Join Roger at the Mariners Park Museum in Prince Edward County for a talk on the Royal Canadian Navy ships named for the Bay of Quinte Region on 16 July 2017 at 11 am. Roger will focus on HMCS HALLOWELL, a frigate named for Prince Edward County, served extensively during WWII and later in the […]
Warships Of The Bay Of Quinte Talk
Roger will be joining the members of the Probus Club of Presqu’ile to speak about the incredible stories of the Canadian Navy ships named for the Quinte area. The details of the ships has been recorded in Roger’s book, Warships of the Bay of Quinte.  Six navy ships have been named for local communities and have […]
HMCS TRENTONIAN -Portsmouth
HMCS TRENTONIAN landed wounded from the cablelayer HMTS MONARCH in Portsmouth on 13 June 1944. The two ships had been fired on by USS PLUNKETT during the night, with deadly consequences, Â The crew of TRENTONIANÂ gather around the gangway after the wounded have been moved ashore. There will be no shore leave and this will be […]
Loss of RCN MTB 463
HMC Motor Torpedo Boat 463, sank after striking a mine in the English Channel on 8 July 1944. The “G” type Motor Torpedo Boat carried a ship’s company of seventeen RCN sailors, five were wounded, fortunately none were killed. Photos courtesy of the Naval Museum of Manitoba.
Loss of MTB 460
HMC MTB 460, struck a mine in the English Channel on 2 July 1944, of her ship’s company of 17 RCN sailors, 11 were killed. MTB 460 was a “G “type Motor Torpedo Boat assigned to the 29th Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla. Photos courtesy the Naval Museum of Manitoba.
HMCS ATHABASKAN (I)
On 29 April 1944, HMCShips HAIDA & ATHABASKAN attack with guns, German destroyer’s T24 & T27 in a blazing night action off the French Coast. Scoring several direct hits, HAIDA drove the heavily damaged T27 onto the rocky French coast. T24 was damaged and separated from T27 escaped, but not before firing torpedoes. HMCS ATHABASKAN was […]
Mulberry Caisson Sinking
On 19 October 1944, HMCS TRENTONIAN was escorting two Mulberry caissons and their respective tugs, to Normandy.  Towing of Phoenix 194 but had to be suspended when it was realized that the caisson was filling with water. She had a developed a large hole in the concrete and was now sinking. TRENTONIAN’s boats crew is […]
First and last photos of HMCS TRENTONIAN
These two photos of HMCS TRENTONIAN tell an amazing story. They are the first and last photos of this historic Battle of Atlantic corvette. The first picture of TRENTONIAN was taken just before her commissioning on 1 December 1943, the Flower class corvette was newly built at Kingston, Ontario. She is finishing her acceptance trials […]
Listen to Roger Litwiller Interview on Northumberland Radio 89.7 “Words on The Hills”
Tune into Northumberland Radio 89.7 on Sunday September 20 at 1 pm for Roger Litwiller’s interview on the radio show, Words On The Hills. This is a wonderful weekly program with hosts Felicity Sidnell and Gwynn Scheltema with local authors from the Northumberland area of Ontario. Roger will be discussing the stories he has gathered […]
HMCS SKEENA
HMCS SKEENA -River class destroyer, grounded and lost during a gale in Reykjavik, Iceland on 25 October 1944. Of the destroyers ship’s company of 181, fifteen sailors were killed. SKEENA had been on patrol south of Iceland in a full gale with HMCShips QU’APPELLE and ST. LAURENT when the escort group was ordered to return […]