www.ns.legion.ca 33 survivors from the first two ships to go down and when she, too, was torpedoed, there was heavy loss of life. When Itchen blew up, pieces of her superstructure landed on the Canadian corvette HMCS Morden. It was during the enemy action prior to the sinking of HMS Itchen that Sackville, after firing depth charges, experienced a tremendous explosion and it was thought the depth charges had detonated a torpedo close alongside. Sackville’s number one boiler was severely damaged. (The boiler was never replaced, which meant she had space on board to be used after the war. In fact, this wartime combat event contributed to Sackville’s escape from the scrap yard and is just one reason why we can still visit her today.) Much later, when efforts to make repairs were unsuccessful, it was decided to retire the corvette from active service and use her as a training ship, then later as a Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel (CNAV). She served with the Canadian Navy as a CNAV in an oceanographic research role, and it was this decision which has also prolonged the life of this important ship and allowed her to become The Canadian Naval Memorial. She is the very last of all the Flower Class corvettes in existence. Ship’s Company: Officers: 6, crew: 79; increasing to a total of more than 100 as additional weapons and sensors were installed during the war. Weapons: One Mark IX four-inch breechloading gun, with a range against surface targets of 12,000 yards; one Mark VIII twopounder pom-pom and two 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns; anti-submarine weapons included 100 depth charges: steel drums filled with 300 pounds of high explosive, set to explode at various depths and launched from two depth-charge throwers on each side or rolled off the stern from two depth-charge rails. Later in the war, one MK 3 Hedgehog was fitted forward. The hedge hog was a spigot mortar which fired 24 projectiles or bombs in a pattern 200 yards ahead of the ship, allowing the attacking ship to remain in contact as it pursued its U-Boat target. The contact-fused bombs were filled with 32 pounds of Torpex – if one bomb hit the target it exploded and the rest of the pattern detonated too, greatly increasing the likelihood of a successful attack compared with depth charges. Propulsion: A single four-cylinder vertical triple expansion engine capable of generating 2,750 hp to its single shaft and propeller, achieving a top speed of 16 knots. This engine was designed before the turn of the 20th century and was used because it was simple to operate and to repair. Sackville was also equipped with two cylindrical Scottish fire-tube oil-fired boilers, which provided steam at 200 psi pressure to power the ship’s engine and also a basic level of heat and hot water for the ship’s company’s use. Radar: Initially the Canadian-built SW1C for surface warning and navigation later replaced by the much better British Type 271; and the SW2C/P air warning radar. Asdic: Initially the Type123A, later replaced by the 127DV which was required for the new hedgehog. (This acoustic sensor [referred to as sonar in the US Navy] was devised by the UK’s Anti-submarine Detection Investigation Committee after World War I.) Using echo sounding it provided the range and bearing of an enemy submarine. Pendant (Hull) number: K181. Named after the Town of Sackville, New Brunswick Builder: Saint John Dry Dock and continued... HMCS SACKVILLE STATISTICS: Type: Flower Class Corvette Displacement: 950 tonnes Length: 205.1 feet Beam: 33.1 feet Draught: 11.5 feet Top Speed: 16 knots
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