Canada's Naval History

Second World War
Battle of the Atlantic - Lost at Sea: HMCS St. Croix

In September 1943, in a battle surrounding two convoys in the North Atlantic, German submarines sank the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Croix and eight other Allied warships and merchant vessels. The loss of St. Croix, like the loss of many Canadian ships during the battle of the Atlantic was felt across the country.

Surgeon Lieutenant William Lyon Mackenzie King, HMCS St. Croix

William Lyon Mackenzie King, an accomplished surgeon, and the nephew and namesake of Canada's wartime prime minister, was among those lost with HMCS St. Croix.

King had joined the Royal Canadian Navy in June 1942 and figured prominently in newspaper reports of the St. Croix's sinking. In this photograph, he wears the wavy stripes of a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve on his uniform jacket. Between the time that St. Croix was first torpedoed and damaged and the fatal torpedo, King tended to wounded crew members.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20010114-001