Senators’ Statements - U-Boat Attacks on Bell Island

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak about the seventy-fifth anniversary of the U-boat attacks that occurred on the stores of Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1942.

This past Saturday, September 16, the people of Bell Island and indeed the people of Newfoundland and Labrador commemorated the seventy-fifth anniversary of these attacks. I had the honour to be invited to speak at this commemoration.

Bell Island, where iron ore was mined, supplied one third of Canada’s raw material for steel necessary for the allied war effort. Bell Island was one of the few locations in North America that German forces directly attacked during the Second World War. Indeed, at the end of the war in 1945, a U-boat surrendered at Bay Bulls, on the outskirts of St. John’s, and an iron chain that protected the entrance to St. John’s Harbour was lowered and eventually removed.

The attacks demonstrated the extreme vulnerability of the Dominion of Newfoundland to enemy attack. In all, 69 men, merchant mariners and members of the Royal Navy, died in Conception Bay near St. John’s when the steamships, fully loaded with iron ore, were torpedoed and sunk.

On September 5, the SS Saganaga, with Merchant Navy and Royal Navy sailors on board, was hit by two stern torpedoes from a U-boat, U-513. It sank in three minutes with a loss of 29 men. The crew of the SS Lord Strathcona witnessed the attack, and the 44 men on board immediately prepared to abandon ship. After being struck by two bow torpedoes, the Lord Strathcona went down in only 90 seconds.

The second attack was carried out less than two months later, on November 2, 1942, by German U-boat U-518. The SS Rose Castle, a Canadian steamship out of Halifax carrying 43 men, was first to be targeted.

The ship had come across a U-boat just two weeks prior when it was struck by a dud torpedo that did no damage, but on this occasion the SS Rose Castle was struck by two torpedoes, and 28 men lost their lives. The third torpedo fired by German U-boat U-518 struck and sank the P.L.M. 27, and along with it 12 more men died.

On the night of that second attack, Bell Island became the only location in North America to suffer damage as a result of a U-boat attack. The first torpedo fired by U-518 was aimed at the Anna T, but when it missed its mark, it struck the Scotia Pier, destroying it completely.

Bell Islanders recognize the losses suffered during these attacks as part of the annual Battle of the Atlantic Commemorative Ceremony in May. However, on this, the seventy-fifth anniversary, a special commemoration was held.

Colleagues, this event provided Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and all Canadians with an opportunity to reflect on the achievements and sacrifices of those who served during the Second World War and to tie their sacrifices to the peace and freedom we enjoy today.

We must preserve the memory of all those who lost their lives simply by doing what they felt was their duty without any regard for the incredible risks they faced. However, in honouring those who lost their lives and those injured, as we always have and as we do today, we must never forget their sacrifice.