View source for HMCS Athabaskan (G07)

{{Short description|Tribal-class destroyer, launched 1941}}
{{Other ships|HMCS Athabaskan}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Hmcs athabaskan g07.jpg
|Ship caption=HMCS ''Athabaskan'', date unknown.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Canada|naval-1911}}
|Ship name=''Athabaskan''
|Ship namesake=The First Nations peoples who share the [[Athabaskan languages|Athabaskan language]]
|Ship ordered=5 April 1940
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Vickers-Armstrongs]], [[Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne|High Walker]]
|Ship laid down=31 October 1940
|Ship launched=15 November 1941
|Ship christened=
|Ship commissioned=3 February 1943
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=29 April 1944
|Ship renamed=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: G07
|Ship fate=Sunk by German torpedo boats in the [[English Channel]], 29 April 1944 (north of [[Île Vierge]] and off the coast of [[Brittany]])
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto="We fight as one"
|Ship honours=Arctic 1943-44, English Channel 1944<ref name=l1>{{cite web |url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-2/par1/athabask-eng.asp |title=Official Linneages: Volume 2, Part 1: Extant Commissioned Ships |work=Department of National Defence |date=7 July 2006 |access-date=19 June 2014 |archive-date=19 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719154257/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-2/par1/athabask-eng.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|Ship badge=On a field argent, a North American Indian mounted bareback upon an Indian pony, holding a red bow and arrow in the "ready" position
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class={{sclass2|Tribal|destroyer (1936)|0}} [[destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1850|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} (standard)
*{{convert|2520|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} (full)
|Ship length={{convert|377|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[length overall]]
|Ship beam={{convert|37|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power={{convert|44000|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[C. A. Parsons and Company|Parsons]] [[steam turbine]]s
*3 × Admiralty 3-drum [[boiler]]s
*2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|5700|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship capacity={{convert|524|ST|t|abbr=on}} [[fuel oil]]
|Ship complement=190 (219 as leader)
|Ship armament= 6 - 4.7 in LA -QF guns (3×2), 2 - 4 in HA guns (1×2), 4 - [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|2-pounder]] AA guns (1×4), 12 - [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] AA guns (6×2), 4 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] torpedo tubes (1×4), 1 - depth charge rack, 2 - depth charge throwers.
}}
|}

'''HMCS ''Athabaskan''''' was the first of three [[destroyer]]s of the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] to bear this name. It was a destroyer of the {{sclass2|Tribal|destroyer (1936)|4}}, that served in the [[Second World War]]. She was named for the First Nations peoples who make up the [[Athabaskan languages|Athabaskan language]] group. She was torpedoed in the English Channel and sunk in 1944.

''Athabaskan'' was ordered 5 April 1940 as part of the 1940-1941 building programme.<ref name=u1>{{cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4440.html |title=HMCS Athabaskan (i) (G07) |work=uboat.net |access-date=19 June 2014}}</ref> She was laid down in the [[United Kingdom]] on 31 October 1940 by [[Vickers-Armstrongs]] of [[Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne|High Walker]] and built in consort with [[C. A. Parsons and Company|CA Parsons]] engine works. She was launched on 18 November 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 3 February 1943.<ref name=u1/>

==Service history==
HMCS ''Athabaskan'' had a relatively short service of about 14 months between her commissioning and sinking. The ship also experienced several major mishaps and battle damage that required her being taken out of service for repairs for a total of about five months. When these repair periods are taken into account, ''Athabaskan'' was available for actual service at sea for a total of only nine months prior to her sinking.

After a short work-up subsequent to commissioning on 3 February 1943, ''Athabaskan'' sailed on 29 March 1943 to patrol the Iceland-Faeroes Passage for blockade runners, but heavy seas damaged her hull, which took five weeks to repair at South Shields. Shortly after returning to service, in early June 1943 she took part in Operation Gearbox III, the relief of the garrison at [[Spitsbergen]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Athabaskan|url=http://www.jproc.ca/cta/athab1.html|website=Canadian Tribal Association|access-date=23 July 2015}}</ref>

On 18 June 1943, ''Athabaskan'' sustained damage during a collision with the boom defence vessel ''Bargate'' at [[Scapa Flow]], resulting in a month under repair at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]]. In July and August 1943, she was based in [[Plymouth]], carrying out anti-submarine patrols in the [[Bay of Biscay]].

''Athabaskan'' was heavily damaged by a [[Henschel Hs 293]] glider bomb, dropped by a [[KG 100]] aircraft, during an anti-submarine chase off [[Cape Ortegal]], in the Bay of Biscay, on 27 August 1943.<ref name="Ford">{{cite book|last1=Ford|first1=Roger|title=Germany's Secret Weapons of World War II|date=2013|publisher=Amber Books|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=9781909160569|pages=224}}</ref> {{HMS|Egret|L75|6}} was sunk in the same incident.<ref name=u1/> The glider bomb passed entirely through ''Athabaskan'' before detonating on the outside of the ship.

Returning to Scapa Flow in December 1943 she escorted convoy JW55A to the [[Soviet Union]] but in February 1944, rejoined Plymouth command and was assigned to the newly formed 10th Destroyer Flotilla carrying out ‘Operation Hostile’ (Minelaying) and ‘Operation Tunnel’ (Patrol) missions off the coast of France. On 26 April, she assisted in the destruction of the German {{sclass2|Elbing|torpedo boat}} {{ship|German torpedo boat|T29||2}} in the [[English Channel]] off [[Ushant]] as part of an ‘Operation Tunnel’ mission that included the British cruiser {{HMS|Black Prince|81|2}}, destroyer {{HMS|Ashanti|F51|2}} and Canadian Tribals {{HMCS|Haida|G63|2}}, {{HMCS|Huron|G24|2}} and ''Athabaskan''. Three days later ''Athabaskan'' was sunk in another action.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schull|first1=Joseph|title=The Far Distant Ships|date=1961|publisher=Queen's Printer, Canada|location=Ottawa|pages=251–258}}</ref>

==Final action, sinking==
On 29 April 1944 at about 0300 hours ''Athabaskan'' was patrolling with her sister Tribal-class destroyer ''Haida'' in support of a British minelaying operation off the coast of France near the mouth of the Morlaix River. She received the first of a series of [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] orders to intercept German warships near Ile de Bas (sometimes [[Île de Batz]]) as spotted by coastal radar in southern England. During the subsequent engagement with German naval vessels, ''Athabaskan'' was torpedoed and sank. 128 men were lost, 44 were rescued by ''Haida'' and 83 were taken prisoner by three German minesweepers sortied from the coast after the departure of ''Haida''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schull|first1=Joseph|title=The Far Distant Ships|date=1961|publisher=Queen's Printer, Canada|location=Ottawa|pages=253–257}}</ref>

As might be expected with a night-time naval battle, various sources and even eyewitnesses provide widely differing accounts of the events surrounding the sinking of ''Athabaskan''. Some survivors recount that the ship was initially struck by shore-battery gunfire, and then by a torpedo. At least one survivor tells of a second torpedo hit fifteen minutes after the first, but the official history of the Royal Canadian Navy attributes the second major explosion to the fires touching off the ammunition magazine.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kettles|first1=Stuart|title=Last Action - HMCS Athabaskan|url=http://www.jproc.ca/cta/g7s3.html|website=HMCS Athabaskan Stories|access-date=23 July 2015}}</ref>

''Athabaskan'' was apparently [[torpedo]]ed by the [[Kriegsmarine|German]] [[torpedo boat]] {{ship|German torpedo boat|T24||2}}. ''Athabaskan''{{'}}s [[commanding officer]], [[Lieutenant-Commander (Canada)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[John Stubbs (naval officer)|John Stubbs]], was killed in action after declining rescue by ''Haida'' to swim back for more crew members. In 2004, the Royal Canadian Navy provided a brass plaque to be laid on the wreck to commemorate the loss. The expedition found more information about the sinking but did not clarify the actual cause. The wreck is in a shattered condition spread over the sea bed.

==HMCS ''Haida'' motor cutter rescue==
[[File:HMCS Haida cutter.jpg|thumb|upright|The motor cutter of {{HMCS|Haida|G63|6}}, which was used to rescue survivors of the sinking of ''Athabaskan'']]
When ''Haida'' quickly departed the area due to the onset of daylight and heightened risk from air and sea attacks, she left behind her motor cutter manned by Leading Seaman W. A. MacLure, Jack Hannam and three volunteers. MacLure and his comrades rescued six ''Athabaskan'' survivors along with two ''Haida'' crew who had been washed from the scramble nets as the ship departed. As recounted in Canada's official naval history, the German minesweepers chased the motor cutter but gave up for unknown reasons. After a series of breakdowns and encounters with enemy aircraft, MacLure's motor cutter eventually made landfall in England under [[Royal Air Force]] escort just before midnight on 29 April 1944.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schull|first1=Joseph|title=The Far Distant Ships|date=1961|publisher=Queen's Printer, Canada|location=Ottawa|pages=256–258}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Athabaskan Island, near [[Bella Bella, British Columbia|Bella Bella]] on the [[British Columbia Coast|Central Coast of British Columbia]], was named in memory of ''Athabaskan''.<ref>{{Cite bcgnis|id=27864 |title=Athabaskan Island}}</ref>

[[École John Stubbs Memorial School]] near [[Victoria, British Columbia]] is named for Lieutenant Commander John Stubbs.

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Brice|first=Martin H.|title=The Tribals|publisher=Ian Allan|year=1971 |location=London|isbn=0-7110-0245-2}}
*{{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43 |publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=2001|isbn=0-905617-95-9 }}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2006 |isbn=1-86176-137-6|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Whitby |first1=Michael |editor1-last=Jordan |editor1-first=John |title=Warship 2022 |date=2022 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford|pages=29–46 |isbn=978-1-4728-4781-2 |chapter=The Challenges of Operation 'Tunnel', September 1943 — April 1944}}

==External links==
{{commons category|HMCS Athabaskan (G07) (ship, 1941)}}
*[http://www.jproc.ca/cta/athab1.html HMCS ''Athabaskan'' G07]
*[http://www.warcovers.dk/greenland/hms_athabaskan.htm Royal Navy - Arctic Operations - HMCS ''Athabaskan'']
{{Coord|48|43|N|4|32|W|display=title}}

{{Tribal class destroyer (1936)}}
{{April 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athabaskan (G07)}}
[[Category:Tribal-class destroyers (1936) of the Royal Canadian Navy]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of Canada]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel]]
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1944]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:Ships built by Vickers Armstrong]]
[[Category:Naval magazine explosions]]