Canada's Naval History

Second World War
Battle of the Atlantic - U-Boats and Convoys

The struggle between German U-Boats (submarines) and Allied convoys was the core of the battle of the Atlantic. U-Boats sought to destroy Allied merchant vessels and warships, while Allied convoys sought to transport food, supplies, weapons, and personnel across the Atlantic.

HMCS Clayoquot , Bangor class Minesweeper

With longer-ranged escorts desperately needed for transatlantic convoys, minesweepers like HMCS Clayoquot served as anti-submarine escorts off North America's east coast.

Canada built minesweepers like Clayoquot to locate and remove mines, although German submarines never laid minefields off Canadian ports on the scale anticipated. The Royal Canadian Navy used them instead as escorts and patrol vessels, in some cases removing (or never fitting) minesweeping equipment to them in order to accommodate more anti-submarine weapons. The German submarine U-806 torpedoed and sank Clayoquot off Halifax on 24 December 1944.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19990081-016_2

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