uboat.net

Allied Warships

HMCS Saguenay (D 79)

Destroyer of the A class

NavyThe Royal Canadian Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassA 
PennantD 79 
Built byThornycroft (Southampton, U.K.) 
Ordered6 Mar, 1928 
Laid down27 Sep, 1929 
Launched11 Jul, 1930 
Commissioned22 May, 1931 
End service30 Jul, 1945 
Loss position
 
HistoryHeavily damaged in a collision 12 miles off Cape Race, Newfoundland on 15 November 1942 with the merchant ship Azara.
She was escorting convoy WB.13 from Wabans to Sydney, Cape Breton Island.

Used as a training ship after being repaired.
Decommissioned 30 July 1945. 


Noteable events involving Saguenay include:

23 Oct, 1939
The British light cruiser HMS Orion (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, RN) and the Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay (Lt.Cdr. G.R. Miles, RCN) intercept the German tanker Emmy Friedrich (4372 GRT) in the Yukatan Strait west of Tampico. When the British light cruiser HMS Caradoc (Capt. E.W.L. Longley-Cook, RN) also arrives on the scene the Germans scuttled their own ship to prevent her capture.

20 Oct, 1940
The British merchant Sulaco is torpedoed and sunk about 360 miles west of Rockall in position 57º25'N, 25º00'W by the German submarine U-124. HMCS Saguenay (Cdr. G.R. Miles, RCN) picks up 1 survivor.

21 Oct, 1940
HMCS Saguenay (Cdr. G.R. Miles, RCN) picks up 29 survivors from the Norwegian merchant Cubano thart was torpedoed and sunk the previous day south-west of Iceland in position 57º55'N, 24º57'W by the German submarine U-124.

1 Dec, 1940
Around 0350 hours on 1 December 1940 the Italian submarine Argo (offsite link) torpedoes and damages the Canadian destroyer HMCS Saguenay (Cdr. G.R. Miles, RCN) about 300 nautical miles west of Ireland in position 54º40'N, 15º50'W. The bow was blown off and 21 of the crew lost their lives in this attack. HMCS Saguenay was escorting convoy HG-47 at the time. Saguenay was out of service for nearly 6 months (repairs were completed on 22 May 1941). (see map)


Return to the Allied Warships section