Tanker in St. John’s Harbour, NF in 1942. Roger Litwiller Collection, courtesy Ross Milligan, RCNR. (RTL-REM050)
HMCS SHAWINIGAN (II)
HMCS SHAWINIGAN departing Halifax Harbour for the North Atlantic on 30 April 2016. Roger Litwiller Collection, courtesy Roger Litwiller. (RTL06308)
RCN Could Chase Subs Underwater!
We could take the fight to the enemy, no matter where he tried to hide. Our ships could hunt and kill enemy submarines underwater! At least that is what we told the American sailors making fun of our HMCS OTTAWA. It was a wonderful warm Caribbean night at the US Naval Base, Roosevelt Roads in […]
2016 -TOP 10 RCN PHOTOS
Personal Blog by Roger Litwiller This has been a very productive and fortunate year for me. I have had the good fortune to be able to attend Battle of Atlantic services in Halifax and Ottawa. I was honoured to attend the service and committal ceremony in HMCS MONTREAL off Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park on the […]
HMCS ADVERSUS
HMCS ADVERSUS -Auxiliary Patrol Vessel, grounded on Mc Nutt Island in a gale off Shelburne NS and was lost, on 20 December 1941. All sixteen of her ship’s company survived. ADVERSUS was taken over by the RCN from the RCMP along with her sister ALACHASE in September 1939 and immediately converted for anti-submarine patrols. On […]
HMCS WINDFLOWER
On 7 December 1941, HMCS WINDFLOWER was lost in collision with the freighter SS Zypenburg off St. John’s, NF.  Twenty-three of the RCN corvette’s ship’s company were killed in the incident. At the time, WINDFLOWER was part of the mid-ocean escort for SC 58, a convoy of forty-nine merchant ships that had left Sidney, NS. […]
My Experience with a Rogue Wave on the High Seas
For many years the phrase Rogue Wave was considered a myth by scientists, but ask any sailor they are real, powerful and destructive. A rogue wave is an isolated wave that is larger than the current sea state and can be twice the size of the waves at the time, they happen fast and generally […]
HMCS VALLEYFIELD
HMCS VALLEYFIELD -River class frigate was torpedoed by U548, off Cape Race Newfoundland on 6 May 1944. Of her ship’s company of 163, one hundred and twenty-five were killed, including two passengers.  VALLEYFIELD was only in commission five months and was the only RCN frigate lost during World War II. Photo courtesy of the Naval […]
HMCS ESQUIMALT
HMCS ESQUIMALT, Bangor class minesweeper, was torpedoed by U190 off Halifax on 16 April 1945. Forty-four sailors of her ship’s company of seventy-one were killed when she was lost. Late in the day of 15 April, ESQUIMALT left Halifax to perform and anti-submarine sweep of the approaches to the harbour in advance of a convoy […]
How I became an “Accidental Archivist!”
I have always had an interest in history, especially the stories and history of our Royal Canadian Navy. But never in my dreams did I ever think I would be gathering a large collection of historical photos from veterans of the RCN. This unexpected journey began in 1997, as commanding officer of a cadet corps […]