Originally
laid down as HMCS IROQUOIS, the ship sustained bomb damage while under
construction resulting in the change of her name. Once operational, ATHABASKAN
was plagued with mishaps. She was involved in two minor collisions, then
hit by a glider bomb in the Bay of Biscay in August 1943. On April 29 1944,
the ship was hit by a torpedo from T-24, a German Ebling class destroyer.
This in itself was not sufficient to sink the ship. There was a second
explosion which mortally wounded ATHABASKAN.
Bruce Kettles has devoted a Web page to his uncle Stuart Kettles
who served aboard ATHABASKAN and was taken POW by the Germans. Read the
diary
kept by Stuart Kettles during his internment.
Originally
laid down as HMCS IROQUOIS, the ship sustained bomb damage while under
construction resulting in the change of her name. Once operational, ATHABASKAN
was plagued with mishaps. She was involved in two minor collisions, then
hit by a glider bomb in the Bay of Biscay in August 1943. On April 29 1944,
the ship was hit by a torpedo from T-24, a German Ebling class destroyer.
This in itself was not sufficient to sink the ship. There was a second
explosion which mortally wounded ATHABASKAN.