
HMCS HESPELER
K489
Castle
Class Corvette
HMCS HESPELER K489
RCN Photo # A-393
Courtesy of the Comox RCAF Museum
Click on the above photo to view a larger
image
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Laid down: 25 May 1943 Launched: 13
Nov 1943
Transferred to the RCN:
28 Feb 1944
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Commissioned: 28
Feb 1944
Paid off: 15
Nov 1945
Fate: Gutted by fire 28
Jan 1966. Later broken up at La Spezia, Italy
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Built at Leith, Scotland, she was laid down and
launched as HMS Guildford Castle K378. On completion, she was transferred to the RCN and commissioned on
28 Feb 1944 as HMCS HESPELER K489 at Leith. Following workups at Tobermory she arrived at
Londonderry in April to become a member of EG C-5. HESPELER sailed
on 21 Apr 1944 to meet her first convoy, ONS.233, and for the next 11
months was employed as an ocean escort. On 23 Jul 1944, she left
St. John's with EG C-5 to escort the largest convoy of the war,
HXS.300. She
left 'Derry for the last time on 08 Mar 1945, to escort ON.289
westward, and upon arriving at Halifax began a refit, completing it
at Liverpool, N.S., in Jul 1945. She then sailed for the west coast and
on 15 Nov 1945 was paid off into reserve at Esquimalt.
She was sold in 1946
to the Union Steamship Co., Vancouver, she was converted to a
coastal passenger ship, SS Chilcotin. In 1958 she became the
Liberian-flag Stella Maris and in 1965, the Greek Westar. She was
sold again in 1965 to become an Alaskan Cruise Liner. A few days into
her voyage to Vancouver, on 28 Jan 1966, a fuel line became
disconnected spraying oil into the engine room. An explosion
and fire followed - the ship being declared a constructive loss.
Alaskan Cruise Lines sold the hulk for scrapping at La Spezia, Italy,
saving only the ship's bell.
Note: HMCS HESPELER and HMCS DUNVER were credited with the sinking of U-484. However, post war analysis
credits the sinking of U-484 to HMS PORTCHESTER CASTLE and HMS HELMSDALE.
In 2008, purported unpublished diary
entries of a HESPELER sailor posted on a SUBSIM Radio Room online forum seem
to support the Canadian claim: “(9/9/44) we left at 0015 and two hours
later picked up a contact and went to ‘action stat.’ We dropped one
pattern and nothing happened. The second caused explosions. Nothing the
third. Fourth caused explosions and the fifth brought something up which the
DUNVER said was a sub. We secured at 4:30 a.m…. (9/10/44) Tons of oil,
wreckage, and bodies about.”
In a 2013 article in Starshell, the
Naval Association of Canada magazine, retired navy commander Fraser McKee
credits the Canadian ships with the sinking, noting the RN disputes the
sinking “but without any better claim than the RCN’s.”
Photos
and Documents
Ship's
company photos Convoys
escorted during WW2
Commanding Officers
LCdr
Neville Spencer Charles
Dickinson, RCNVR - 28 Feb 1944 - 15 Oct 1944
Lt George
Percy
Manning, RCNVR - 14 Nov 1944 - 24 Aug 1945
Lt William Glenn Brockie, RCNVR -
OIC
In memory of those who have crossed the bar
They shall not be
forgotten

Archer,
William L.
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Berard,
John R.
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Brockie,
William G.
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Brown,
George E.
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Cavers,
Kenneth M.
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Critchley,
Ronald W.
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Dafoe,
Clarence F.
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Donaghue,
Kenneth S.
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Doyle, Frank
J.
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Frewer,
Philip G.
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Hall,
Henry R.
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Hill,
William C.
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Huston,
Meredith S.
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Jewell,
David
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Lake,
Wilfred C.J.
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Mann, Dennis
H.
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Manning, George
P.
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Marlatt,
Kenneth L.
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Mater,
Ivan
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McCuaig,
Eric A.D.
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McMurdo,
Wilson R.
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Mirault,
J.P. Roger
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Morris,
Bruce
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Neilson,
Robert S. |

Treller,
Herbert
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Van Wyck,
Donald J.
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Vaux, Ronald
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Wheeler,
Terrance
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Sparky - Ship's Mascot |
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Former Crew Members
Alliston,
Fred - 1944
Archer,
William Lee, SLt, RCNVR - 28 Feb 1944
Bishop,
AB - 1944
Boyce,
AB - 1944
Buttler,
Louis Lorne, SLt, RCNVR - 28 Feb 1944
Crandall,
AB - 1944
Dickinson,
Neville Spencer Charles, LCdr, RCNVR - 21 Feb 1944 (Stand by) / 28
Feb 1944
Dorien,
LS - 1944
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Douglas,
William Kennedy, Lt, RCNVR - 19 Mar 1945
Glover,
AB. LRIII - 1944
Gravel,
Louis Jean Marie, SLt, RCNVR - 28 Feb 1944
Hirst,
William Leslie, Lt (E), RCNVR - 01 May 1945
Lodge,
AB.AAIII - 1944
Meighen,
Arthur Benson, SLt, RCNVR - 09 Apr 1945
Mulley,
John Wallace, Lt, RCNVR - 15 Feb 1945
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Ness,
George Cairns, Cd (E), RCNR - 28 Feb 1944
Newton,
Frank - WW II
Outhet,
Murray McLaren, Lt, RCNVR - 28 Feb 1944
Parratt,
Emmanuel, Wt (E), RCNR - 17 Jul 1944
Whyte,
William Methvin, Lt, RCNVR - 28 Feb 1944
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Photos
and Documents

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HMCS HESPELER K489
Photo taken from HMCS Runnymede K678
Photo from the WWII collection of Kirk Wipper |

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HMCS HESPELER K489
From the collection of Tom
Coyle, Sto 1c, RCNVR
Courtesy of Elaine Desnoyers |

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Bridge of HMCS HESPELER K489
From the collection of Lt. G.P. Manning, RCNVR
Courtesy of Don Manning
Submitted by John Berard Jr. |

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Roger Mirault, Telegraphist at HMCS ST
HYACINTHE. Roger served as a Tel in HMCS HESPELER K489
Courtesy of Lucien Mirault
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Dodging a greeny on HMCS HESPELER K489
From the collection of William C. Hill
Courtesy of Bill Hill
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William Hill and shipmates on the quarterdeck
of HMCS HESPELER K489
From the collection of William C. Hill
Courtesy of Bill Hill
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Newspaper article on HMCS HESPELER and HMCS
Dunver sinking a U-boat
From
the collection of Ron Critchley
Courtesy
of Diane Brown
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Bob Enright on HMCS HESPELER K489
Written on the back of this photos is "Bob
Enright, killed June 2/44"
From the collection of Kenneth Marlatt
Courtesy of Judy Agis
Information
provided by Judy's mother is as follows: the boat was strafed
by an enemy plane. Both the fellow who died and your father were on
Pom Pom guns. My understanding was the man standing beside your
father was shot and your father was hit by a piece of metal that
took the top layer of skin off in a small area center chest just
below the neck. It left a scar. The fellow who died was well liked.
He often entertained below deck by step dancing. He was from some
place on the east coast of Canada and it was from him that Ken
learned step dancing. There were several shipmates from the east
coast and Ken also picked up the vocabulary and accent of those from
Newfoundland. The sailor was buried at sea.
Webmaster's
note: According to casualty records, HMCS HESPELER had no
casualties (deaths) during her service career. Additionally,
there is no record of a Bob (or Robert) Enright killed in the RCN
during WW2. The only 2 Canadian (or Newfoundland)
casualties during WW2 named Enright were both in the Army - one died
on 07 Jun 1944 and the other on 31 Jun 1944 ashore in Europe.
Royal Navy casualty records for WW2 only list one person named
Enright, and she was a Wren, killed in an accident.
If
anyone can provide any information on Bob Enright shown in this
photo, please send me an EMAIL
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USN PT boat
Photo taken from HMCS HESPELER K489
From the collection of Kenneth Marlatt
Courtesy of Judy Agis
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HMCS HESPELER K489 (left) and the aircraft
carrier HMS GLORY R62 bring repatriated POWs to Esquimalt
From the collection of Kenneth Marlatt
Courtesy of Judy Agis
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photo 1 |

photo 2 |

photo 3 |

photo 4 |

photo 5 |
(1)
HMCS HESPELER'S bell - Original source unknown (2) HMCS
HESPELER (3) HMCS HESPELER - Original source
unknown (4) Record of convoys that HMCS HESPELER took
part in as escort (5) Frank Newton on HMCS HESPELER

photo 6 |

photo 7
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(6)
Newspaper article on the sinking of U-484 by HMCS HESPELER and
HMCS DUNVER (7) Print of Londonderry during WW II - "The
main European port of call in Ireland during World War
II"

photo 8 |

photo 9 |

photo 10 |

photo 11 |
(8-11)
Survivors report of Premier-Maitre Emile Cloarec, soul survivor from
the loss of the French submarine La Perle, who was picked up by HMCS
HESPELER. Original source unknown
From the collection of John Berard
Courtesy of John Berard Jr.

photo 1 |

photo 2 |

photo 3 |

photo 4 |

photo 5 |
(1)
Unknown sailors on HMCS HESPELER (2) Unknown sailors on HMCS
HESPELER
(3) Unknown sailors on HMCS HESPELER (4) Unknown sailor on HMCS
HESPELER
(5) Unknown sailor on HMCS HESPELER

photo 6 |

photo 7 |

photo 8 |

photo 9 |

photo 10 |
(6) Unknown sailor on HMCS
HESPELER (7) A couple sailors hamming it up while chipping
ice on HMCS HESPELER (8) Postcard of HMCS HESPELER K489 (9)
Unknown ship photo taken from HMCS HESPELER (10) Unknown
ship photo taken from HMCS HESPELER

photo 11 |

photo 12 |

photo 13 |

photo 14 |

photo 15
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(11) Unknown sailor on HMCS
HESPELER (12) Unknown sailor on HMCS HESPELER K489 - note
merchant ship in background (13) Unknown sailors on HMCS HESPELER
(14) HMCS Dunver K03 - photo taken from HMCS HESPELER (15) Casualty being taken ashore from HMCS
HESPELER - location unknown
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photo 16
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(16) Unknown sailor on HMCS HESPELER
From the collection of S.J. Grabowski
Courtesy of Jennifer Henry

photo 1
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photo 2
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photo 3
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photo 4
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photo 5
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(1) Empire class MAC (Merchant Aircraft
Carrier) (2-5) Rad and pals on HMCS HESPELER K489 (5)
"Buddies, HMCS HESPELER, 1944"

photo 6
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photo 7
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photo 8
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photo 9
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photo 10
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(6)
Rad and shipmates on HMCS HESPELER (7) On stern
deck HMCS HESPELER 1944 (8) Escort Group in line ahead.
HMCS HESPELER in the foreground (9) Coast of Ireland. Webmaster's
note: the shore in the background looks like the entrance to
St. John's Harbour, Newfoundland (10) HMCS Runnymede
K678 coming alongside

photo 11
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photo 12
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photo 13
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photo 14
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photo 15
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(11) "HESPELER attacks, North
Atlantic, 1944" (12) Fred Alliston "taking the
strain!" Newfie, July 1944 (13) Rad on the ship's
helm (14) Rad on jetty sentry duty somewhere overseas
1944 (15) "Ship's Doctor at sea", HMCS HESPELER,
1944 - Surg-Lt, Donald J. Van Wyck

photo 16
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photo 17 |

photo 18 |

photo 19 |
(16) Rad and friend, Londonderry, 1944
(17)
L-R: AB Bishop, L/Sea Dorien, AB Higgins, AB Boyce, AB
Crandall (18) L-R: AB Lodge AAIII (19) AB Glover
LRIII (19) Mess deck on HMCS HESPELER 1944
From the collection of Rad Hall
Courtesy of Harry Hall

photo 1 |

photo 2 |

photo 3 |

photo 4 |

photo 5 |
(1)
From the bridge of HMCS HESPELER. Note the squid
launcher in the foreground (2) Bridge of HMCS HESPELER as seen from the crow's nest (3) Oerlikon mounts
and quarterdeck of HMCS HESPELER (4) Quarterdeck of
HMCS HESPELER (5) HMCS HESPELER's mascot -
Sparky

photo 6 |

photo 7 |

photo 8 |

photo 9 |

photo 10 |
(6) Pepper and Sparky on HMCS HESPELER (7)
Ron Critchley on the AA mount on HMCS HESPELER (8)
Allison and Comish scrubbing the deck on HMCS HESPELER (9)
Beswick, Demers and unknown on HMCS
HESPELER K489. Note: it is not known which sailor is Beswick or
Demers. (10) PO Red & Mackie on HMCS HESPELER

photo 11 |

photo 12 |

photo 13 |

photo 14 |
(11) Two unknown sailors on HMCS
HESPELER
(12) Campbell (left) and Cowen on HMCS HESPELER
(13) A/SLt Cowen on HMCS HESPELER (14) Grabowski
(top) and Demers on HMCS HESPELER
From
the collection of Ron Critchley
Courtesy
of Diane Brown
Convoys escorted during WW2
Convoy Desig. |
Convoy Departs from |
Arrives at |
Join as escort |
Depart Convoy |
ON.233 |
Liverpool
(20 Apr 1944) |
New York City
(08 May 1944) |
20 Apr 1945 |
03 May 1945 |
HX.290
|
New York City
(05 May 1944) |
Liverpool
(19 May 1944) |
10 May 1944 |
19 May 1944 |
ON.238 |
Liverpool
(26 May 1944) |
New York City
(09 Jun 1944) |
27 May 1944 |
03 Jun 1944 |
HX.295
|
New York City
(10 Jun 1944) |
Liverpool
(24 Jun 1944) |
15 Jun 1944 |
23 Jun 1944 |
ON.243 |
Liverpool
(03 Jul 1944) |
New York City
(18 Jul 1944) |
04 Jul 1944 |
12 Jul 1944 |
HX.300 |
New York City
(17 Jul 1944) |
Liverpool
(03 Aug 1944) |
24 Jul 1944 |
03 Aug 1944 |
ON.248S |
Liverpool
(10 Aug 1944) |
New York City
(27 Aug 1944) |
11 Aug 1944 |
13 Aug 1944 |
HX.305 |
New York City
(25 Aug 1944) |
Liverpool
(10 Sep 1944) |
30 Aug 1944 |
08 Sep 1944 |
ON.255 |
Liverpool
(22 Sep 1944) |
New York City
(09 Oct 1944) |
23 Sep 1944 |
04 Oct 1944 |
HX.312
|
New York City
(05 Oct 1944) |
Liverpool
(21 Oct 1944) |
10 Oct 1944 |
19 Oct 1944 |
ON.263 |
Southend
(29 Oct 1944) |
New York City
(15 Nov 1944) |
01 Nov 1944 |
09 Nov 1944 |
SC.161 |
Halifax
(17 Nov 1944) |
Liverpool
(04 Dec 1944) |
19 Nov 1944 |
03 Dec 1944 |
ONS.38 |
Liverpool
(13 Dec 1944) |
Halifax
(02 Jan 1945) |
14 Dec 1944 |
27 Dec 1944 |
SC.164 |
Halifax
(01 Jan 1945) |
Liverpool
(18 Jan 1945) |
05 Jan 1945 |
17 Jan 1945 |
ON.281 |
Southend
(26 Jan 1945) |
New York City
(12 Feb 1945) |
27 Jan 1945 |
07 Feb 1945 |
HX.338 |
New York City
(12 Feb 1945) |
Liverpool
(27 Feb 1945) |
18 Feb 1945 |
27 Feb 1945 |
ON.289
|
Southend
(07 Mar 1945) |
New York City
(25 Mar 1945) |
08 Mar 1945 |
19 Mar 1945 |
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