Brian Mackie
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Brian Mackie
@brianmackie.bsky.social
680 followers 260 following 240 posts
WW2 Clyde history. HMCS Niobe / Royal Canadian Navy. Greenock Morton / In the Community. Slava Ukraini!
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brianmackie.bsky.social
Marc Milner's book that @axe99.bsky.social refers to is for me the single best book on the WW2 Atlantic war. Most convoys were mixed, few if any were just US. Most escorts by RCN and RN, many countries involved. US added carrier hunter groups in 1943. Admiral King primarily focused on the Pacific.
November 29, 2025 at 12:53 PM
brianmackie.bsky.social
This is a picture of HMCS Saguenay back in St John's
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brianmackie.bsky.social Brian Mackie @brianmackie.bsky.social · Nov 9
The St John’s dockyard, owned by the Newfoundland Railway Corp, worked 7 days a week from 1940-45 and recorded no less than 1,312 ships repaired and upgraded over that time. Ships with torpedo, collision or weather damage were a common sight in harbour.

10/13
Crew members from the Destroyer HMCS Saguenay stand amidships in harbour in St John's, Newfoundland on November 18, 1942. They are looking at what would be the aft section of their ship, which has been sheared off. The ship is miraculously still afloat. HMCS Saguenay had been rammed in bad weather by the merchantman SS Ezra, and the ship's stern was lost when her depth charges exploded.
November 15, 2025 at 12:04 PM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Thanks so much, Neil! I just heard from Kory at the archive also. Will pursue those references with great interest - very much appreciated.
November 10, 2025 at 5:26 PM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Actually, no! Thanks so much for that - I will follow up with the archivists.
November 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Locally knowledgeable, at least! I did visit the Maritime History Archive, the staff person there (Kory Penney) was very helpful. Next time, I would love to come back and will continue to research the links between the WW2 Atlantic convoy ports.
November 9, 2025 at 6:36 PM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Thanks Neil - means a lot coming from a local! Older pics are from the Memorial Maritime Archive and The Rooms 'censored' archive. Staff very helpful with research. Visit was earlier this year. Love the old stories, I encountered 2 or 3 pieces of the old net on display while touring around!
November 9, 2025 at 2:49 PM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Those were likely on Signal Hill. All the US equipment was removed after the war so only pictures remain, sadly.
November 9, 2025 at 4:39 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Wow! I understand that they were 40 years old when they arrived in Newfoundland. Functional then, certainly not now, although hard to look after in that climate.
November 9, 2025 at 3:08 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
St John’s is now a city of just over 100,000 people. It was less than half that size in the 1940s. Yet it was a favoured destination for sailors, who were well catered-for by a population who knew what it was to go to sea. And the locals are still just as welcoming – visit if you can!

13/End
St John's and the harbour viewed from Signal Hill, in the present day. It is a warm summer's day, and the water of the harbour is deep blue and calm. A tourist ship is visible moored in the centre of the harbour, with the town rising on the hillside behind it. Canadian coastguard ships are visible on the left side of the harbour.
November 9, 2025 at 2:47 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
The U-190’s periscope and items from the ship are preserved at the Crow’s Nest, a St John’s club established in January 1942 for seagoing Naval officers, that is unchanged to this day. The wall decorations, original to wartime, tell stories that only such artifacts can.

12/13
The periscope of the surrendered U-190, fixed in one corner of the Crow's Nest Officers club in St John's Newfoundland. The periscope can still be used to view above the building. Behind it is a cabinet full of artifacts from U-190. The Periscope is fixed to the floor and extends fifteen feet up to the ceiling and beyond, with brass control handles and an eyepiece at shoulder height. A view of the Crow's Nest Officers Club in St John's Newfoundland. Unchanged since it opened in 1942, the walls are covered in wartime artifacts, including many copies of gunshield art from Canadian corvettes and destroyers. In the foreground, a barber pole memento from the Canadian barber pole C3 and C5 escort groups is visible. At the rear of the picture is a bar, out of picture is a central seating area and fireplace.
November 9, 2025 at 2:43 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
Hundreds of convoys, each a battle in and of itself, were escorted from St John’s, primarily by the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Navy. At war’s end, one of their tormentors, U-190, was surrendered and brought into port.

11/13
A German U-boat, U-190, floats in the centre of St John's harbour in May 1945, surrounded by multiple small craft. Men are seen on the deck and in the conning tower. Others are rowing out to visit the ship. The buildings of the town of St John's are visible in the background, on a cloudy day, but where the sun is nevertheless trying to break through the clouds and partially lights up the water. Allied Naval officers and men on the conning tower of U-190, St John's Harbour, May 1945. A British Naval Jack is flying above the Nazi flag of the surrendered U-Boat. A sailor stands atop the conning tower and holds the end of the British flag, making sure it dominates the smaller German flag below for the picture. Ten officers and men look on from the conning tower.
November 9, 2025 at 2:35 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
The St John’s dockyard, owned by the Newfoundland Railway Corp, worked 7 days a week from 1940-45 and recorded no less than 1,312 ships repaired and upgraded over that time. Ships with torpedo, collision or weather damage were a common sight in harbour.

10/13
Crew members from the Destroyer HMCS Saguenay stand amidships in harbour in St John's, Newfoundland on November 18, 1942. They are looking at what would be the aft section of their ship, which has been sheared off. The ship is miraculously still afloat. HMCS Saguenay had been rammed in bad weather by the merchantman SS Ezra, and the ship's stern was lost when her depth charges exploded.
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
On March 4, 1942, U-587 attacked the old steamer ‘Terra Nova’, as the ship was leaving St John’s. One torpedo exploded below Fort Amherst’s gun battery, another was caught in the torpedo nets. A sunken ship would have caused severe problems to harbour access.

9/13
St John's from the air in wartime, viewed from above the entrance to the Narrows. Multiple ships are viewed at anchor in the harbour, and the building of the town are viewed rising from the shore on the far side of the harbour. Staggered torpedo nets are visible on both sides of the entry channel.
November 9, 2025 at 2:21 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
The Newfoundland Escort Force was assigned to the western North Atlantic, handing convoys over to escorts based at Londonderry, Northern Ireland in mid-ocean. Both bases were disconnected from the mainland and were smaller in scale than major ports. But they were ideal as convoy escort hubs.

8/13
River Class Frigate HMCS Montreal (K319) moored up in St John's in 1944, alongside other Canadian and Royal Navy small escort ships. A snowstorm is blowing, and the ship is partially obscured by falling snow. A forward 4-inch gun is visible, as is the central control tower and pennant number painted on the side of the ship. Royal Canadian Navy minesweepers moored alongside each other in St John's harbour. Four ships are visible moored side-by-side, including HMCS Milltown (J317) and HMCS Sault Ste Marie (J334). The Sault Ste Marie sits higher in the water and is a larger Algerine class minesweeper, the Milltown and two other ships are smaller Bangor class minesweepers. The Bangor class was primarily for coastal defence and was not designed for ocean-going escort duties. The Algerine class minesweepers were built to handle magnetic and acoustic mines and were equipped with more anti-submarine weapons, and were designed to be used in Arctic waters. Four inch guns are visible towards the bow of each ship, and a covered control tower is also visible on each. The smoke stack of the Sault Ste Marie is roughly 10-15 feet higher than that of the smaller vessels.
November 9, 2025 at 2:18 AM
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Concrete underground gun emplacements were built at Cape Spear, Newfoundland, with 10-inch naval guns in operation by January 1942. The site can be visited today and is reminiscent of similar, and perhaps more familiar, gun emplacements in north-west Europe.

7/13
A concrete underground bunker, excavated from within a hillside, viewed in the present day. The entrance has a large concrete overhang and is about twenty feet wide. Immediately outside, a large concrete circular bunker with steps all the way around leads down to the gun position of a 10-inch cannon. The gun barrel is rusting but still in place. The elevation mechanism has been removed. An underground corridor of the Cape Spear gun battery. The corridor is square, about eight feet wide and eight feet high. The walls, floor and ceiling are made entirely of smooth concrete. Along the corridor is the ammunition storage room, where 10 inch shells were stored in wartime. On the walls are wartime posters depicting soldiers, the Union flag and approaching aeroplanes and ships. The posters are headlined "Canada On Guard", "Defending Our Coast" and "Let 'Em Have It!" in both English and French.
November 9, 2025 at 2:01 AM
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Fort Cape Spear was first manned in June 1941, the same month that the Royal Canadian Navy based its ‘Newfoundland Escort Force’ at St John’s. The men of the 103rd Nova Scotia Coastal Battery staffed the fort, in all weathers, right through to the end of the war in 1945.

6/13
A soldier of the 103rd Nova Scotia coastal battery stands to attention as he guards a barrack building. The solider is wearing a white snow suit and carrying a pack, rifle and wearing a Canadian army helmet. Behind him, the building is half-hidden by a snow bank that is several feet high. Even the entrance to the building is semi-obscured by accumulated snow. Men of the 103rd Nova Scotia Coastal battery stand on parade. 25 men are visible (the unit stationed up to 300 men at any one time). They are smartly turned out, wearing khaki uniforms, carrying rifles and wearing army helmets. There is no snow visible. Behind them are two of the surface barrack buildings of the fort.
November 9, 2025 at 1:52 AM
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Beyond Fort Amherst is Cape Spear, the easterly-most point of North America. Just a 20-minute drive from St John’s, the lighthouse there has served as a directional beacon since 1836.

5/13
Cape Spear, pictured in the present day from the cliffs looking out to sea, in a panoramic view. The ground is barren and rocky. Towards the left of the picture is a lighthouse that has been in use for almost 200 years, guiding shipping into St John's. Beyond the cliffs is the grey-blue Atlantic Ocean, dominating all before it. The sky is blue but with frequent clouds providing shadow on the water.
November 9, 2025 at 1:45 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
The Narrows’ entrance was protected during the war by a US garrison on Signal Hill, now demolished, and by Fort Amherst, still visible today. The Fort, manned by Canadian Forces, featured two 4.7-inch guns, fired on several occasions to ward off merchant ships giving incorrect signals.

4/13
The entrance to the Narrows, taken from the East side above Fort Amherst, in the present day. The concrete buildings of the Fort are in a dilapidated state but still visible, and command the entrance way. The vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the entranceway, dominates the picture. Fort Amherst, viewed from the water looking up. The fort is situated above 40 feet of rocky cliffs. 1940s concrete buildings are constructed on areas that have clearly been flattened out from the cliffs for the purpose of construction. At the top, a lighthouse, still in operation, guides shipping. Above, thin foliage covers the rocky hills.
November 9, 2025 at 1:40 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
The 11-metre depth of the Narrows was created through wartime excavation of the submerged Merlin Rock, first reduced in the 19th century. The channel already required skill and care in large-ship piloting. The addition of multiple torpedo nets necessitated greater depth for safe passage.

3/13
A view of the St John's Narrows during the WW2 years from above. Three sets of torpedo nets are visible towards both the left and right side of the channel, making direct passage through impossible. Chain Rock, marking the narrowest point at 200 feet wide, is visible in the centre of the picture, with the rock about 15 feet out from steep coastal cliffs. Military and other buildings are visible. Snow is on the ground, covering flat surfaces and creating some ice in the water.
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
The St John’s harbour Narrows, just 61 metres (200 feet) wide and 11 metres (36 feet) deep, lead straight out into the North Atlantic. Ships in a storm report an immediate calm upon entering the Narrows, and the exact reverse when leaving.

2/13
A geographical map of the St John's harbour. The Narrows lead in from the bottom right corner of the map, with the harbour opening up from the centre of the diagram over to the left, in the shape of sideways cone. To the right of the entrance to the Narrows is Signal Hill, a well-known high-point, local landmark and Canadian national historical site. On the left of the entrance to the Narrows are the sparsely-populated Southside Hills. At the top right of the diagram is Quidi Vidi Lake, a local beauty spot and centre for outdoor water sports.
November 9, 2025 at 1:27 AM
brianmackie.bsky.social
OK, thanks Vince. Will be one to look out for. Maybe in RAF archives somewhere.
November 3, 2025 at 1:13 PM