HMCS Shawinigan
Corvette · Canada · Lost 1944 · The Gulf of St Lawrence
A Canadian corvette lost with all hands to a U-boat torpedo in the Cabot Strait in the closing months of the Battle of the St. Lawrence.
The Vessel and Her Loss
HMCS Shawinigan was a Flower-class corvette that had spent much of the war escorting convoys in the Atlantic and Gulf of St. Lawrence. On November 25, 1944, while on independent anti-submarine patrol in the Cabot Strait after escorting the ferry Burgeo, she was torpedoed by U-1228 and sank with the loss of her entire crew. Her loss was one of the final actions of the Battle of the St. Lawrence.
Vessel
- 1941
- Pennant K136
- George T. Davie & Sons Ltd.
- Lauzon, Quebec, Canada
- Steel
- 205 ft
- 33 ft
- Not established
- Steam, single screw, triple-expansion reciprocating engine
- Royal Canadian Navy
Loss
- November 25, 1944
- Enemy action
- Cabot Strait
- Cabot Strait, Gulf of St. Lawrence
- Sydney, Nova Scotia
- Not established
- 91
- 91
- Lt. William James Jones, RCNR
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 47.57° N 59.18° W
- Approximate position
- Cabot Strait, off Cape Breton
Position from uboat.net loss record, 47°34'N, 59°11'W.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (83/100)
Exact number aboard and wreck condition are not firmly established in the sources reviewed.
Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Navy ship histories
Service history, loss date, cause, and location.
uboat.net Allied Warships database
Loss position, commanding officer, U-boat identity.
