Corvette Port Arthur | Canada In Action (1944) Propaganda film
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- "A true story" illustrating the growing size and importance of the Canadian navy through a portrait of HMCS Port Arthur on convoy escort duty with an account (partly reconstructed) of her successful action against a German U-boat.
Not Enough Credit was given to Canada’s Fighting forces in World War 2 I know other countries gave there all but looking at what the Canadians did in all theatres it was impressive and I for one am glad they where on our side
🍁🙂🇨🇦👍 We knew they were fighting evil.🍁🙂
The Canadian Army got even less acknowledgment in the First World War under General Currie. All victories were list as British victories so all the Canadian at home saw was the casualties listed in the news paper. It was the same for the Australian Army and the New Zealand Army too. It must have been very discouraging for the home front (those back home). General Guy Simmons got some credit during WW II but not much and the Canadians fighting at Ortona in Italy suffered horrendous casualties with little acknowledgment at the time other than being labeled “The D-Day Dodgers”! Not very fair.
In the early nineties , we went to Trenton Ontario to take down part of a overhead crane runway . We also moved a shot blasting machine . There was an old watchman who was past 70 for sure. We had to install an I Beam to support the new end stop at the end of the runway to anchor bolts ( New pier.) One beam
was cut three quarters of an inch short (19mm)😅 short The old watchman ask me if I were to put a piece of ironrod in the gap to make it easier to Weld told him no, it has to be 100% solid. He laughed have halfheartedly. And said that's probably why some broke in half on the Atlantic. Well, I didn't know that they used to float 2 ,1/2s of the corvettes down the Trent River and put the corvettes together at this plant this gentleman was young enough to remember them putting rods in the gaps and then welding over top of them in poor fit ,boy those 🇨🇦 sailors were brave.🍁🙂
Well done Canada, and thanks, you came to our aid when we really needed you❤❤❤❤
Britain came through for us in New France.🙂🍁
I have the newer 1/144 Snowberry to build. What an inspiring film! Thanks so much for posting!
I knew Revel made a 1/72 model, did they make the 1/144 scale also?
I was curious to find out where this Port Arthur was as the only one I knew was in Tasmania. I see it is now incorporated in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
port arthur and fort william joined together in 1970 to make the city of thunder bay. Located on the north shore of lake superior.
There's a Port Arthur in Texas, as well.
@@craigmcdaniel7142 Arthur got around
From a tiny toy navy in 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy grew to be the third largest fleet on earth in 1945. Roll on Wavy Navy, roll on.
🍁🙂🇨🇦 thanks
For info, Wavy Navy refers to the RCNVR (Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve) officers’ stripes that were deliberately zig zagged to indicate the (lower) status of reservists. They did have the executive curl and in practice, since the vast majority of Navy officers were « reserves », the little act of snobbish discrimination with the « wavy » stripes had no actual effect on morale. Regular RCN officers often waited for destroyers that were never built, while RCNVR officers got on with the job with simple corvettes - quick to build and capable of ASW. Read the book « the Corvette Navy » (Lamb) or the British fictional book « The Cruel Sea » (Monserrat)…also a classic movie. The Corvettes were key in winning the Battle of the Atlantic - the longest battle of WWII.
@@doogleticker5183 Well, said, sir, thank you so much for teaching me about my Canadian navy. I'm 60 and I'm trying to find out about as much WWII CANADIAN
forces history as possible. Thank you🍁🙂
out of it about it. That's possible.
Heck, we were still singing “Roll along Wavy Navy” in the earlier 1980’s!
A typical WW2 propaganda film which does not even begin to give credit to the wonderful Canadian Navy which contributed massively to the defeat of Germany's U Boat war. We in the UK and Europe owe a massive debt to our Canadian Brothers and it is sad that history has not given them the recognition they deserved.
😢😊❤🍁🙂🇨🇦👍 In everyday english saying you just did. Thank you from Canadian veteran's grandson🍁🙂
@@jayhopkins6990 I second that " Thank U " [ LOL ]
You're right!! On the sea, land and air, Canada played a mighty part in protecting Britain and liberating Europe, not enough is said about their incredible bravery! Bravo to our brothers in arms to protect freedom! Well done! 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
The Americans have a bigger megaphone.
Thanks for the creð. My Da wassin the CMS , 38-48 appx.
My father a US citizen joined the RCN at 15 serving in the North Atlantic. He was released after Pearl Harbor and joined the U.S. Navy
Bless him for his service.
Cool 👍👍
Thanks so much for this film, as many have noted the role of the RCN was huge in keeping the UK from starvation and enabling the final defeat of Nazi Germany. My father had the interesting role of being the only RN (well RNVWR) sailor on the HMCS Prescott, in charge of the new Type 271 Radar equipment & sailors, one of the first 20 transferred to the RCN. "His" set detected the U-163, Prescott's U-Boat kill.
What the film misses (presumably deliberately) was just how damn uncomfortable it was in the flowers, with an incredible ability to roll on anything but the flattest sea and just how much water they took in, only partially cured by fo'c'sle extension.
He always spoke well of his time in the Prescott, with her Canadians and on-leave in Canada. He welcomed that eventually RN Radar technicians were given the much better Canadian pay rates on Canadian ships.
Nice to see what is a Flower Class Corvette in action. It is m9odified with a long fo'c'sle and no two ever had the same armament. It's a great ship for modelling if you can find Revel's old 1:72 scale HMCS Snowberry. I have modelled HM Compass Rose from the film The Cruel Sea: K49: HMS Mandrake for my daughter who wanted a ship linked to Harry Potter. K287. I still have two unmade. I just these ships.
I was gutted when I left my revell flower class kit round my friends house, unfortunately he passed away and the kit disappeared
You can see a type 273 radar on one at about 9 minutes in.
@stephenduke6589. I know the movie was good ; But : Get the book ! Get all his books. And be well rested when you read it. It's like you are there !
That shot of the sonar scope at (15:36) reminds me of the introduction to the “Outer Limits” tv series. I wonder if they used this clip? 😅😅
It is highly recommended to visit the last surviving corvette, HMCS Sackville, at Halifax, NS. It has been carefully restored to its wartime configuration and is open to the public during the summer months, tied up at the wharf of the Museum of the Atlantic.
The crew accommodations are cramped and very basic. A wartime vessel built to one purpose.
This film’s staged battle seems loosely based on an actual action by the RCN off Barbados in which a U-boat was forced to the surface and a boarding party managed to capture the code books before it sank. From written accounts that action was much more confused and chaotic than presented in the film (the boarding party officer lost most of his clothes in the frantic raid and returned to his ship almost completely naked!).
Another must see is the U-505, a U-boat captured in battle by the USN. You can go aboard this boat at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The exhibit hall is stunning.
Roll Along, indeed....never intended as a blue water naval escort, the severe rolling characteristics of a corvette could turn any old tar into a bilious landlubber. Sailing the North Atlantic in winter, especially for the thousands of Canadians who had never even seen an ocean, was one of the most frightening and arduous places they could possibly serve. Many boys from the prairies had never learned to swim, but were told that it didn't matter because they would be dead within minutes of hitting the water.
In 1970 the Canadian City of Port Arthur ceased to exist. It amalgamated with the neighboring City of Fort William and together they became the current City of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
My Dad was on TWO of these during the war.....HMCS Petrolia and HMCS Arnprior.....RCNVR
Ship has its own wikipedia entry. No sign of Artic convoy duties. Did participate in sinking an Italian submarine in the Med. Was undergoing a refit when the European part of WW2 ended, did not spend any more time on active duty and was scrapped in 1948.
ASDIC relied on bouncing radio waves off the hull of a submarine rather than listening to the sounds of its propeller.
Love how they keep referring to the corvettes as fast. At 16knts a Flower class corvette struggled with keeping up with the merchant ships it escorted and was just about twice as fast as a submerged U-boat. As a comparison a fleet destroyer from ww1 had a top speed of over 30knts and ww2 destroyers speeds were closer to 40knts.
Total ups , to this one. Never forget..
Those are our wonderful submarines we bought from Britain. Remember the one that caught on fire saved by the British Itworksnow🍁🙂
My father was a sea cadet ‘Vancouver training on Corvettes.If the war hadn’t ended when it did my side of the family might not exist.
My father the Padre was from Yarmouth Nova Scotia
Oh, gawd ! Save our souls !
🇨🇦👍
❤❤❤❤❤❤
✨🏴✨🥰✨👍✨♥️✨🤗✨.
Definitely a propaganda film. The sub sinking is clearly staged and is total bunkum. This was probably shot in mid 1942 shortly after Port Arthur was commissioned and before it was ever employed as an escort. According to the National Film Board of Canada, the year of release of this film is 1943. By September 1942, HMCS Port Arthur had been sent to the other side of the Atlantic to assist with Britain to Gibraltar convoys and later escorted convoys in the Mediterranean in support of Operation Torch. The only sub sinking HMCS Port Arthur was involved with was that of the Italian sub Tritone off the coast of Bougie, Algeria on January 19, 1943 which was put down with the assistance of the destroyer HMS Antelope.
Boy I wish like you I was there when that all happened. Anyway, the film says it’s “propaganda”. So the dictionary definition of propaganda is “information especially of a biased or misleading nature used to promote a political cause or point of view. Yes it is a film used to promote the corvette sinking subs.
No it isn't. It is a staged documentary, compiling real footage into a narrative. It is not creating a false ideological belief. It certainly is not going to include any true information that could expose intelligence to the enemy. The first casualty of war is the truth.
We’re not all films produced during the war for propaganda/morale purposes? No one is pretending these are documentaries on the History Channel. This is amazing historical footage.
Corvette 225, 1943 movie with Randolph Scott. Worth a watch!!! Also Greyhound had a corvette "Dicky"...
"The 49th parallel" 1940 propaganda film about Canada.
Greyhound…guess how many USN destroyers escorted convoys? LOL.
I suppose the story line is partially based on the actions by HMCS Chambly against U 501 and HMCS Oakville against U 94 in the Caribbean where the subs were boarded. In fact, the man playing the part of the captain in this film is Ted Simmons. He was the officer from Chambly who boarded the 501 and went down looking for the code books. He got a DSC for that. Later, he was appointed CO of HMCS Port Arthur and sank the Italian submarine Tritone off Algeria. For that action he received a DSO.
Thank you for posting this wonderful film. I am really enjoying your channel content.
5:25 AND….with the size of a Corvette and the bridge exposed to the elements,Corvettes must have been tough to sail aboard. Corvettes were maneuverable but very small ships so they must have been toss about the North Atlantic like a rag doll, making everyone seasick in the calmest of seas!
Today it’s difficult to even image an area of the North Atlantic that couldn’t be under constant air cover, simply because the aircraft didn’t have the range to provide that coverage.
I toured the HMCS Haida, a tribal class destroyer, apparently bigger than a corvette, yet I was amazed at how small it was, I thought "this little thing went across the north Atlantic?"
@@sid7088 I toured the Hiada as well and was shocked by the size. I would not want to cross the North Atlantic in the first place but I sure wouldn’t want to cross it in that ship any more than I would on a Corvette. I don’t know if I am prone to sea sickness but I sure do admire those guys that did. The crossing would be bad enough, they also had U-boats to worry about…No thanks. That’s why I joined the army….in the Air Force if you’re hit you still have to eject and hopefully survive, in the Navy if your hit you end up in the water and hopefully you’re rescued. In the army if you’re hit you only have as far as the ground to fall and then you’re medivaced out . I admire those guy but It’s not for me!
@@sid7088 Hmmm... I crossed the Atlantic in a 35 foot sailboat... the Pacific too. Also many, many times in a few different destroyers (larger than the Flower Class vessels, of course) and a few times in an AOR (larger still).
I'm retired RCN... and when I was a young AB there were still many men in service who served in War 2 aboard Corvettes. Living conditions were, often enough, quite miserable but the hull design (based on pre-war larger fishing type hulls) were very seaworthy. Uncomfortable but they could take sea states that were impressive!
These small escort warships were made of steel.... but the men who sailed them were solid oak. Hearts of oak, every one! BZ to them all.
Just some late night⚓thoughts about this little film. The XO's rank wasn't shown [yes, at 19:02 we see he's just a wavy navy SBLT too,. that's worse.] Every other officer was a wavy SBLT. SBLT is [now?] a formal 1 year role between MIDN & full LEUT. In other words, no irl experience leading, or doing anything much, or knowing much stuff about other stuff. You get the point. _As CO, I'd train up a spare emergency person for every major job aboard asap._
I guess as long as they didn't crash or break down, kept up, could follow patterns & had some saltier sailors on the important things, that was the plan. Poor old Engineering & Supply didn't even get a mention & they were typically officer roles on _[bigger like PA, WW2 RAN]_ corvettes. Every single thing on that little ship was open, analogue & manual, except the anchor. She had open guns an open bridge, wet deck, the whole og horror show [imho]. Uncomfortable, barely adequate but useful little ships.
Watching that pre briefing, clearly the wavy navy was 100% sub-ordinated to the flotilla's RCN ships. They even talked down to the junior captains. So putting all the inexperienced, but basically trained, guys into 'follow the leader' & basic ships makes sense I guess. Solid propaganda in 'finding' a nice U-Boat but corvettes, in pairs, mostly just scared off U-Boats anyway, they weren't equipped as full AS ships. The guy is using hydrophones fgs. But a mission kill was good enough, hard for a hiding U-Boat to catch back up, so back to the [boring, hard] tending the herd. Thanks.from Australia, I enjoyed that.⚓
Fail to understand your rant about RNVR or Wavy Navy. 90% of officer aircrew in the RAF were VR
Hey, my Dad had 2 RCNR captains that had to be relieved of their command during the war. They were supposedly the professional seamen aboard. Unfortunately, they collapsed under the strain. While the RCNVR officers were mostly new to the game, they were young, educated and picked up things very quickly. A number of those who had joined up in 39 or 40 had picked up enough experience so that they were as experienced or better than those who had led them earlier in the war.
Just found a ship’s company photo of Port Arthur. In the photo, the identified in the film is the skipper is actually the XO. The No 1. The photo shows an officer complement of 2 lieutenants and 3 sub lieutenants.
@@jameswebb4593 This is a ship.
Didn't hear any French language, spoken.
What do expect, not a good idea to mix languages when many of the crew wound not have a clue what you were saying ? ALL aircraft crew MUST speak English for safety reasons.
The RCN was a bit of a British old boys club in those days. You wouldn't find many, if any, Quebeckers or other minorities among their ranks to start with, regardless of the language they spoke. Even in the Canadian Army, unilingual French speakers were sent exclusively to French speaking units such as the Royal 22nd (Van Doos) and Chaudiere regiments. Language-mixing generally wasn't permitted, for fairly obvious reasons.
Did you understand it? That's why it was in English and can be in French. But I wouldn't be lucky enough to understand it🍁🙂👍
@@thegreatdominion949I would beg to differ with you on some aspects of what you say. Having just come back from Archives in Ottawa and examined the crew lists for various RCN ships it is obvious that there all sorts of non-Anglo minorities amongst the crews at all levels. Officers and men. There are lots of Scandinavian, German, Dutch, Ukrainian, Polish, etc. names. I would say they seem to be in proportion to what you would find in the population of the time. As for French Canadians, yes, they aren’t represented in a number equal to their population. And yes that probably is because of language. Having said that, I was surprised to find that French Canadian surnames occur all the time in the crew lists. They are represented. Whether they are from inside or outside Quebec I didn’t keep track. Interestingly, I found more French Canadian naval officers than I thought there would be. They were mostly from Quebec not outside of the province.
Dio stramaledica gli Inglesi e i canadesi 😅😅😅