Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 37 Captain Harry DeWolf continued ... When the enemy torpedo boats were seen to turn away, Haida and Athabaskan altered course towards the torpedoes but limited their turn to 30 degrees. The manoeuvre was meant to “comb” torpedoes (a standard avoidance tactic where ships turned towards torpedoes to present smaller targets) while still “allowing the rear four-inch turret to illuminate the targets while the forward 4.7-inch guns fired high explosive and semi-armoured piercing shells.” But before Athabaskan could complete her turn… “Flames forty to fifty feet high. Pompom ammunition explodes in all directions,” said Stuart Kettles, one survivor of Athabaskan, who was later taken prisoner. In the confusion, unsure of what had caused the initial explosion, DeWolf thought it could have been an underwater mine. “All Stubbs said to me was ‘I’m stopped’,” DeWolf remembered Lieutenant-Commander John Stubbs, Captain of Athabaskan, saying. A torpedo had struck Athabaskan, starting a fire and igniting the four-inch ammunition magazines, which caused a second devastating explosion and many casualties due to the crew being at abandon ship stations. Athabaskan began to sink. Telling Athabaskan “they’d be back for them”, DeWolf ordered Haida to drop smoke to cover Athabaskan and continued the chase, driving one enemy destroyer hard on shore, and chasing off the other. Then it returned to where Athabaskan had been, finding around 100 survivors in the water. DeWolf ordered all of Haida’s boats and floats lowered in an effort to rescue as many of Athabaskan’s crew as possible. Heavy scrambling nets were hung over the sides and Haida seamen began to pull exhausted and oil-soaked sailors aboard. But DeWolf knew he could not stay long. continued ...
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