Corvettes: Flower Class

[jbryce1437]

Thank you Barry. I hope your visit comes to fruition.
Jim

[timlewin]

https://smcclearn.smugmug.com/Nautical/ ... -SACKVILLE

This link is a huge catalogue of brilliant photos of the massive amount of work done to restore Sackville, there are vastly too many to post here so i urge you to go to the site link and gawp in admiration at what the Canadians have done to preserve this splendid little ship; if anyone is building the large model of a Flower Class Corvette this ling is going to help you immensely.

[ivorthediver]

Well that was a mammoth refurbishment Tim and quite right in what you say about detail for modelling , sadly I made mine about 12 years ago but will offer it to any members who wish to start one at the local club , thanks for posting them Tim ....

[Pelican]

From Tim - Self explanatory.

[DaveH]

What a tribute to these little gallant ships built originally I believe for use on the Great Lakes but redesigned for ocean work . History shows the UBoats hated them because their UBoats were being sunk by Ships with Flower names . Also a tribute to fine shipbuilding in the 40's the like of which IMO we don't have today .

[Pelican]

Photo on 22nd June and from the ceremony at Portsmouth on 2th June 2021

[timlewin]

this ceremony, hamstrung by the covid extension, was organised by the Canadian Naval Attaches to take delivery, as a gift from Boathouse #4, of the last remaining skiff of the type issued to all Flower Class corvettes when built. They all carried this little boat, 16 feet long by 7 feet wide, to Port and a Montague whaler to Starboard.
This all came about when i was seeking a proper set of builders plans for a Montague whaler, the Boathouse had one and very kindly scanned me a copy. This was for the Sackville trust whose old whaler had past the point of no return and they needed to build a new one. During the conversations we talked a lot about Sackville and the critical role of the corvettes in the Battle of the Atlantic. The director of the Boathouse suggested that they had a corvette skiff (sometimes called a trawler boat, others just the dinghy, or short whaler) that might be better re-united with the last corvette than languishing in their "awaiting attention" catalogue. I discussed this with the Naval Attaches at Canada house, and the Sackville Trust. Long Story short, we managed to negotiate the perfect solution. The minesweepers Summerside and Kingston were due in UK waters for exercises which included a memorial participation attendance to the VE Davy celebrations at Londonderry, home from home to the RCN Escorts in the Battle for the Atlantic, and then a call to Portsmouth to collect this splendid evocative piece of shared history.
Attached is a photo of just such a skiff being lowered from HMCS Sackville in 1942. This was when Lt. Cdr Alan Easton was her skipper. Easton wrote perhas the definitive book on life in the BofA, titled "50 North". This is my next book, it will be published as an eBook in the very near future. He wrote this book at the end of the War while all was still fresh. The last hardback published edition was in 1963 so it has been out of circulation a long time. It is a true classic which i am publishing jointly with the senior historian of the RCN, and permission from Easton's daughter. The cover illustrations are of course by Jim Rae. The originals of the covers have now gone back to Halifax for proper display.

More on the book in the very near future. Note that the two minesweepers carry the striped "Barber Pole" motif round their masts; this was introduced in 1942 when Easton's Sackville was the leader of the first Canadian Escort Group, history makes tradition.

Easton commanded the Flowers Baddeck, then Sackville, later the frigate Matane and then the destroyer Saskatchewan, ex-HMS Fortune. He served pretty much continuously throughout the Battle for the Atlantic.

tim

[ivorthediver]

Thanks for posting and sharing these with us Tim , and so pleased that the bond between our Canadian friends is still as strong as ever it was .

[timlewin]

here are some splendid photos of Sackville fresh out of refit and back in the oggin; she never looked so smart.

[timlewin]

Origin of the "Barber Pole", extract from 50 North.

The morning after our arrival a conference was held in one of the destroyers which was attended by the captains of the six ships. Policies and tactics were discussed and training while in harbour was arranged with the shore staff. Before we adjourned the younger of the two destroyer captains submitted a design for a group insignia which he said his first lieutenant had conceived.
It consisted of a band of red and white diagonal stripes on the funnel, or the foremost of two funnels. Since there were no other suggestions forthcoming, the design was adopted there and then. I told the first lieutenant when I returned from the conference and he said he thought it would stand out clearly. The funnel was camouflaged pale green and blue.
A week later, just before sailing, I was standing on the jetty talking to an officer belonging to the shore base.
'You'll be sailing this evening I suppose,' he said, looking across at my ship. 'I see you belong to the Barber Pole Group, they are leaving at 1900 I understand.'
I too looked at the ship. The band on the funnel did rather remind one of a barber's pole. We must have been the only ones not to have noticed it; everyone else seemed to and we became known generally as the Barber Pole Group. This was perhaps the most famous of all group insignia for, although I felt that it never should have continued after the original group dispersed, it lasted until the end of the war, having subsequently been adopted by a number of other ships who became connected in one way or another with one of the originals. In fact, a song was written about it.