Second World War
Battle of the Atlantic  - The Battle of the St. Lawrence

The struggle on the Atlantic between Allied navies and German U-Boats (submarines) brought the naval war into Canada, turning the river and Gulf of St. Lawrence into a battleground. From 1942, German U-Boats sank 23 merchant and naval ships; improvements in anti-submarine defences ultimately stemmed these losses.

Burial at Sea

Harold Beament's painting was based in part on his own experiences during the battle of the St. Lawrence.

Beament, who included himself in the painting as the saluting officer on the right, later described the event: "We were in the thick of combat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the (merchant ship Inger Elisabeth) was torpedoed and one of the men on the deck of the merchant ship was carried away and fell overboard. I sent a boat to pull him out, but he was dead? I organized a funeral service, which was very risky because we didn't know exactly how many submarines were around?"

Burial at Sea
Painted by Harold Beament in 1944
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-0993