HMCS TRENTONIAN gained a new crew member in May 1944 in Londonderry when this dog wandered into the corvette and voluntarily stayed aboard.

Quickly adopted as the ship’s mascot and named AB O’Brian, RCNVR, respecting his Irish origins, the stray never left. A hammock was made for him and strung between two stanchions in the Communications Mess. At sea he could be found sitting on the ready use ammunition locker on TRENTONIAN’s bridge. During operations supporting the Normandy invasion, when the guns started firing, O’Brian would quickly disappear below decks.

Sadly, O’Brian did not survive. He died while on convoy duty in the English Channel and was sewn into his hammock and buried at sea by his shipmates.

Discover O’Brian’s entire story and TRENTONIAN’s other mascots, including a monkey, in White Ensign Flying, The Story of HMCS TRENTONIAN.

Roger Litwiller Collection, Allen E. Singleton, RCNVR photo, courtesy Bruce Keir, RCNVR. (RTL-BK200)

This photo and collection have been gathered from the crew of HMCS TRENTONIAN and have been used by Roger Litwiller to create the book, White Ensign Flying, The Story of HMCS TRENTONIAN, published by Dundurn Publishing in 2014.