Allied Warships

HMCS Kootenay (H 75)

Destroyer of the D class


Photo from Imperial War Museum (IWM), FL-11211

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassD 
PennantH 75 
Built byThornycroft (Southampton, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down25 Jun 1931 
Launched7 Jun 1932 
Commissioned12 Apr 1943 
End service26 Oct 1945 
History

Transferred from the Royal Navy on 12 April 1943.
Decommissioned 26 October 1945.
Scrapped in January 1946.

 
Former nameHMS Decoy

Commands listed for HMCS Kootenay (H 75)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1A/Lt.Cdr. Kenneth Lloyd Dyer, DSC, RCN14 Apr 194328 Mar 1944
2A/Lt.Cdr. William Herbert Willson, RCN29 Mar 194426 Oct 1945

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Notable events involving Kootenay include:


20 May 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. K.L. Dyer, DSC, RCN). (1)

22 May 1943
HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. K.L. Dyer, RCN) picks up 19 survivors from the Norwegian tanker Sandanger that was torpedoed and sunk on 12 May 1943 in the North Atlantic in position 46°00'N, 21°00'W by German U-boat U-221.

9 Jun 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. K.L. Dyer, DSC, RCN), HMCS Ottawa (Cdr. H.F. Pullen, OBE, RCN), HMS Dianthus (T/A/Lt.Cdr. N.F. Israel, RNR), HMCS Arvida (T/Lt. D.G. King, RCNVR), HMCS Rosthern (T/Lt. R.J.G. Johnson, RCNVR) and HMCS Wetaskiwin (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J.R. Kidston, RCNVR). (2)

10 Jun 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. K.L. Dyer, DSC, RCN), HMCS Rosthern (T/Lt. R.J.G. Johnson, RCNVR) and USS Broome. (2)

15 Jul 1943
HMS H 32 (Lt. J.A.R. Troup, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. K.L. Dyer, DSC, RCN), HMCS Ottawa (Cdr. H.F. Pullen, OBE, RCN) and HMS Egret. (3)

23 Aug 1943
HMS H 28 (Lt. E.C. Croswell, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMCS Ottawa (Cdr. H.F. Pullen, OBE, RCN), HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. K.L. Dyer, DSC, RCN) and HMCS Kitchener (T/A/Lt.Cdr. W. Evans, RCNVR). (4)

25 Apr 1944
HMS Safari (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted attack exercises for the C.O.Q.C. (Commanding Officers Qualifying Course) in the Clyde area during which HMS Braithwaite (Lt.Cdr. E.M. Mackay, RD, RNR) and HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, RCN) served as the targets. (5)

26 Apr 1944
HMS Safari (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted attack exercises for the C.O.Q.C. (Commanding Officers Qualifying Course) in the Clyde area during which HMS Braithwaite (Lt.Cdr. E.M. Mackay, RD, RNR) and HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, RCN) served as the targets. These included night exercises. (5)

27 Apr 1944
HMS Safari (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted night attack exercises for the C.O.Q.C. (Commanding Officers Qualifying Course) in the Clyde area during which HMS Braithwaite (Lt.Cdr. E.M. Mackay, RD, RNR) and HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, RCN) served as the targets. Upon completion of these exercises HMS Safari returned to Rothesay. (5)

7 Jul 1944
German U-boat U-678 was sunk in the English Channel south-west of Brighton, in position 50°32'N, 00°23'W, by depth charges from the Canadian destroyers HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Kootenay and the British corvette HMS Statice.

30 Jul 1944

Operation Kinetic.

This operation was an anti-shipping sweep off the French west coast against enemy shipping / convoys.

Around 1830B/30, 'Force 26' departed Plymouth for this operation. It was made up of the light cruisers HMS Diadem (Capt. E.G.A. Clifford, RN, flying the flag of flying the flag of Rear-Admiral F.H.G. Dalrymple-Hamilton, CB, RN), HMS Bellona (Capt. C.F.W. Norris, RN) and the destroyers HMS Tartar (Cdr. B. Jones, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Ashanti (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Barnes, RN), HMCS Haida (Capt. H.G. De Wolf, DSO, RCN), HMCS Huron (Cdr. H.S. Rayner, DSC, RCN), ORP Blyscawica (Kmdr.por. (Cdr.) K.F. Namiesniowski) and ORP Piorun (Kmdr.ppor. (Cdr.) T. Gorazdowski).

Air cover for the operation was provided by the escort carrier HMS Striker (Capt. W.P. Carne, RN) which was escorted by the destroyers HMCS St. Laurent (Lt.Cdr. A.G. Boulton, RCNVR), HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN) and HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, RCN). These ships departed Plymouth at the same time as Force 26.

Further air cover was provided by RAF Beaufighters and Mosquitos from 10 Group.

Around 2200B/31, Force 26 and the air cover group reached position 46°35'N, 04°30'W. Force 26 then proceeded towards position 46°45'N, 02°42'W, thence carrying out sweeps northwest and southwest along the enemy shipping route.

HMS Striker and her three escorting destroyers remained to the westward of position 46°13'N, 04°00'W. Force 26 rejoined them around 0730B/1.

Late in the morning / early in the afternoon ORP Blyscawica fuelled from HMS Striker. She then set course to proceed to Plymouth where she arrived around 1100B/2.

Around 2100B/1, Force 26 parted company with the air cover force to conduct another night sweep along the enemy shipping routes. They rejoined the cover force again around 0650B/2.

Around 1245B/2, HMS Bellona parted company with the remained of the force which then set course to return to Plymouth where they arrived the following morning around 0715B/3.

HMS Bellona proceeded to patrol to the north-north-east of Cape Finisterre. She returned to Plymouth around 0030B/4. (6)

18 Aug 1944
German U-boat U-621 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay near La Rochelle, in position 45°52'N, 02°36'W, by depth charges from the Canadian destroyers HMCS Ottawa (Cdr. J.D. Prentice, DSO, RCN), HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, RCN) and HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN).

20 Aug 1944
The depth charge attacks made by the Canadian destroyers HMCS Ottawa (Cdr. J.D. Prentice, DSO, RCN), HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, RCN) and HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN) in the Bay of Biscay west of Brest, in position 48°16'N, 05°33'W, were earlier credited with the destruction of the German U-boat U-984, but were carried out against a nonsub target.

18 Apr 1945
HMS Volatile (Lt. F.R. Lawrence, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Tobermory with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, DSC, RCN), HMS Black Swan (Lt.Cdr. A.D.C. Inglis, RN), HMS Stork (Lt.Cdr. D.E. Mansfield, DSC, RN) and another vessel [unable to read the name in the logbook of Volatile]. (7)

24 Apr 1945
HMS Volatile (Lt. F.R. Lawrence, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Tobermory with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, DSC, RCN) and HMS Black Swan (Lt.Cdr. A.D.C. Inglis, RN). (7)

25 Apr 1945
HMS Volatile (Lt. F.R. Lawrence, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Tobermory with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, DSC, RCN) and HMS Black Swan (Lt.Cdr. A.D.C. Inglis, RN). (7)

28 Apr 1945
HMS Universal (Lt. S.S. Brooks, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Loch Alsh with HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, DSC, RCN) and HMCS Saskatchewan (A/Lt.Cdr. T.C. Pullen, RCN). (8)

1 May 1945
HMS Volatile (Lt. F.R. Lawrence, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Tobermory with HMCS Assiniboine (Cdr.(Retd.) E.L. Armstrong, RCN), HMCS Kootenay (A/Lt.Cdr. W.H. Willson, DSC, RCN), HMCS Saskatchewan (A/Lt.Cdr. T.C. Pullen, RCN) and HMCS Gatineau (A/Lt.Cdr. G.H. Davidson, RCN). (9)

Media links


Destroyers of World War Two

Whitley, M. J.

Sources

  1. ADM 173/17782
  2. ADM 173/17783
  3. ADM 173/17772
  4. ADM 173/17761
  5. ADM 173/18620
  6. ADM 53/118976 + ADM 53/118977 + ADM 53/119264 + ADM 53/119265 + ADM 53/120561 + ADM 53/120562 + ADM 199/1394
  7. ADM 173/20331
  8. ADM 173/20127
  9. ADM 173/20332

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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