had taken
place, Commander Landymore led a simple memorial service in tribute to the
fallen shipmates. Back at the rail block on 9 October, IROQUOIS carried out
interdiction fire and routine patrols until she was relieved by HMCS CRUSADER
on 14 October when she set course for Sasebo. During her brief period in dry
dock the ship's company was inspected by Admiral Sir Rhoderick, R. McGrigor,
KCB, CBE, DSO, RN. IROQUOIS undocked on 22 October and sailed for a week's
operations off the west coast of Korea. On 1 November IROQUOIS was
sailed in company with the RN carrier OCEAN for Hong Kong. On the morning of
4 November while the British carriers OCEAN and GLORY combined for exercises
to test the defences of Hong Kong, IROQUOIS acted as plane guard for the
operation. On the 9th November, IROQUOIS represented the RON at a
Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph and on the 11th the ship's company
paraded to the Military Cemetery for a purely Canadian Armistice Day
Service. A wreath was laid on the grave of an unknown Canadian
soldier. At noon the following day, IROQUOIS set course to return to
the operational area. While on passage in the
Formosa Straits typhoon "Bess" overtook the destroyer and for three
days and nights she battled the storm. On the l6th the veteran
destroyer limped into Sasebo, badly shaken up, but with no serious damage.
Back with the west coast blockading forces on the 19th, IROQUOIS carried out
bombardments against gun emplacements, observation posts and cave positions
with good results before returning to Sasebo on the 22nd. Here the ship
was stored and final preparations made for the voyage home. IROQUOIS had
completed her first tour of duty in the Korean theatre. After a
farewell visit from Rear-Admiral E. G. A. Clifford, RN, IROQUOIS sailed from
Sasebo on 26 November, bound for her home port of Halifax via Pearl
Harbour. As the ship would be at sea on Christmas Day, the destroyer
put into Esquimalt for a short stop-over on 16 December and half of the
ship's company were granted leave which enabled them to be "home for
Christmas". Leaving the west coast port on 20 December, IROQUOIS steamed
south to Manzanillo, Mexico, where she arrived on 27 December. After
passing through the Panama Canal on 2 January, IROQUOIS reached Halifax by
way of Bermuda on 6 January. Here she secured at the familiar
"jetty zero" to undergo refit. Three months later, on 29
April, 1953 IROQUOIS, in company with HMCS HURON, was sailed for Kingston,
Jamaica, the first leg of her return passage to the Far East. The
voyage was made uneventfully except for some engine room difficulties
experienced by both Tribals off the west coast of Mexico. The trouble
was eliminated in IROQUOIS when fourteen buckets of shrimps were removed from
her condensers. IROQUOIS arrived at Sasebo on the l6th of June. The
peace talks, which had dragged on interminably for almost two years, seemed
now, at last, to be approaching an armistice agreement. Unfortunately, the
"release" of 25,000 North Korean anti-communist prisoners of war oh
18 June stimulated fresh outbursts of activity along the eastern and central
sectors of the front and with peace talks once again suspended, the long
awaited truce agreement was postponed another five weeks. On 19 June IROQUOIS sailed for the operational area and on reaching the vicinity of Chodo, 22 June, took over the command of Task Unit 95.1.4 from HMS MODESTE. However, affairs on her west coast patrol were unusually quiet and the destroyer, relieved by HMS COCKADE on 2 June sailed for a courtesy visit to Tokyo where the ship's company enjoyed a lavish program of entertainment and hospitality. Officers and men rose gallantly to several "unorthodox" occasions and t | ||||||||
