Swansea: The Life and Times of a Frigate

Sidney Allinson is a Victoria-based communications consultant, Canadian
news correspondent for Britain’s The Army Quarterly and Defence, and
the author of Military Archives: International Directory of Military
Publications and The Bantams: The Untold St

One of the most astonishing industrial achievements in Canada was the
massive shipbuilding program during World War II. During those six
desperate years, Canadian shipyards built from scratch an entire
navy—close to 400 ships of various types, including frigates (fast,
heavily armed vessels designed for antisubmarine warfare). McKee
describes the development of this vast construction enterprise, and the
overall role of the Royal Canadian Navy [RCN].

HMCS Swansea took a mere 14 months to build at Yarrow Shipyard in
Victoria, B.C., in 1943. From there she joined the Battle of the
Atlantic with a highly successful combat record followed by a useful
postwar career. The author is himself an RCN veteran who served aboard
frigates in the Atlantic and later became an antisubmarine specialist
with the Naval Reserve. His expertise shows in skilful descriptions of
the weapons, tactics, and command of a frigate—the designated
hunter-killer of U-boats. He also gives attention to the experiences of
several individual Kriegsmarine officers and men, some of whom were
killed or rescued from the sea by the same frigate that sank their
U-boats.

HMCS Swansea participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, escorting
convoys to Britain and helping protect the D-day landing in Normandy;
the frigate was involved in the destruction of four U-boats—more than
any other Canadian ship. We gain clear insight into the daily life
aboard—in peace as well as wartimes—through numerous recollections
by serving officers and men. These personal anecdotes form a vivid and
nostalgic narrative that is supported by many photographs (most of which
have never been published before) depicting crew members, ships, and
naval action. There’s also a touching requiem: after HMCS Swansea was
decommissioned and scrapped in 1967, the ship’s bell ended up tolling
in the belfry of a tiny church at Port Renfrew, B.C., not far from where
she was built.