The Esquimalt and her sister ship, the Sarnia, were both assigned to routine submarine search patrol just outside Halifax. Both were Bangor class minesweepers, smaller than a Corvette but equipped with depth charges and most often used to search for and destroy submarines rather than sweep for mines, which were then rarely deployed by the Germans.

On April 16, 1945 both had been assigned large rectangular patrol routes drawn in a fan-like pattern from Halifax harbour. There would be only one point in their patrols where they would be within sight of each other, near a central point (C buoy) off Halifax.

At 0800, both ships were expected to be near C buoy. At 0900 both ships would start an outward channel sweep in preparation for an outbound convoy. When HMCS Esquimalt failed to show as expected, it was reported to the commander of the Port of Halifax.

But there was little concern as Esquimalt could have been delayed for any number of reasons including a mechanical problem or to chase a submarine. After all, the German subs usually went after cargo ships and were rewarded based on total tonnage sunk. Small Canadian patrol vessels were not their usual targets.

However, concern grew when the Sarnia could not raise the Esquimalt on its radio telephone. The commander of the port was notified of this before the Sarnia independently began the channel sweep assigned to both ships the day before.

At 1114, when the commander signalled back to ask if the Esquimalt had joined the sweep, concern turned to alarm. At 1125 the commander finally gave Sarnia the signal to go look for the Esquimalt. Within minutes, three more ships and Maritime Command aircraft were assigned to the search. But it would be 1220 before HMCS Sarnia would reach the survivors.

Knowing that the enemy would often remain at a sinking to torpedo another ship, the Sarnia only slowed down for a moment to launch a rescue seaboat.  

My father, the officer in charge of the rescue seaboat, was part of its crew of eight as it was dropped into the water near the survivors.

The crew collected the survivors from two carley floats and motioned for the Sarnia to return. The Sarnia had lowered a scramble net, a heavy net rope of one foot squares, and with the help of more crew on the Sarnia the frozen and exhausted survivors were brought on board and wrapped in warm blankets.

More survivors were picked up from a third carley float that had been struggling to reach the nearby Halifax East Lightship.

The Sarnia headed back to Halifax port at full speed while the other Canadian warships scoured the area looking for the submarine that had sunk HMCS Esquimalt. By 1513, the Sarnia was back in Halifax port where news of the disaster had reached the hundreds of onlookers who now lined the dockyards.

The Esquimalt had been torpedoed at 0620 on April 16, within sight of shore about eight kilometers out from Chebucto Head. The ship had sunk so quickly it had not been able to send a distress signal. The lifeboat was pushed under water before it could be freed and the survivors gathered on several carley floats.

Initially they sang and recited prayers to keep up their spirits. One seaman, concerned that the floats were drifting apart, got off  to swim in the icy water in an attempt to push them together. He helped tie them together but perished shortly after of exposure. 

My father recounted how he was warmly greeted by some survivors who were still vocal. But he was distressed when a few he had spoken to as he lifted them out of the water went still and died when placed in the seaboat.

It had seemed to him that they had fought bravely to survive but once rescued had begun to relax and thus succumbed to their long ordeal in the icy water.

Others were dead as they were pulled from the water, their hands still gripping the lifelines of the raft. Of a crew of 70, only 26 survived. 

One of the most surprising aspects of this story turned out to be a guest invited to an Esquimalt reunion held many years later. The engineering officer from the German submarine U-190 that had sunk the Esquimalt was invited to the reunion. Held as a PoW in Canada at the end of the war, he had returned to settle here.  

I never asked my father, but I wondered how the veterans could invite someone so closely involved in the death of their friends.

The unspoken answer provides strong insight into the motivation for war memorials and an important lesson to all.

The naval veterans hold reunions and memorials not to raise old hostilities but to remember the sacrifices of those who perished. 

Tomorrow, they'll be remembering those who perished on HMCS Esquimalt.