
HMCS
BUCTOUCHE K179
Flower
Class Corvette
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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179
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Laid down: 14
Aug
1940
Launched: 20
Nov 1940
Commissioned: 05
Jun 1941
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Paid off: 15
Jun 1945
Fate: Broken up in
1949
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Commissioned at Quebec City
on 05 Jun 1941, BUCTOUCHE arrived at Halifax on 12 Jun 1941. After
working up, she joined Newfoundland Force at St. John's on 29 Jul
1941.
On 26 Aug 1941 she left St. John's for Iceland with convoy SC.41, and
thereafter escorted convoys to and from Iceland until Jan 1942,
when Londonderry became the eastern terminus. In Jun 1942, she was
transferred to WLEF, with which she was to remain until the end of
the war except for two months in the summer of 1944, when she was
attached to Quebec Force.
On 7 July 1942, BUCTOUCHE under Skr. Lt.
G.N. Downey, RCNR, rescued 15 survivors from the Norwegian merchant ship
Moldanger that was torpedoed and sunk by U-404 on 27 June at 30-03N, 70-52W.
On 21 Nov 1942, BUCTOUCHE attacked U-518 with depth
charges following the U-boat's attack on Convoy ON-145, 200 miles SE of
Sydney, NS. U-518 was severely damaged, unable to close #3 torpedo tube,
flooding torpedo room & forcing U-boat to return to base.
After the formation of escort groups by
WLEF in Jun 1943, BUCTOUCHE served principally with EG W-1. In Oct 1943, she commenced a fourth-month refit at Saint
John, completing on 29 Jan 1944, in
the process acquiring an extended fo'c's'le.
On 28 Jun 1944, BUCTOUCHE was damaged in a grounding incident at Hamilton Inlet,
Labrador but made Pictou on her own
for two months' repairs. She was paid off at
Sorel on 15 Jun 1945, and broken up at Hamilton, Ont., in 1949.
Photos and Documents
Ship's
company photos
Commanding Officers
Lt
William Watt
Hackney, RCNR - 05 Jun 1941 - 28 Mar 1942
Lt
William Alexander Dobie, RCNR - 29 Mar 1942 - 06 May 1942
Skpr/Lt
George Norval Downey, RCNR - 07 May 1942 - 28 Apr 1944
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Skpr/Lt
Henry Esson Young, RCNR - 29 Apr 1944 - 04 Dec 1944 
Skpr/Lt
E.S.N. Pleasance, RCNR - 05 Dec 1944 - 01 Jan 1945
Skpr/Lt
Henry Esson Young, RCNR - 02 Jan 1945 - 15 Jun 1945 |
In memory of those who have crossed the bar
They shall not be
forgotten

Bing,
John B.
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Browne,
Randall W.
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Burwash,
Raymond D.
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Connolly,
Frank M.
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Dixon,
Robert
S.
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Gaskin, Paul
M.
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Gee,
Gordon W.
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Goodwillie,
George P.
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Kirstein,
Reginald P.
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Leyland, Stan
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Matthews, L.
Herbert
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McDonald,
John A.L.
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Norton,
J. Richard |

Ritchie,
Ernest L. |
Rudd, George
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Russell, R. James
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Thompson, John
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Whittemore, Edwin G.
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Wilson,
Joseph F.
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Wittig,
Wilfred G.
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Former Crew Members
Annear,
Ernest Arthur, SLt, RCNVR - 25 Apr 1944
Baines,
Gordon William, SLt, RCNVR - 14 May 1945
Barbour,
Wilfred Orvin Oakley, Mate, RCNR - 04 Jun 1941 (Stand by) / 05 Jun
1941
Barlow, James Edward, Lt, RCNVR - 06 Mar 1944
Blyea, Peter Macmillan, SLt, RCNVR - 08 Apr 1942
Cooper, Harold William LeHeur, Lt, RCNVR - Jan 1944
Dobie, William Alexander, Lt, RCNR - 05 Jun 1941
Doe, Learmont Anstice Earlston, SLt, RCNVR - Jan 1943
Field, Edward William
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Fry, Herbert I., Lt, RCNVR - 07 Mar 1944
Gardiner, William Douglas Haig, SLt, RCNVR - 05 Jun 1941
Grenier,
John Robert, A/Lt, RCNVR - 06 Feb 1945
Hackney,
William Watt, Lt, RCNR - 10 Apr 1941 (Stand by) CO / 05 Jun 1941
Hurlburt,
Richard Heman, Lt, RCNVR - 29 Apr 1944
Macdonald,
Hugh
MacKeracher,
Donald, SLt, RCNVR - 20 Feb 1943
Malkin,
Robert Eldridge, Lt, RCNVR - 15 Feb 1943
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Mann,
Donald Edward, SLt, RCNVR - 08 Feb 1945
McDonald,
Kenneth Reginald, A/Wt (E), RCNVR - 03 Apr 1944
Paul,
Herbert Stanley, SLt, RCNVR - 09 Jun 1944
Potts,
Charles Ower, Lt, RCNVR - 01 May 1941 (Stand by) / 05 Jun 1941
Poole,
William Robert, Lt, RCNVR - 24 Feb 1942
Stewart,
David Howden McFarlane, Lt, RCNVR - 09 Apr 1945
Warren,
Donald Cameron, SLt, RCNVR - 25 Feb 1942
Williams, Owen Stephen, SLt, RCNVR - Jan 1944
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Photos and
Documents

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3 crew members of HMCS BUCTOUCHE
Hamilton Inslet Labrador June 1944
From the collection of Frank Millar
Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly |

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Crew members of HMCS BUCTOUCHE
From the collection of Frank Millar
Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly |

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Frank Millar Connolly on the stern of HMCS BUCTOUCHE
From the collection of Frank Millar
Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly |

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Frank Millar Connolly on the stern of HMCS BUCTOUCHE
(cropped version of photo immediately above)
From the collection of Frank Millar
Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Frank Millar Connolly in the crow's nest of
HMCS BUCTOUCHE
From the collection of Frank Millar
Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Frank Millar Connolly in the crow's nest of
HMCS BUCTOUCHE
(cropped version of photo immediately above)
From the collection of Frank Millar
Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Frank Millar Connolly on HMCS BUCTOUCHE
From the collection of Frank Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Ship's captain, Henry Esson Young
From the collection of Frank Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly |

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Remembering the Wavy Navy
by Dan
Connolly
Remembrance
Day article from the blog of Dan Connolly about his father Frank Connolly
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Officers of HMCS BUCTOUCHE
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 - Port Bow
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 - Port side
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Photo of unknown ship
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 - STBD Stern
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179 - Stern
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Two mess mates of Frank Connolly
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Frank Millar Connolly
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Frank Millar Connolly, him Mum, and friend
Tommy
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Paint Ship Routine on HMCS BUCTOUCHE
From the collection of Frank
Millar Connolly
Courtesy of Dan Connolly
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Gunshield art on HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179
Source: Hazegray
and Underway
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HMCS BUCTOUCHE K179
From the collection of Jim Silvester
Courtesy of Jim Silvester
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The
photos in this series show the sinking of a merchant ship, a
depth charge attack by HMCS BUCTOUCHE, and the rescuing of
survivors.
The
ship sunk and the convoy it was in is not known. The first
photo shows the torpedoed merchant ship with one of the convoy
escorts just ahead of it. In the following photos (all taken
from HMCS BUCTOUCHE) you will see the depth charge attack and
the crew re-loading the depth charges. This is happening
in daylight. It is hard to imaging these men guarding a
convoy and conducting a depth charge attack in the dark of night.
The convoy moves on - it does not stop. These men were lucky
and rescued by HMCS BUCTOUCHE. As long as there was a U-boat
threat, it was not safe for a ship to stop and pick up
survivors.



From the collection of LS Stan Leyland,
Wireless Operator, RCNVR, HMCS BUCTOUCHE
Courtesy of AB Ken George, RCN and Bill
Cummins
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