Honour Roll Panel at the Battle Of The Atlantic Memorial in London, ON. This panel has the names of the RCN sailors killed in HMCShips Regina and ALBERNI. Roger Litwiller Photo.
During the Second World War our Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) lost 33 ships and over 2000 Canadian sailors were killed when their ships were sunk. This makes these wrecks their war graves. For these sailors, “there are no crosses, row on row” no battlefield monument to honour their sacrifice.
For over 80 years, the graves of our Canadian sailors lost during the Second World War have been open for souvenir hunting as sport divers have dived on our Canadian Navy wrecks and a few, less scrupulous individuals have taken “trophies” of their dives.
I know many of you are asking, “Isn’t this illegal?” The sad answer has been, no! There has not been any legal protection of Canadian War Graves at sea. Divers have been free to remove any items they choose, especially the shiny bits, like bells, brass plates, navigation lamps, portholes, etc.
Fortunately this has changed!
On 9 March 2026 the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament passed into law The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2026 (PMRA Order 2026 No 286). This Act extends protection to two Canadian Navy ship wrecks in UK waters, HMCS REGINA and HMCS TRENTONIAN.
HMCS REGINA (1st) in her Western Approaches camouflage scheme. Censors have removed her pennant number. RCN Photo.
Both of these ships were Flower class corvettes. REGINA was escorting a convoy when torpedoed by U-667, north of Trevose Head in Cornwall on 8 August 1944. The corvette sank almost immediately killing 30 Canadian Sailors, 27 remain with their ship.
TRENTONIAN was torpedoed by U-1004 on 22 February 1945 off Falmouth in the English Channel while escorting a convoy, 6 sailors were killed, five went down with their ship and 95 were rescued by RN Motor Launches.
A third RCN ship, HMCS ALBERNI was not included in this revised Act. The Flower class corvette was torpedoed by U-480 on 21 August 1944 in the English Channel, sinking in less than a minute, killing 55 Canadian sailors.
HMCS TRENTONIAN off the Normandy Beaches -Painting by Marc Magee, now on display at the Quinte West Public Library in Trenton, ON.
We know all three of these ships have been ravaged by divers over the past eight decades, as artifacts from each of these ships have either been turned over to the Canadian Navy or have come up for sale on auction sites.
In 2020 a brass fuse box plate was turned over to the RCN that had been removed from the wreck of REGINA by a UK sport diver. Then in May 2021 two portholes were taken from TRENTONIAN. The bell from this same corvette was taken by a UK diver during a dive in April 2025. A few weeks later the bell and builders plate from HMCS ALBERNI were posted for sale on a UK auction site from the estate of another diver.
Damaged and warped porthole from HMCS TRENTONIAN taken from the wreck near the location that the torpedo struck the corvette. This porthole is at the Naval Museum of Halifax. Roger Litwiller Photo.
Fortunately these historic artifacts have been returned to Canadian care and custody.
One of TRENTONIAN’s portholes is located at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston, Ontario located on the site of the former Kingston Shipyards where this corvette was built. The other porthole along with the bell is in the care of the Naval Museum of Halifax. ALBERNI’s bell and builder’s plate were successfully purchased from the family of the diver by the Juno Beach Centre (JBC) located in Normandy, France. The JBC honours the legacy of the Canadian soldiers, sailors and aviators that took part in the Normandy invasion and subsequent operations.
This revision to PMRA Order 2026 No 286 designates REGINA and TRENTONIAN as Controlled Sites, restricting access to no closer than 100 meters from the wrecks. Access to the wrecks can only be gained through written permission from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). This has effectively closed the wrecks of these two RCN corvettes to all divers, whether it is for sport-diving or trophy hunting.
Unfortunately ALBERNI was not included in this legislation.
The UK Parliament is also in the process of revising the Armed Forces Bill which will encompass all other shipwrecks in UK waters that were lost while engaged in military service, regardless of nationality. These additional wreck sites, including ALBERNI will be designated as Protected Sites, allowing divers to dive the site with a strict hands-off approach. Making it an offence to touch or disturb these Protected Wrecks, a diver now risks a criminal record if they are taking souvenirs.
The revision to the Armed Forces Bill has recently had its second reading in the UK Parliament and is expected to be passed later this year.
HMCS ALBERNI Bell recovered from the wreck of the corvette and put up for auction. Courtesy Juno Beach Centre
These revisions should restrict the unlawful taking of souvenirs from our war graves. While some of the UK diving community believe this will force divers to not claim any artifacts they recover. Realistically the vast majority of divers respect and honour the final resting place of our combined war dead, no matter where the wrecks are located. The small percentage that has taken the “shiny bits” from the wrecks in the past will likely continue to do so. Now there are very strong tools to find, prosecute and convict anyone that continues with this shameful practice.
Feature photo: Screen shot from a 2018 dive video of HMCS TRENTONIAN’s port navigation lamp, lying on the wreck. In the next part of the video the navigation light had a salvage bag attached and was floated to the surface.
If you have found value in this article and the additional content I create on this website, please feel free to click on the coffee icon on the bottom right of the webpage and “Buy me a Coffee!” Your contribution will ensure that I can continue to provide the stories of these incredible Canadians and the Canadian Navy. Thank you for your support. Cheers, Roger
Additional Information:
DiverNet Web Article, posted 22 March 2026: MoD slaps Controlled Site order on bell wreck
DiverNet web Article, posted 4 March 2026: Warning to UK divers: All military wrecks to be hands-off
UK Parliament Legislation: The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2026
Recovery of HMCS TRENTONIAN’s Bell
Roger Litwiller Web Article, originally posted 18 May 2025: Stop Stealing From Canada’s War Graves -updated 4 June 2025
SWNS UK Online article: Diver found WWII Royal Canadian Navy ship bell – missing for 80 years
Diver’s YouTube video of his recovery of TRENTONIAN’s Bell. I Found The Ship’s Bell From A WWII Canadian Navy Ship – HMCS Trentonian
CTV National News Video Report: Controversy over the recovery of the HMS Trentonian’s bell
CTV National News Online Article: Diver finds warship bell after 80 years — but not everyone approves
Belleville Intelligencer article: HMCS Trentonian ship’s bell recovered from English Channel seabed
University of Guelph News: Wartime Shipwrecks Could Attract Grave Robbers, U of G Historian Warns
