Allied Warships

HMCS Gatineau (H 61)

Destroyer of the E class

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassE 
PennantH 61 
Built bySwan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.): Wallsend 
Ordered 
Laid down24 Mar 1933 
Launched29 May 1934 
Commissioned3 Jun 1943 
End service10 Jan 1946 
Loss position
 
History

Former Royal Navy destroyer HMS Express transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on 3 June 1943.
Decommissioned 10 January 1946.

Commanding Officers:
Cdr. Philip Whitworth Burnett, RN
May 1943 – 10 November 1943

Lt. Ernest Meurice Chadwick, RCN
10 November 1943 – 22 November 1943

A/Lt.Cdr. Harold Victor William Groos, RCN
22 November 1943 – 10 September 1944
Promoted to Lt.Cdr. on 1 May 1944

A/Lt.Cdr. Ralph Lucien Hennessy, DSC, RCN
11 September 1944 – 29 September 1944

??? in refit ???

A/Lt.Cdr. Geoffrey Huntley Davidson, RCN
10 November 1944 – 14 July 1945

A/Lt.Cdr. Patrick David Budge, DSC, RCN
15 July 1945 – 26 November 1945

 
Former nameHMS Express

Commands listed for HMCS Gatineau (H 61)

Please note that we're still working on this section.

CommanderFromTo
1S.Lt. Philip Whitworth Burnett, RN1 May 194310 Nov 1943
2Ernest Meurice Chadwick, RCN10 Nov 194322 Nov 1943
3Harold Victor William Groos, RCN22 Nov 194310 Sep 1944
4Ralph Lucien Hennessy, RCN11 Sep 194429 Sep 1944

5Geoffrey Huntley Davidson, RCN10 Nov 194414 Jul 1945
6A/Lt.Cdr. Patrick David Budge, DSC, RCN15 Jul 194526 Nov 1945

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Noteable events involving Gatineau include:


6 Mar 1944
After unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port the German submarine U-744 was sunk at 1830hrs on 6 March 1944 in the North Atlantic, in position 52º01'N, 22º37'W, after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. R. Dyer, RN). U-744 was attacked for over 30 hours by depth charges from HMS Icarus, the Canadian frigate HMCS St. Catharines (T/Lt.Cdr. A.F. Pickard, RCNR with Cdr. P.W. Burnett, DSC, RN escort group commander onboard), Canadian corvettes HMCS Fennel (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Moffat, RCNVR), HMCS Chilliwack (T/A/Lt.Cdr. C.R. Coughlin, RCNVR), Canadian destroyers HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN), HMCS Gatineau (A/Lt.Cdr. H.V.W. Groos, RCN) and the British corvette HMS Kenilworth Castle (Lt. J.J.Allon, RNR). (see map)

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