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SS Caribou

October 20, 2023

SS Caribou was a Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry that ran between Port aux Basques, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, and North Sydney, Nova Scotia between 1928 and 1942. During the Battle of the St. Lawrence the ferry participated in thrice-weekly convoys between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. A German submarine attacked the convoy on 14 October 1942 and Caribou was sunk. She had women and children on board, and many of them were among the 137 who died. Her sinking, and large death toll, made it clear that the war had really arrived on Canada's and Newfoundland's home front. Her sinking is cited by many historians as the most significant sinking in Canadian-controlled waters during the Second World War.[2]

Stamp depicting SS Caribou
History
NameCaribou
OwnerNewfoundland Railway
RoutePort aux Basques, Newfoundland to Nova Scotia
Ordered1925
BuilderGoodwin - Hamilton S. Adams Ltd. Rotterdam, Netherlands
LaunchedSchiedam Netherlands 9 June 1925
In service1928–1942
Out of service14 October 1942
FateSunk by German U-boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 14 October 1942
General characteristics
Tonnage2,200 long tons (2,200 t)
Length265 ft (81 m)
Speed14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph)
Capacity3,000 hp (2,200 kW)
Crew46
NotesInformation about ship specifications from Gibbons (2006)[1]

Construction Edit

Caribou was built in 1925 at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for the Newfoundland Railway.[1] Launched in 1925, she produced 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) and was able to reach a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) when fully loaded.[1] She also had steam-heat and electric lights in all of her cabins, which were a luxury at the time. Also, due to her ice-breaking design, Caribou also assisted during the seal hunt along the Newfoundland coast each spring.

Sinking Edit

 
 
SS Caribou
class=notpageimage|
Site where Caribou sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 14 October 1942.[3]

On 13 October 1942, Caribou was part of the Sydney-Port aux Basques (SPAB) convoy, organized by the Royal Canadian Navy base HMCS Protector. The SPAB series of convoys usually occurred three times a week, and was carried out in darkness. HMCS Grandmère, a Bangor-class minesweeper was the naval escort vessel on this ill-fated voyage.[4]

The German submarine U-69 was also patrolling the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a dark evening, and the heavy smoke from Caribou's coal-fired steam boilers silhouetted her against the nighttime horizon.[4] At 3:51 a.m. Newfoundland Summer Time, on 14 October 1942,[4] she was torpedoed approximately 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) southwest of Port aux Basques and sank five minutes later.[5] Grandmère spotted the submarine and tried to ram her, but, U-69 quickly submerged. Over the next two hours, the minesweeper launched six depth charges, but did not damage the submarine, and U-69 crept away into the Atlantic undetected.[6] Following procedure, Grandmère then went back for survivors.[6] In the days after the sinking, the Canadian naval vessel was criticized in the Sydney Post-Record and The Globe and Mail – as well as other media outlets – for not immediately stopping and helping save survivors; but that was against operating procedures, and would have placed the minesweeper in immediate danger of being sunk as well.[4] After picking up survivors, Grandmère sailed for Sydney because it had better hospital facilities than Port aux Basques.[6]

Caribou was carrying 46 crew members and 191 civilian and military passengers.[2] The ship's longtime captain, Benjamin Tavernor, was commanding the ship as she was struck, and perished along with his sons Stanley and Harold, who served as first and third officers respectively.[4][7] Of the deceased, two were rescued at first, but they later died from exposure to the cold water.[4] 137 people died that morning, and the passenger and crew totals were broken down as follows: of 118 military personnel, 57 died; of 73 civilians, 49 died; of the 46 crew members, 31 died.[8] 34 bodies were found and brought to Port aux Basques by fishing schooners chartered by the Newfoundland Railway Company.[9] To prevent rumours, the Royal Canadian Navy allowed the Sydney Post-Record and other media outlets to report the sinking, almost as soon as it happened, one of the few times that war censorship was temporarily lifted in this period.[10][11] The sinking made front-page news in both The Toronto Daily Star and The Globe and Mail newspapers later that week.[12][13]

Memorialized Edit

In 1986, the CN Marine/Marine Atlantic ferry MV Caribou was named after SS Caribou.[14] She plied the same route as the original ferry, travelling between North Sydney and Port aux Basques.[14] On her maiden voyage, 12 May 1986, the ship stopped at the location where its predecessor sank.[15] At approximately 5:30 a.m., survivor Mack Piercey, one of 13 survivors on board for the occasion,[16] tossed a poppy-laden memorial wreath into the ocean and then the ship continued on to Port aux Basques to complete the voyage.[15]

In 2014, as part of a special dedication service in the town of Port Hawkesbury's Veterans Memorial Park, SS Caribou's passengers and crew were honoured.[17] Part of the dedication service included the unveiling of the anchor from the decommissioned MV Caribou as a new feature for the memorial.[17]

The Canadian Government announced that their new Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) HMCS Margaret Brooke was being named for a Royal Canadian Navy Nursing Sister who was decorated for her bravery during the sinking of Caribou.[18]

Popular culture Edit

  • Caribou was featured on a 2¢ Newfoundland postage stamp in 1926.[19]
  • In the Canadian series Bomb Girls, Caribou is mentioned to have sunk the previous day which gave the people of the home front a shock.

Notes Edit

  1. ^ a b c Gibbons (2006), p. 9.
  2. ^ a b Tennyson & Sarty (2000), pp. 274–275.
  3. ^ Helgason (2012).
  4. ^ a b c d e f Tennyson & Sarty (2000), pp. 276–277.
  5. ^ Gibbons (2006), p. 1.
  6. ^ a b c Caplan (1987), pp. 37–41.
  7. ^ Lamb (1987), p. 133.
  8. ^ How (1988), pp. 108–109.
  9. ^ Caplan (1987), pp. 46–49.
  10. ^ Tennyson & Sarty (2000), p. 278.
  11. ^ Caplan (1975), p. 25.
  12. ^ Toronto Daily Star (1942), p. 1.
  13. ^ The Globe and Mail (1942).
  14. ^ a b Morgan (2009), p. 119.
  15. ^ a b Caplan (1987), p. 49.
  16. ^ Caplan (1987), p. back cover.
  17. ^ a b Post Staff (2014), p. A3.
  18. ^ Department of National Defence (13 April 2015). "New Royal Canadian Navy ship to be named after naval hero of SS Caribou sinking". Ottawa: Government of Canada. from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  19. ^ Stanley Gibbons Catalogue. Stanley Gibbons. 1952.

References Edit

  • Caplan, Ronald (31 March 1975). . Cape Breton's Magazine. Wreck Cove, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia: Breton Books (10): 23–29. ISSN 0319-4639. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  • Caplan, Ronald (1 June 1976). . Cape Breton's Magazine. Wreck Cove, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia: Breton Books (13): 27–40. ISSN 0319-4639. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  • Caplan, Ronald (1 August 1987). . Cape Breton's Magazine. Wreck Cove, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia: Breton Books (46): 46–49. ISSN 0319-4639. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  • Gibbons, Henry K. (2006). "The Last Voyage of the S.S. Caribou (October 13/14, 1942)". St. John's, Newfoundland: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  • Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. St Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-861-76147-7.
  • Helgason, Gudmundur (2012). "Caribou: British Steam Merchant". Uboat.net. Reykjavik, Iceland. from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  • How, Douglas (1988). Night of the Caribou. Hantsport, Nova Scotia: Lancelot Press. ISBN 978-0-88999-410-2.
  • Lamb, James B. (1987). On the triangle run. Toronto: Totem Books. ISBN 978-0-00-217909-6.
  • Milner, Marc (2010). Canada's Navy: the first century (2nd ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto. ISBN 978-0-8020-9604-3.
  • Morgan, Robert J. (2009). Ronald Caplan (ed.). Rise Again!: the Story of Cape Breton Island - Book Two. Wreck Cove, Nova Scotia: Breton Books. ISBN 978-1-895415-85-8.
  • Post Staff (11 July 2014). "Special service to honour people who died aboard SS Caribou". Cape Breton Post. Sydney, Nova Scotia. p. A3. from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Derek Masters (trans.) (2nd revised, expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-105-9.
  • Sarty, Roger F. (2012). War in the St. Lawrence: The Forgotten U-boat Battles on Canada's Shores. Toronto: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-670-06787-9.
  • Tennyson, Brian Douglas; Sarty, Roger F. (2000). Guardian of the Gulf: Sydney, Cape Breton, and the Atlantic wars. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-4492-1.
  • "Only Child Survivor". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 19 October 1942. p. 1.
  • "16 Women, 14 Children Among 137 Lost on Torpedoed Ferry". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. 17 October 1942. p. 1.
  • van der Vat, Dan (1988). The Atlantic campaign: the great struggle at sea, 1939–1945. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-37751-2.

External links Edit

  • Railway-Coastal Museum
  • Canadian Military Heritage
  • Paper on topic 22 December 1999 at the Wayback Machine
  • The History of the Nursing Sisters of Canada

47°19′N 59°29′W / 47.317°N 59.483°W / 47.317; -59.483

October 20, 2023
caribou, newfoundland, railway, passenger, ferry, that, between, port, basques, dominion, newfoundland, north, sydney, nova, scotia, between, 1928, 1942, during, battle, lawrence, ferry, participated, thrice, weekly, convoys, between, nova, scotia, newfoundlan. SS Caribou was a Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry that ran between Port aux Basques in the Dominion of Newfoundland and North Sydney Nova Scotia between 1928 and 1942 During the Battle of the St Lawrence the ferry participated in thrice weekly convoys between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland A German submarine attacked the convoy on 14 October 1942 and Caribou was sunk She had women and children on board and many of them were among the 137 who died Her sinking and large death toll made it clear that the war had really arrived on Canada s and Newfoundland s home front Her sinking is cited by many historians as the most significant sinking in Canadian controlled waters during the Second World War 2 Stamp depicting SS CaribouHistoryNameCaribouOwnerNewfoundland RailwayRoutePort aux Basques Newfoundland to Nova ScotiaOrdered1925BuilderGoodwin Hamilton S Adams Ltd Rotterdam NetherlandsLaunchedSchiedam Netherlands 9 June 1925In service1928 1942Out of service14 October 1942FateSunk by German U boat in the Gulf of St Lawrence 14 October 1942General characteristicsTonnage2 200 long tons 2 200 t Length265 ft 81 m Speed14 5 knots 26 9 km h 16 7 mph Capacity3 000 hp 2 200 kW Crew46NotesInformation about ship specifications from Gibbons 2006 1 Contents 1 Construction 2 Sinking 3 Memorialized 4 Popular culture 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksConstruction EditCaribou was built in 1925 at Rotterdam the Netherlands for the Newfoundland Railway 1 Launched in 1925 she produced 3 000 horsepower 2 200 kW and was able to reach a speed of 14 5 knots 26 9 km h 16 7 mph when fully loaded 1 She also had steam heat and electric lights in all of her cabins which were a luxury at the time Also due to her ice breaking design Caribou also assisted during the seal hunt along the Newfoundland coast each spring Sinking Edit nbsp nbsp SS Caribouclass notpageimage Site where Caribou sank in the Gulf of St Lawrence 14 October 1942 3 On 13 October 1942 Caribou was part of the Sydney Port aux Basques SPAB convoy organized by the Royal Canadian Navy base HMCS Protector The SPAB series of convoys usually occurred three times a week and was carried out in darkness HMCS Grandmere a Bangor class minesweeper was the naval escort vessel on this ill fated voyage 4 The German submarine U 69 was also patrolling the Gulf of St Lawrence It was a dark evening and the heavy smoke from Caribou s coal fired steam boilers silhouetted her against the nighttime horizon 4 At 3 51 a m Newfoundland Summer Time on 14 October 1942 4 she was torpedoed approximately 20 nautical miles 37 km 23 mi southwest of Port aux Basques and sank five minutes later 5 Grandmere spotted the submarine and tried to ram her but U 69 quickly submerged Over the next two hours the minesweeper launched six depth charges but did not damage the submarine and U 69 crept away into the Atlantic undetected 6 Following procedure Grandmere then went back for survivors 6 In the days after the sinking the Canadian naval vessel was criticized in the Sydney Post Record and The Globe and Mail as well as other media outlets for not immediately stopping and helping save survivors but that was against operating procedures and would have placed the minesweeper in immediate danger of being sunk as well 4 After picking up survivors Grandmere sailed for Sydney because it had better hospital facilities than Port aux Basques 6 Caribou was carrying 46 crew members and 191 civilian and military passengers 2 The ship s longtime captain Benjamin Tavernor was commanding the ship as she was struck and perished along with his sons Stanley and Harold who served as first and third officers respectively 4 7 Of the deceased two were rescued at first but they later died from exposure to the cold water 4 137 people died that morning and the passenger and crew totals were broken down as follows of 118 military personnel 57 died of 73 civilians 49 died of the 46 crew members 31 died 8 34 bodies were found and brought to Port aux Basques by fishing schooners chartered by the Newfoundland Railway Company 9 To prevent rumours the Royal Canadian Navy allowed the Sydney Post Record and other media outlets to report the sinking almost as soon as it happened one of the few times that war censorship was temporarily lifted in this period 10 11 The sinking made front page news in both The Toronto Daily Star and The Globe and Mail newspapers later that week 12 13 Memorialized EditIn 1986 the CN Marine Marine Atlantic ferry MV Caribou was named after SS Caribou 14 She plied the same route as the original ferry travelling between North Sydney and Port aux Basques 14 On her maiden voyage 12 May 1986 the ship stopped at the location where its predecessor sank 15 At approximately 5 30 a m survivor Mack Piercey one of 13 survivors on board for the occasion 16 tossed a poppy laden memorial wreath into the ocean and then the ship continued on to Port aux Basques to complete the voyage 15 In 2014 as part of a special dedication service in the town of Port Hawkesbury s Veterans Memorial Park SS Caribou s passengers and crew were honoured 17 Part of the dedication service included the unveiling of the anchor from the decommissioned MV Caribou as a new feature for the memorial 17 The Canadian Government announced that their new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship AOPS HMCS Margaret Brooke was being named for a Royal Canadian Navy Nursing Sister who was decorated for her bravery during the sinking of Caribou 18 Popular culture EditCaribou was featured on a 2 Newfoundland postage stamp in 1926 19 In the Canadian series Bomb Girls Caribou is mentioned to have sunk the previous day which gave the people of the home front a shock Notes Edit a b c Gibbons 2006 p 9 a b Tennyson amp Sarty 2000 pp 274 275 Helgason 2012 a b c d e f Tennyson amp Sarty 2000 pp 276 277 Gibbons 2006 p 1 a b c Caplan 1987 pp 37 41 Lamb 1987 p 133 How 1988 pp 108 109 Caplan 1987 pp 46 49 Tennyson amp Sarty 2000 p 278 Caplan 1975 p 25 Toronto Daily Star 1942 p 1 The Globe and Mail 1942 a b Morgan 2009 p 119 a b Caplan 1987 p 49 Caplan 1987 p back cover a b Post Staff 2014 p A3 Department of National Defence 13 April 2015 New Royal Canadian Navy ship to be named after naval hero of SS Caribou sinking Ottawa Government of Canada Archived from the original on 17 November 2018 Retrieved 4 February 2021 Stanley Gibbons Catalogue Stanley Gibbons 1952 References EditCaplan Ronald 31 March 1975 The Sinking of the Caribou Ferry Cape Breton s Magazine Wreck Cove Cape Breton Nova Scotia Breton Books 10 23 29 ISSN 0319 4639 Archived from the original on 17 October 2012 Retrieved 6 January 2013 Caplan Ronald 1 June 1976 Sydney Harbour in World War 2 Cape Breton s Magazine Wreck Cove Cape Breton Nova Scotia Breton Books 13 27 40 ISSN 0319 4639 Archived from the original on 22 September 2014 Retrieved 6 January 2013 Caplan Ronald 1 August 1987 Procedure Report of Bodies Brought to Port aux Basques from the Ill Fated Vessel S S Caribou Cape Breton s Magazine Wreck Cove Cape Breton Nova Scotia Breton Books 46 46 49 ISSN 0319 4639 Archived from the original on 22 September 2014 Retrieved 6 January 2013 Gibbons Henry K 2006 The Last Voyage of the S S Caribou October 13 14 1942 St John s Newfoundland Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Archived from the original on 3 January 2013 Retrieved 12 January 2013 Hague Arnold 2000 The Allied Convoy System 1939 1945 St Catharines Ontario Vanwell Publishing Ltd ISBN 978 1 861 76147 7 Helgason Gudmundur 2012 Caribou British Steam Merchant Uboat net Reykjavik Iceland Archived from the original on 20 July 2008 Retrieved 13 January 2013 How Douglas 1988 Night of the Caribou Hantsport Nova Scotia Lancelot Press ISBN 978 0 88999 410 2 Lamb James B 1987 On the triangle run Toronto Totem Books ISBN 978 0 00 217909 6 Milner Marc 2010 Canada s Navy the first century 2nd ed Toronto University of Toronto ISBN 978 0 8020 9604 3 Morgan Robert J 2009 Ronald Caplan ed Rise Again the Story of Cape Breton Island Book Two Wreck Cove Nova Scotia Breton Books ISBN 978 1 895415 85 8 Post Staff 11 July 2014 Special service to honour people who died aboard SS Caribou Cape Breton Post Sydney Nova Scotia p A3 Archived from the original on 14 July 2014 Retrieved 11 July 2014 Rohwer Jurgen Hummelchen Gerhard 1992 Chronology of the War at Sea 1939 1945 Derek Masters trans 2nd revised expanded ed Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press ISBN 978 1 55750 105 9 Sarty Roger F 2012 War in the St Lawrence The Forgotten U boat Battles on Canada s Shores Toronto Allen Lane ISBN 978 0 670 06787 9 Tennyson Brian Douglas Sarty Roger F 2000 Guardian of the Gulf Sydney Cape Breton and the Atlantic wars Toronto University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0 8020 4492 1 Only Child Survivor The Globe and Mail Toronto 19 October 1942 p 1 16 Women 14 Children Among 137 Lost on Torpedoed Ferry The Toronto Daily Star Toronto 17 October 1942 p 1 van der Vat Dan 1988 The Atlantic campaign the great struggle at sea 1939 1945 London Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 978 0 340 37751 2 External links EditRailway Coastal Museum Canadian Military Heritage Paper on topic Archived 22 December 1999 at the Wayback Machine The History of the Nursing Sisters of Canada47 19 N 59 29 W 47 317 N 59 483 W 47 317 59 483 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title SS Caribou amp oldid 1178321738, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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