HMCS St. Croix (I 81)
| Name | HMCS St. Croix (I 81) | ||
| Type: | Destroyer (Town) | ||
| Tonnage | 1.190 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Quincy MA | ||
| Owner | Royal Canadian Navy | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 20 Sep, 1943 | Nationality:  Canadian | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-305 (Rudolf Bahr) | ||
| Position | 57.30N, 31.10W - Grid AK 0218 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 229 officers and men (148 dead and 81 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | ON-202 | ||
| Route | |||
| Cargo | |||
| History | Built as USS McCook (DD 252) for the US Navy and decommissioned on 30 Jun, 1922. On 18 Dec, 1939, she was recommissioned and transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS St. Croix (I 81) on 24 Sep, 1940. The destroyer sank U-90 (Oldörp) on 24 Jul, 1942 and participated in the sinking of U-87 (Berger) on 4 Mar, 1943. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 21.51 hours on 20 Sep, 1943, the HMCS St. Croix (I 81) (LtCdr A.H. Dobson, RCNR, DSC) was hit in the stern by a Gnat from U-305 while escorting the convoy ON-202 south of Iceland. She sank within six minutes after being hit by a T-3 coup de grâce from the same U-boat at 22.44 hours. The next morning, five officers and 76 men were picked up from two rafts and a half sunken whaler by HMS Itchen (K 227), which also had been attacked by U-305 with a Gnat at 22.53 hours, but was missed. Only one of the rescued men (Stoker W. Fisher) survived the sinking of the frigate by U-666 (Engel) on 23 September. The HMCS St. Croix (I 81) was one of the first victims of the new developed acoustic torpedo Gnat. | ||
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