Battle of the St. Lawrence

Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Eastern Front, with the last shots fired on the 11th. Russia and some former Soviet countries celebrate on 9 May. Several countries observe public holidays on the day each year, also called Victory Over Fascism Day, Liberation Day or Victory Day. In the UK it is often abbreviated to VE Day, or V-E Day in the US, a term which existed as early as September 1944, in anticipation of victory.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495 square kilometres (93,628 sq mi), with an estimated 2023 population of over 68 million people.

The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. Its principal members by the end of 1941 were the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and China.

Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolved on 1 August 1995, when it was amalgamated into the regional municipality.

A searchlight is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction. It is usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.

A blackout during war, or in preparation for an expected war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to identify their targets by sight, such as during the London Blitz of 1940. In coastal regions, a shoreside blackout of city lights also helped protect ships from being seen silhouetted against the artificial light by enemy submarines farther out at sea.

Europe is a continent comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by the watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits.

Saint John is a seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of George III. The port is Canada's third-largest port by tonnage with a cargo base that includes dry and liquid bulk, break bulk, containers, and cruise. The city was the most populous in New Brunswick until the 2016 census, when it was overtaken by Moncton. It is currently the second-largest city in the province, with a population of 69,895 over an area of 315.59 km2 (121.85 sq mi).

The Canadian Pacific Railway, also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001.

Maine is the easternmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and northwest, respectively. The largest state by total area in New England, Maine is the 12th-smallest by area, the 9th-least populous, the 13th-least densely populated, and the most rural of the 50 U.S. states. It is also the northeasternmost among the contiguous United States, the northernmost state east of the Great Lakes, the only state whose name consists of a single syllable, and the only state to border exactly one other U.S. state. Approximately half the area of Maine lies on each side of the 45th parallel north in latitude. The most populous city in Maine is Portland, while its capital is Augusta.

The St. Lawrence River is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a roughly northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting the North American Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean, and forming the primary drainage outflow of the Great Lakes Basin. The river traverses the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as well as the U.S. state of New York, and demarcates part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States. It also provides the foundation for the commercial St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Gulf of St. Lawrence is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean. The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about 226,000 square kilometres (87,000 sq mi) and containing about 34,500 cubic kilometres (8,300 cu mi) of water, at an average depth of 152 metres (500 ft).

The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe, of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.

Anticosti Island is an island in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Côte-Nord, the province of Quebec, Canada.

The Bangor-class minesweepers were a class of warships operated by the Royal Navy (RN), Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during the Second World War.

A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.

A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches.

An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels suited to piracy and to employment by navies and coast guards against smugglers and pirates. Vessels of this type were adapted to racing by wealthy owners. The origin of civilian yachts as naval vessels, with their speed and maneuverability, made them useful for adaptation to their original function as patrol vessels. In the United States Navy armed yachts were typically private yachts expropriated for government use in times of war. Armed yachts served as patrol vessels during the Spanish–American War and the World Wars. In the latter conflicts, armed yachts were used as patrol vessels, convoy escorts, and in anti-submarine duties. In the United States, yachts were purchased from their owners with the owners given an option to repurchase their yacht at the close of hostilities.

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.

A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war.

Gaspé is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is located about 650 km (400 mi) northeast of Quebec City, and 350 km (220 mi) east of Rimouski. As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the city had a total population of 15,063.

Royal Canadian Navy base HMCS Protector, also known as the Point Edward Naval Base, was located next to Sydney Harbour, on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. It was founded in 1940 and used by the navy during the Second World War. It was mainly used to provision, protect and repair the various merchant marine convoys to Quebec, Halifax, and the United Kingdom. It was a main combat zone during the Battle of the St. Lawrence and the more general Battle of the Atlantic. It continued to be utilized during the Cold War's early stages. It was decommissioned in 1964 and became the initial facility to house the Canadian Coast Guard College that same year. Currently, the Sydport Industrial Park utilizes the base's former piers and land.

German submarine U-132 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 10 August 1940 by Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack as yard number 11, launched on 10 April 1941 and commissioned on 29 May that year under Kapitänleutnant Ernst Vogelsang.

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation's main production facilities in Buffalo, New York.

German submarine U-517 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

HMCS Charlottetown was a Flower-class corvette that served the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Charlottetown's pennant number K244 is unique in that it was also used for HMCS Charlottetown, a River-class frigate.

German submarine U-165 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 30 August 1940 at the Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG, Bremen yard as yard number 704. She was launched on 15 August 1941 and commissioned on 3 February 1942 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Eberhard Hoffmann.

USS Laramie (AO-16) was a Kaweah-class fleet replenishment oiler in the United States Navy.

No. 113 Squadron was a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron that was active during the Second World War. It was originally formed as an Army Co-operation squadron and then a fighter squadron before being disbanded in 1939 and then reformed in 1942. It was primarily used in an anti-submarine role and was based on the east coast of Canada and Newfoundland. The squadron flew the Lockheed Hudson and Lockheed Ventura before disbanding on 10 August 1944.

Anticosti Island is an island in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Côte-Nord, the province of Quebec, Canada.

Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point near Newfoundland where ships of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) assumed responsibility for safely delivering the convoys to the British Isles.

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.

Convoy ON 127 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the second World War. It was the 127th of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America and the only North Atlantic trade convoy of 1942 or 1943 where all U-boats deployed against the convoy launched torpedoes. The ships departed Liverpool on 4 September 1942 and were met at noon on 5 September by the Royal Canadian Navy Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group C-4 consisting of the Canadian River-class destroyer Ottawa and the Town-class destroyer St. Croix with the Flower-class corvettes Amherst, Arvida, Sherbrooke, and Celandine. St. Croix's commanding officer, acting Lieutenant Commander A. H. "Dobby" Dobson RCNR, was the senior officer of the escort group. The Canadian ships carried type 286 meter-wavelength radar but none of their sets were operational. Celandine carried Type 271 centimeter-wavelength radar. None of the ships carried HF/DF high-frequency direction finding sets.

German submarine U-69 was the first Type VIIC U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. This meant that compared to previous U-boats, she could travel further afield for longer, with a payload of fourteen torpedoes, an 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun for smaller vessels and a flak gun for use against aircraft. U-69 was very successful, sinking over 72,000 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in a career lasting two years, making her one of the longest surviving, continuously serving, U-boats. Her most notable attack was on the civilian ferry SS Caribou, which sank off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1942, killing 137 men, women and children. She was rammed and sunk by HMS Fame on 17 February 1943.

Cabot Strait is a strait in eastern Canada approximately 110 kilometres wide between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. It is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Atlantic Ocean, the others being the Strait of Belle Isle and Strait of Canso. It is named for the italian explorer Giovanni Caboto.

Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of Newfoundland fronting on the western end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfoundland and the western terminus of the Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1 in the province. The town was incorporated in 1945 and its population in the 2021 census was 3,547.

German submarine U-518 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She saw considerable success from her launch on 11 February 1942 until she was sunk on 22 April 1945. The U-boat was laid down at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg as yard number 314 on 12 June 1941, and commissioned on 25 April 1942 with Fregattenkapitän Hans-Günther Brachmann in command. He was replaced on 19 August 1942 by Kapitänleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissmann. She sank nine ships and damaged three more in seven active patrols. U-518 had a crew of 56, and was by then commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Werner Offermann from 13 January 1944.

Bell Island is an island that is part of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada's easternmost province. With an area of 34 km2, it is by far the largest island in Conception Bay, a large bay in the southeast of the island of Newfoundland. The provincial capital of St. John's is less than 20 km to the east.

The Gaspé Peninsula, also known as Gaspesia, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River that extends from the Matapedia Valley in Quebec, Canada, into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on its southern side by Chaleur Bay and the Restigouche River. The name Gaspé comes from the Miꞌkmaq word gespe'g, meaning "end", referring to the end of the land.

New Carlisle, Quebec is a town in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of Quebec, Canada. It best known as the boyhood home of René Lévesque although he was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick. Its population is approximately 1,388, most of which anglophone but many of which is francophone. New Carlisle is located on the Baie des Chaleurs.

German submarine U-43 was a Type IXA U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The keel for U-43 was laid down in August 1938 at Bremen; she was launched in May 1939 and commissioned in August.

Gaspé is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec in Canada. Gaspé is located about 650 km (400 mi) northeast of Quebec City, and 350 km (220 mi) east of Rimouski. As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the city had a total population of 15,063.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, commonly known in English as the Mounties is the federal and national police service of Canada. As police services are the constitutional responsibility of provinces and territories of Canada, the RCMP's primary responsibility is the enforcement of federal criminal law, and sworn members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all provinces and territories of Canada. However, the service also provides police services under contract to eight of Canada's provinces, all three of Canada's territories, more than 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. In addition to enforcing federal legislation and delivering local police services under contract, the RCMP is responsible for border integrity; overseeing Canadian peacekeeping missions involving police; managing the Canadian Firearms Program, which licenses and registers firearms and their owners; and the Canadian Police College, which provides police training to Canadian and international police services.

Otto Kretschmer was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War.

A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.

New Brunswick is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and French as its official languages.

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.

Bathurst is the largest City in Northern New Brunswick with a population of 12,157 and the 4th largest metropolitan Area in New Brunswick as defined by Census Canada with a population of 31,387 as of 2021. The City of Bathurst overlooks Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River.

Diffused lighting camouflage was a form of active camouflage using counter-illumination to enable a ship to match its background, the night sky, that was tested by the Royal Canadian Navy on corvettes during World War II. The principle was discovered by a Canadian professor, Edmund Godfrey Burr, in 1940. It attracted interest because it could help to hide ships from submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic, and the research project began early in 1941. The Royal Navy and the US Navy carried out further equipment development and trials between 1941 and 1943.

A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. British Royal Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort. A concept devised by Dutch engineers, it was widely used on German U-boats during the last year of World War II and known to them as a Schnorchel.

The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Allied navies: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Free French Naval Forces, the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy.

A frigate is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.

HMCS Magog was a River-class frigate that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. She was used primarily as a convoy escort. On 14 October 1944, she was torpedoed by U-1223. She survived the attack, was towed to port and declared a constructive total loss. Magog was named for the town of Magog, Quebec.

HMCS Shawinigan was a Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic protecting convoys. She was sunk in 1944. She was named for Shawinigan, Quebec.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The club is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a company that owns several professional sports teams in the city. The Maple Leafs' broadcasting rights are split between BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications. For their first 14 seasons, the club played their home games at the Mutual Street Arena, before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931. The Maple Leafs moved to their present home, Scotiabank Arena, in February 1999.

German submarine U-889 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

German submarine U-190 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II.

Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada.

Bay Bulls is a small fishing town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environments and are an example of an ecotone. Estuaries are subject both to marine influences such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water, and to fluvial influences such as flows of freshwater and sediment. The mixing of seawater and freshwater provides high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels.

The Canadian Army is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also responsible for the Army Reserve, the largest component of the Primary Reserve. The Army is headed by the concurrently held Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff, who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff. The Army is also supported by 3,000 civilian employees from the civil service.

HMCS Antigonish was a River-class frigate that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1944–1946 and as a Prestonian-class frigate from 1957–1966. She is named for Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Her photo is featured on the cover of the 1994 album Frigate by the band April Wine.

HMCS Lévis was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the St. Lawrence and the Battle of the Atlantic. She was the second ship to bear the name of Lévis, the first being a Flower-class corvette that had been sunk earlier in the war. She was named for Lévis, Quebec.

HMCS Magog was a River-class frigate that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. She was used primarily as a convoy escort. On 14 October 1944, she was torpedoed by U-1223. She survived the attack, was towed to port and declared a constructive total loss. Magog was named for the town of Magog, Quebec.

HMCS Springhill was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic, mainly in the Battle of the St. Lawrence. She was named for Springhill, Nova Scotia.

HMCS Ste. Therese was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named for Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé, Quebec. After the war she was converted to a Prestonian-class frigate and served until 1967.

HMCS Agassiz was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Canadian Navy. Named after the community of Agassiz, British Columbia, the ship was constructed by Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd. in North Vancouver, British Columbia and was launched on 15 August 1940. The corvette was commissioned on 23 January 1941 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Flower class were initially designed for coastal service during the Second World War, but due to the demands of the Battle of the Atlantic, Agassiz was used primarily as an ocean escort for convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean in engagements with German submarines. Following the war, the corvette was sold for scrap.

HMCS Amherst was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Canadian Navy. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic on convoy protection duty during the Second World War. She was named for Amherst, Nova Scotia. The ship was laid down at Saint John Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Saint John, New Brunswick, on 23 May 1940 and launched on 3 December later that year. Amherst was commissioned on 5 August 1941 and served in the Battle of the Atlantic and Battle of the St. Lawrence, earning battle honours for both actions. After the war, the ship was decommissioned and sold to Venezuelan Navy in 1945 and renamed Carabobo. However, while en route to Venezuela, the ship was wrecked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence that same year.

HMCS Arrowhead was a Flower-class corvette that was originally commissioned by the Royal Navy but served primarily with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. She fought primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort. She was named for sagittaria, which is an aquatic water plant that is sometimes known as arrowhead.

HMCS Brantford was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named for Brantford, Ontario.