I was at a friends parents friday and we were looking at old picture and i ended up with those photos of a submarine and first explosion in Halifax , and some destroyer that i have no clue about the date ,why ,and who if someone could give me some info on those it would be much appreciated. My friends parents are old and can't remember where they got those pictures so i have to rely on people to help me with those. Thanks
Hi mate Here's the ship in your last pic - HMCS Rockcliffe J355 - Minesweeper HMCS Rockcliffe of the Algerine class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net The link says they were minesweepers by design but they carried no minesweeping gear as they operated as convoy escorts. According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia becky: often a good place to start though): When I first saw the pics of the submarine, it appeared as though she was definitely under escort. I was hesitant to ID her as a Uboat though since that's not my field but you'd have to argue she's U-889. Explosion has me stuffed though. No doubt there's more info out there somewhere.
Thanks for the info as i am new to all of this and searching online as easy as it is for some in my case i am lost but will learn one day at a time . Very interesting about the HMCS Rockcliffe J355 the only thing i didnt like is reading sold for scrap in 1950 but that's me to keep and restore anything even small piece of History . So what you saying is that it could be a U-boot ,incredible ! i will try to research a little more with what you gave me to start with . And as for the explosion behind the pic is written 1st explosion in Halifax July 1945 some mystery here ..... Thanks again Andy i truly appreciated the time you took to research this Frenchy
Hi Frenchy, This may help some of our seafaring experts to establish identidy. Cheers Keith Looking again at the snap, I wonder if this is a U-boat with the Black Flag of surrender hoisted, this was the instruction to all U-boat Commanders from April 30th.1945 prior to the general surrender by Germany 4 days later.
Subs Hi again, Thought the rear gundeck and shielded weapon was unique until I found this picture( The U-Boat Hunters by Anthony Watts). This shows U-288 under rocket ans depth charge attack by HMS Activity and HMS Tracker April 3rd 1944. Could possibly be the later class speed electric type uboat. Cheers Keith Sorry about the press type picture, try squinting your eyes when looking!
Frenchy, your first picture and Keith's picture in post #5 look the same, and both of them look identical to German submarine U889, 13 May 1945. Notice the pattern of the missing paint under the conning tower - identical in all 3 pics
The more i look at the 3 pic the more identical it is the paint as you stated in those 3 pic you are absolutely right .
G'day Frenchy, here's details of the explosion in Halifax. 1945 Halifax Explosion Details of the explosion and some good photos begin 1/3 of the way down here: Albro Lake A good collection of photos of the destruction: The Other Halifax Explosion...Bedford Magazine 1945, Mac's Navy Links a naval photography page. - macsnavylinks.ca
Hi Frenchy ! You said in your first post you thought they were the first explosion .... there was a Halifax Explosion in ww1 - Thursday December 6 1917 ! The Collision CBC - Halifax Explosion
I agree with Kyt that the paint markings on all four photos (the press photo showing such great detail and description) would follow that all are indeed of the U889. Both first 2 sub images show the paint damage on the starboard side.
Hi Kyt. I think I made a lucky guess at the Black Surrender Flag hoisted prior to takeover. If they are as you have said the same craft. Cheers Keith ps, you did realise I hope that post 5 is an enhanced version of the original sepia picture from frenchie.
Hello Liverpool annie ! in the back of the photo somebody ( probably the one who took the photo) wrote the 1st explosion in Halifax july 1945 . All i could find at that time was the one in 1917 but with the help of great people here i know more about them