HMCS Terra Nova

[Jan Steer]

I was drafted on loan to Terra Nova from my RN destroyer for a short time during 73 or 74 whilst we were in Singapore. I remember her so well. It was the best of times for me. The crew were fantastic fellas and they taught me how to play baseball. I was pretty good at it too! I remember that the food was out of this world and much better than our grub. Life onboard seemed so relaxed which came as a welcome change to the big ship routine worked on my own ship. I'll always remember the beer machine in the main drag and the bar in the dining hall, in harbour only of course and the warmth and friendliness of the crew. If I remember correctly we were part of the Vietnam peace-keeping force together with the Poles or is my memory fading?
I was a sparker in the RN and it made a real change to talk to Canadian stations instead of Portishead Radio for the telephone calls. Happy Days!
Good to see that she is still serving the country ---- but as a dive site!
Best regards
Jan

[mike d]

Jan,here are a few pics of Terra Nova that I took while in vacation in Charlottetown,Prince Edward Island.
This would have been about 1995 or so. Enjoy!

[Jan Steer]

Lovely pictures Mike. Thanks a lot!
Jan

[gfed]

I was in Halifax recently and you can still see the old Terrible Nova and Gatineau alongside on the Dartmouth side just past the MacDonald Bridge. She was my first ship after training and I served in her from 86-89. I have many fond memories of the old girl.

[jim7966]

I served in her from 84-87, and have very fond memories. I saw her last week in Dartmouth when I was on holidays. Mixed emotions. Glad to see her, but sad to see what's become of her.

[jim7966]

Here's a picture of the Fraser I took last week. I have a couple of the Terra Nova that I will add as well. I'm experimenting with adding the images as it doesn't want to work very well for me. Sad to see what's become of them.

[jim7966]

Here's a few more. If you look closely at the Terra Nova you can still see the pennant number they had on her when she was in "K-19 The Widowmaker".

[Scatari]

I was drafted on loan to Terra Nova from my RN destroyer for a short time during 73 or 74 whilst we were in Singapore. I remember her so well. It was the best of times for me. The crew were fantastic fellas and they taught me how to play baseball. I was pretty good at it too! I remember that the food was out of this world and much better than our grub. Life onboard seemed so relaxed which came as a welcome change to the big ship routine worked on my own ship. I'll always remember the beer machine in the main drag and the bar in the dining hall, in harbour only of course and the warmth and friendliness of the crew. If I remember correctly we were part of the Vietnam peace-keeping force together with the Poles or is my memory fading?
I was a sparker in the RN and it made a real change to talk to Canadian stations instead of Portishead Radio for the telephone calls. Happy Days!
Good to see that she is still serving the country ---- but as a dive site!
Best regards
Jan

Jan:

An answer five years after your original query!!

Your memory wasn't fading ... Terra Nova deployed to South East Asia in 1973 in support of the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) whose role " ... was to supervise the cease-fire, the withdrawal of troops, the dismantlement of military bases, the activity at ports of entry and the return of captured military personnel and foreign civilians. It was to report on the implementation, or violation, of the Paris Peace Accords (which ended the Vietnam War.)"

She was deployed for six months and was relieved by HMCS Kootenay.

[harry.gibbon]

Well Done for turning up this thread Tim.

I had not read Jan's account of his draft to an RCN Ship, the contents of which I find most interesting.

Question for Jan; were you the RN roving minstrel - ie did you travel complete with guitar and entertain your hosts?

Little h

[flythreestbd]

I was on HMCS Bonaventure in 1969 , we were in Oslo , Norway with HMCS Terra Nova , after touring Oslo and chasing the local girls for a few days , we left , while steaming down the Fjords we were ' attacked' by Norwegian PT boats ,Terra Nova was our escort and we had a rousing 'battle' , dont know the class of the PTs , great fun and no casualties .
She also went to the Persian Gulf with HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Protecteur for the first gulf war , well done Terra Nova .

[Scatari]

Good to see that she is still serving the country ---- but as a dive site!
Best regards
Jan

Oops Jan - just noticed this statement in your original post which I had overlooked before.

She was not in fact one of the "Cadillacs" sunk as a dive site ... she was scrapped in Pictou, Nova Scotia in 2010/2011.

[Brian Wentzell]

Tim: You are correct about the fate of HMCS Terra Nova. However, during the scrapping process at Pictou, NS she sank at the wrecking wharf. Divers were employed in her final cutting up as it was decided she would not be raised. I suppose one could say she had a very brief time as a dive sight!

Brian

[Jan Steer]

Thanks for pointing me back to this thread Tim. No Harry I didn't take my guitar with me but I remember a native american who played. He had a false ear made of plastic. He used to take it out and use it as a plectrum. Of course he used to say that he played by ear!
The Canadians had moved away from sailor suits and into the green uniform at this time and so as not to cause confusion I wore metal corporal stripes on my 8 shirt collar. I've still got them. I had to try and get some pay from somewhere so I went up to Terror pay office. They didnt know what to make of me at first sight! Happy times.

best wishes
Jan

[Scatari]

Tim: You are correct about the fate of HMCS Terra Nova. However, during the scrapping process at Pictou, NS she sank at the wrecking wharf. Divers were employed in her final cutting up as it was decided she would not be raised. I suppose one could say she had a very brief time as a dive sight!

Brian

Nice one Brian!

[Scatari]

Thanks for pointing me back to this thread Tim. No Harry I didn't take my guitar with me but I remember a native american who played. He had a false ear made of plastic. He used to take it out and use it as a plectrum. Of course he used to say that he played by ear!
The Canadians had moved away from sailor suits and into the green uniform at this time and so as not to cause confusion I wore metal corporal stripes on my 8 shirt collar. I've still got them. I had to try and get some pay from somewhere so I went up to Terror pay office. They didnt know what to make of me at first sight! Happy times.

best wishes
Jan

You're most welcome Jan ... even though I've now been a member of the Forum for about seven months, I am still trolling through the multitude of threads and finding ones of interest to which I feel I can contribute something!

I can well appreciate the confusion on the part of Terror's pay staff - the dreaded "greens" had only been around for a few years by then and were still causing confusion amongst many of our allied navies!

To anyone who may read this thread ... PLEASE don't feel the need to start discussing the green uniforms!!! That very emotional issue has been done to death many times over!

[Blackfly]

The Navy wore green uniforms?

[Scatari]

The Navy wore green uniforms?

Blackfly:

Not sure whether your query is tongue in cheek or not ... but just in case it wasn't, the answer is "Yes" ... from 1968-1986.

Quote from Wikipedia:

"Shortly following unification (1968), the service-specific uniforms (navy blue, khaki, and light blue) were abandoned in favour of the Canadian Forces rifle green ... commonly referred to as "CFs" or "CF greens".

And, if I may be forgiven for repeating my previous request at my post #15 above:

"To anyone who may read this thread ... PLEASE don't feel the need to start discussing the green uniforms!!! That very emotional issue has been done to death many times over!"

[Geoff H.]

Tim, can I assume your Navy is now back in a more suitable shade of blue
post 1986.

Geoff

[Scatari]

Tim, can I assume your Navy is now back in a more suitable shade of blue
post 1986.

Geoff

Geoff:

Yes we are.

[Paulboy]

Hi Jan,

We are having a 40 year reunion on April 06, 2013 in Victoria for the ships crew for Westploy 73. You can get a hold of me via email at
paullegacy@shaw.ca
Cheers