
HMCS
WETASKIWIN K175
Flower
Class Corvette
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HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 sporting her gunshield
art early in the war. Note that her main mast is
still forward of the bridge Click on the
above photo to view a larger image
From the collection of James Hill
Courtesy of Marlene Hill |
Laid down: 11
Apr
1940
Launched: 18
Jul 1940
Commissioned: 17
Dec 1940
|
Paid off: 19
Jun 1945
Fate:
Sold in 1946 to Venezuelan Navy. Paid off in 1961. Broken up in 1962
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Laid down as HMCS Banff, she
was renamed HMCS Wetaskiwin during construction. Commissioned at Esquimalt on
17 Dec 1940 as HMCS Wetaskiwin K175, she was the first west coast-built corvette to enter service.
She patrolled out of Esquimalt until 17 Mar 1941 when HMCS Alberni, HMCS
Agassiz and HMCS Wetaskiwin departed Esquimalt for Halifax. Enroute they
stopped at San Pedro, California for fuel, where a party for the crew,
hosted by actress Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks, was held
for them. They arrived at Halifax on 13
Apr 1941. On 23 May 1941, Alberni, Agassiz and Wetaskiwin left
Halifax for St. John's to join the
recently formed NEF. In Jun 1941 she
escorted her first convoy, HX.130, to Iceland, and during the next
eight months made six round trips there with eastbound convoys. She
returned to Halifax on 24 Jan 1942, and in Feb 1942 commenced a
major refit at Liverpool, N.S. After working up in May 1942 she joined EG
C-3, arriving in Londonderry on 05 Jun 1942 for the first time from
convoy HX.191. During this period Wetaskiwin participated in two
major convoy actions: SC.42 (Sep 1941); and SC.48 (Oct
1941). On 31 July 1942, while escorting ON.115, she shared with
Skeena the sinking of U-588. In mid-Jan 1943 she arrived at
Liverpool, N.S., for refit, which was completed on 09 Mar 1943 and
followed by further repairs at Halifax. In May 1943, she joined EG
C-5, and that Dec 1943 went to Galveston, Texas, for a long refit,
including extension of her fo'c's'le. Following its completion
on 06 Mar 1944, she returned briefly to Halifax before proceeding
to Bermuda for work-ups late in Apr 1944. Returning northward, she
re-joined C-5, leaving Londonderry on 23 Sep 1944 for the last time
to join EG W-7, WLEF, for the remainder of the war. She was paid off
at Sorel on 19 Jun 1945, and sold in 1946 to the Venezuelan Navy,
which re-named her Victoria. She was discarded in 1962.
U-boats Sunk: U-588 (Kptlt Viktor Vogel) sunk on 31 Jul 1942 by HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 and HMCS Skeena I59 in
position 49-59 N, 36-36 W. No survivors of crew of 46.
Photos
and Documents
Ship's
company photos
Commanding Officers
LCdr Guy Stanley Windeyer,
RCN - 17 Dec 1940 - 04 Nov 1942
A/LCdr John Richard Kidston,
RCNVR - 05 Nov 1942 - 21 Mar 1944
Lt Arthur Walton,
RCNR - 22 Mar 1944 - 06 Aug 1944 |
A/LCdr M.S. Duffus,
RCNVR - 07 Aug 1944 - 15 Sep 1944
Lt Arthur Walton,
RCNR - 16 Sep 1944 - 19 Jun 1945 |
In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Lest We Forget
KENNEDY,
Ronald E.
OS, RCNVR died - 07 Jun 1942
In memory of those who have crossed the bar
They shall not be
forgotten

Adlard, Alfred
J. |

Aharan,
Charles H. |

Brady,
Edward P.R.
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Burwash,
Raymond D.
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Butters, Ian |

Carson,
Adam J.
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Curley,
Richard J. |

Curts,
Alexander
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Duffus,
Mortimer S.
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Earl, Hubert
G.
H.
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Forbes,
R. Burnett
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Grabowiecki,
Bernard J.
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Grady,
Peter H.
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Hanington,
Daniel L.
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Hill, James
H.
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Ironside,
John F. |

Kellas,
Douglas A.
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Kennett,
Lewis L.V. |

Lemay,
Marcel G.A.
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Lester,
Richard K.
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Mackie,
Gordon A.
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McConney,
Allan E.
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McGeogh,
Leonard J.
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McNeney,
James R.
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Molyard,
John M.
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Northgrave,
Glen A.
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Restall, Lawrence
A.
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Robertson,
Charles K.
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Robinson,
Murray
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Vanier,
Edmond A.
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Windeyer, Guy
S.
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Wright,
Walter F.
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|
|
|
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Former Crew Members
Adamson,
William Hugh, Lt, RCNVR - 06 Mar 1944
Armstrong,
Jack, Tel (alive and well in 2020)
Butters,
Ian, Slt, RCNVR - Jan 1943
Chandler,
Alan Malcolm A/War (E), RCN - Jan 1945
Francois,
John Eugene, Mate, RCNR - 07 Feb 1941
Helfrick,
Roxy L., Stoker
Louis,
Reginal Cecil, Lt, RCNVR - 27 Jan 1942
MacDonald,
Ian Allan Banes, Slt, RCNVR - 08 Apr 1944
|
McCarten,
Samuel Clifford, Slt, RCNVR - 02 Mar 1945
Stone,
Ralph Eugene, Slt, RCNVR - Jan 1945
Trainor,
John James, Lt, RCNVR - 19 Jul 1944
Watson,
Robert Forster - Mar 1944 - Jun/Jul 1945 (alive and well - Oct 2020)
Whitehouse,
Wilfred George, A/War (E), RCN - 15 Feb 1944
Williams,
John Nelson Elmhurst, Lt, RCNVR - 19 Jul 1944
Woods,
William Allan, Lt, RCNVR - 11 May 1943 |
Photos and
Documents

|
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
From the collection of
Larry Restall
Courtesy of Clay Restall |

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HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 as
seen from HMCS Quesnel K133
From the collection of Jim
Silvester
Courtesy of Jim Silvester |

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HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
Credit: Ken Macpherson / Naval
Museum of Alberta
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HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
Credit: Ken Macpherson / Naval
Museum of Alberta
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HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 - December 1942
Credit: J.D. Mahoney / Library and
Archives of Canada / PA116836
|

|
R.
Burnett (Burnie) Forbes painting the gunshield "Wet Assed
Queen" on HMCS Wetaskiwin Courtesy
of Barb Ishler |

photo 1 |

photo 2 |

photo 3 |

photo 4 |

photo 5 |

photo 6 |

photo 7 |

photo 8 |
(1)
Joe Rouble sitting by the gunshield art on
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (2) HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 escorting a convoy. Photo taken from an aircraft - 11 Dec 1944,
1800 GMT, 300' (3)
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 looking well weather beaten. Photo taken after the refit where her main mast was move aft of
the bridge and missile racks added to her gun shield. (4) HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (5) Twin Oerlikon on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(6) Walter Faraday Wright climbing out the quarterdeck
hatch on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (7) John Adlard (of Winnipeg) on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(8) Unknown sailor on the bridge of HMCS Wetaskiwin
K175

photo 9 |

photo 10 |

photo 11 |

photo 12 |

photo 13 |

photo 14 |

photo 15 |

photo 16 |
(9)
John Douglas (holding the spoon), Jimmy Hill (middle) and John
Ogradnick on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (10) Unknown Petty Officers by the jack staff on
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (11) Unknown sailor with the ship's mascot on HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (12) The Catch of the Day being shown off on HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (13) This Wetaskiwin sailor
seems to have had been luck with his fishing than those in the above
photo (14) Unknown sailors on the bridge wing of HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (15) McTavish (1st on right) other 2 sailors unknown
on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(16) Unknown sailor from HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 ashore
- place unknown

photo 17 |

photo 18 |

photo 19 |

photo 20 |

photo 21
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photo 22 |

photo 23 |

photo 24 |
(17)
Unknown sailor from HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 ashore
- place unknown (18) Unknown sailor on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(19) L-R: McTavish, Charlie Hardiman, Graham on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (20) Unknown warship,
photo taken from HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (21) Boat crew coming alongside HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(22) HMCS Wetaskiwin's boat crew. Robert Watson, front, centre, side
on; Walter Faraday Wright, front, right side of photo
(23) HMCS Wetaskiwin's sailors going ashore (24) Unknown sailor on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175

photo 25 |

photo 26 |

photo 27 |

photo 28 |

photo 29 |

photo 30 |

photo 31 |

photo 32 |
(25)
HMCS Dunver K03 - photo taken from HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (26) Unknown ships on the horizon - photo taken from
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (27) HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 biting in to a wave
(28) Unknown ship - photo taken from HMCS Wetaskiwin
K175 (29) Unknown sailors by the depth charge throwers on
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (30) Unknown sailors on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(31) A weather-beaten HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 about to
get a bit of TLC from the crew (32) Unknown sailors relaxing on the fo'c's'le of
HMCS Wetaskiwin K175

photo 33 |

photo 34 |

photo 35 |

photo 36 |

photo 37 |

photo 38 |

photo 39 |

photo 40 |
(33)
Sailors painting the funnel on HMCS Wetaskiwin
K175 (34) Unknown port - photo taken from HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(35) Unknown sailors on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (36) Unknown sailor on the machine gun on HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (37) Unknown sailor on the fo'c's'le of HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (38) Unknown sailor with ship's mascot on HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175 (39) John Adlard on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
(40) Unknown sailors on the bridge of HMCS
Wetaskiwin K175

photo 41 |

photo 42 |
photo 43 |
(41)
Front: L-R: Cutler and Simpson. Rear: L-R: Cook, joe Peters,
Reid and Vance on HMCS Wetaskiwin K175 (42)
Steward Jimmy Hill Parts Company With
"Queen of Hearts" After Long Service Through Battle of
Atlantic - Newspaper article from the Saskatoon
Star-Phoenix (43) Queen of Hearts Ends Her
Sea Duties

Slightly different
versions of the "Wet Assed Queen" on HMCS Wetaskiwin
Wetaskiwin Iced-up

Christmas - Dec 1944 - HMCS Wetaskiwin K175
From the collection of
James Hill
Courtesy of Marlene Hill
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IB49
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IB50 |
(IB49-IB50)
HMCS WETASKIWIN K175
From the collection of Ivan
Bennett, RCNVR
Courtesy of Ivan Bennett
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