-~ HMCS Skeena _

WITH THE grace and
dignity befitting a ship of
her age and experience, the
HMCS Skeena undertook
her final mission last fall.

‘dt was a short one for the
Royal Canadian Navy
destroyer, a sail past in the
waters off of the naval base
~~ at Halifax.

Affixed from bow to stern
was a long, narrow flag-
like banner — a naval

tradition for ships going
out of service.

The longer the banner,
the longer the ship has
served. It was a very long
banner for the Skeena,
named after the
northwestern B.C. river,
was commissioned in 1957,

Replacing HMCS Skeena
and other ships of her age
and class are 12 multi-
million dollar frigates,

three of which are now in
service.

This HMCS Skeena was
the second of her name to
serve in the Royal
Canadian Navy,

The first HMCS Skeena,
named after the
northwesten river, was’
launched from a dockyard’
in Southampton, England
in 1930.

This Skeena and the

HMCS ‘Saguenay w were the
first tva vessels to be built
to Royal Canadian Navy
Specifications. —

“name you Skeena, and
wish you and all who sail
in you the best of luck,?"
said Mildred Bennett, sister

_ fo then-Prime Minister

RB. Bennett at the ship’s
launching.

But that was not to be the
case. *

THE SECOND version of the HMCS Skeena took to the oceans
In 1957, It and others of its class quickly became the mainstay of
the Royal Canadian Navy, specializing in submarine warfare and

_ Fifteen sailors were lost |
~ when ship went aarOlini

‘IT SEEMS so easy to explain
afterward what happened to the
HMCS Skeena.
In the fall of 1944, after being
repaired. following damage done
to her in the English Channel fol-
lowing D-Day, Skeena and other
' ships were patrolling the North
Alantic between Iceland and
- Great Britain.
- | Their job was to hunt the Ger-
man U-boats threatening the con-

- voys bringing men and vital sup-

plies from North America to
Great Britain.

‘The Skeena had served since
1939 on convoy duty between
North America and Great Britain
so her crew was familiar with

-- What could happen,

Even without the U-boats, the
North. Atlantic route was
~. dangerous duty, remembers Peter
Chance, then a young lieutenant

and navigator on the Skcena.

"The weather is ofien bloody
awful, especially in the winter,'’
he said in a recent interview.

“Along with that was the ten-

sion,’”

“ "The gale that blew up October

24, 1944 was strong enough for
-the Skeena and other ships to

receive orders to take shelter.

The order resulted in the
Skeena being put. to, anchor,,be-
tween two small islands, very
close to the Icelandic mainland.

Just before midnight Oct, 24,
she went aground. Driven against
rocks by high waves and with
propellers damaged, Skcena listed
to one side. It appeared as if the
ship would break up.

Fifteen of ber crew drowned or
died of exposure after taking to

- small life rafts.

’ The ship was written off and all
usable equipment removed.

In the investigation which fol-
lowed it was determined that the
Skeena's anchor didn’t hold the
ship. Lashed by stormy seas and
in a confined sea space between
the two islands, the ship was
driven inevitably ashore.

Skeena's captain and executive
officer were found negligent. In-
vestigators fell the captain, who
left for his cabin, should have
stayed on the bridge after the ship
was anchored in the gale.

They felt the executive officer
should have noticed that the ship
was being dragged along.

Peter Chance, now retired,

other vital Cold War duties. A Sea King helicopter helped ‘the
ship with its various appointed tasks. The ship was decommis-

sioned last fall in Halifax,

never felt right about the find of
negligence laid against the two
senior officers... ,,,
‘The, bottom. around Teeland i is
bad for its volcanic ash. It’s like
sugar. If you're anchored, you
can siart ta move and not know
you’re dragging,’’ he said.
Skeeng could play out only one
anchor cable at a time, unlike
other ships also ordered to shelter
that evening.

It meant the ship could not

achieve as solid anchorage as
could the others,

Chance said senior officers on
other ships which gave the shelter
orders knew the anchoring limita-
tions of the Skeena.

Indeed, Chance felt so strongly
about the order to take shelter that
he asked io be relicved of his
duties.

*"T wanted no part of i? said
Chance of the decision to take
Skeena in.

He also says Skeena’s captain
should have questioned his supe-
Yior’s orders to take shelter and
made a case io stay at sea to ride
out the storm.

There was also some question
about whether an ‘abandon ship’

order was given or whether an or-
der to ‘standby to abandon ship’

_.was taken to mean the former.

After the first rafis’ ‘were put

_ into the sea — the ones contain-

ing the men which subsequently
died’ — it looked as. if the ship
would hold together and orders to
stay on board were issued.

The remaining crew was taken
off the ship the next morning.
_ Chance describes the events of

"that evening as confused and ter-

rifying with the crew not know-
ing if the ship would break up or
stay.in-one piece.

He notes that the pressures of
war and weather put strains on of-
ficers as young as. 26 and on
sailors as young as 22, ,

“This is a special instance of a '

matter of accumulation of cir-
cumstances,’’ said Chance.

**¥ou just have to accept what
happened as a fact of life and go
on from there,” he said,

The captain and executive of-
Jicer continued to serve in the

nayy.

And last year, surviving mem-—

bers of the Skeena crew held a
reunion in Sarnia, Ontario.

Issae’s
book

THE STORY of the first
AMCS Skeena \s now avail-
able in book form.

Called “Skeena Aground”’,
it was written by Issac Unger,
a younger brother to Abe Un-
ger, one of the 15 men who
died.

Unger feit the full story of
what ‘happened to the ship
was never told,

The war also changed the
life of Isaac Unger because he
was taken out of school at an
early age and put to work.

‘*Iv’s always bothered me. J
had a grudge,” said Unger of
his. uncompleted education
back then.

And.so the book begins by -
explaining the war before
detailing Skeena’s story.

“It’s my personal search for
peace, And I know it’s helped
others with the same,” said
Unger.

“The book also helped Unger
put the war and his family’s

pacifist Mennonite _ beliefs
into perspective,

THE CALM after the gale
did nothing to tell tha tale of
the grounding of the HMCS
Skeena and the resulting
loss of life. This shot was
taken several days atter
the grounding and was at
first marked "Secret" by
the navy.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 19, 1994 - AS

Bn
CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

Dear Sir.

The Mail Bae

Worried about postal service

Dear Sir:
I feel sorry for the clerks at the post office. It’s not their fault.
The upper management at the post office is trying to phase oul its
customer service and force the public to use the retail outlets.
Management has cut down on the clerks available to serve
customers; management has decreased the space for line-ups. .
If anyone wants to express their frustration, here are the people
responsible: ;
C. Frick
Customer Service
Canada Post Corporation
Pacific Division
P.O. Box 2110
Stn, Terminal
Vancouver, B.C, V6B 4Z3 —
and especially;
Georges C. Clermont
President
Canada Post Corporation
2701 Riverside Drive
Suite N1210
Ottawa, Ont. K1A 9Z9
I’ve written my letters of complaint. I received a polite brush-off.
Perhaps the post office will listen to a ‘hundred letters,
If they don’t we'll be lined up with-o our Christmas s packages in the
snow.
a Sincerely,
Brenda Silshe,
Terrace, BC.

Pushie gains plaudits
Dear Sir:

We, the 1994-95 class of Addiction Resource Worker Program at
the Northwest Community College Hazelton campus, hear that you
have a hero in your neighbourhood.

When the hands of alcoholics and addicts in Terrace reached out,
Mr. Jim Pushic was there to answer the bell, This unselfish act did
not go unnoticed.

It is our hope that the city of Terrace and the governing bodies
will reach out their hands and support Mr. Pushie in fulfilling the
needs of Terrace and the Pacific Northwest,

Our hats are off to you Mr, Pushic. You saw through the denial
and are trying to meet a badly needed resource.

Our communities need more people like Mr. Pushie, we wish him
‘the beat of luck and offer our support.

_ Sincerely,
‘The 1994-5 A.R.W. class,

, N.W.C.C,,
. Hazelton, B.C.

‘Good feast for all

- Thanksgiving Day was marked in Terrace by a great comumiunity
Meal at the Pentecostat Church.

_»” Served by-the youth group, the delicious turkey dinner was a ‘great

‘autumn banquet for everyone-in Terrace who otherwise would have
no place to go for food and fellowship. . va Fe

I know I enjoyed it.

f- 7 ao
Brian Grege,
Terrace, BC

Euthanasia stand attacked

An open letter to:
Mike Scott, M.P.
Skeena Riding

Dear Sir: :

_ I was disappointed to read a ‘recent newspaper “atticle putlining,
your position and how you will vote ‘on the. euthanasia’ question
when it comes up in Parliament. :

The article stated that although you. disagree with euthanasia you
plan to vote in its favour. This decision is based on-a riding poll you
conducted. Co,

‘Tam in disagreement with your position for two reasons. Firstly, if
you plan to base your decision on poll results then you should at
least conduct a poll which obtains a true reflection of the riding’s
majority.

1 expect the type of poll conducted by you generated a good

_ Tesponse from those strongly in favour of a change to existing legis-

lation. However, the majority of voters, regardless of their position,
probably weren't motivated enough to respond to your poll.

Others, such as myself, may have been unaware of the poll. If you
base your decisions on the wishes of the riding’s majority then you
should at least ensure its accuracy to the electorate.

_ Secondly, there are some things in society which are fundamental-
ly wrong, regardless of what the majority think is right. If we allow
our basic socictal beliefs to be altered simply because a particular
lobbying group has been astute enough to sway public opinion fora
period of time then our society begins to break down.

The news article indicated you are clearly opposed to euthanasia,
This issue goes to the very core of our society’s bellefs and should
be treated as such. I suggest you stand by your position, period!

This is too important an issue and should not be used to test the
best method of implementing the Reform Pasty’s particular position
on public representation. .

As for me I know where J stand, lam opposed to cuthanasia.

Sincerely,
Ed Hausner, |
‘ Prince Rupert, B.C.

THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ .

The Start

New hostel opens in Terrace

THERE IS A new place for hospital patients and their
families to stay in Terrace.

This new place is a medical hostel called The Sleeping
Beauty Lodge.

The Elks and Royal Order of the Purple, two charity groups,
helped to get the hostel running.

They fixed up the old nurses residence beside. Mills
Memorial Hospital.

The hostel has 14 rooms in it four people to stay: 13 single
rooms and one double room. - :

Betty and Al Bellamy live in the hostel and take care of it, :

Six people. have stayed in the hostel eince October 1 1