RCN in Cuban Blockade

[Old Seaman]

Hi there,
I already posted this request in "SHIPS PHOTO REQUEST" thread, but nobody yet replied me. I am looking for the picture of a Soviet trawler "Shkval". She was followed by RCN ships and aircrafts at that time. Below is an extract from the USN magazine with a reference to that period.

Meanwhile in the Atlantic,
U.S. and Canadian forces continued
to monitor Soviet surface
ship and submarine
movements. Canadian planes
located the Soviet intelligence
trawler Shkval about 500
miles southwest of Argentia,
Newfoundland, just to the
east of the sub-air barrier.
The Royal Canadian Navy
frigate HMCS Inch Arran
soon shadowed the trawler.

Does anybody from HMCS Inch Arran remember that case? Any photo please.
The full story is here: http://www.history.navy.mil/download...c/cmc44-46.pdf

Regards,
Serge.

[Brian Wentzell]

Serge:

The definitive Canadian book on the Cuban Missile Crisis was written by Cdr (Ret'd) Peter T. Haydon some years ago. I have the book hiding from present sight and once I find it I will trawl the pages to see if this event is explained or if there are pictures to refer to.

Brian

[Brian Wentzell]

Serge: I did review Peter Haydon's book and there is no reference therein to the incident that you mention. It is entirely possible that HMCS Inch Arran, a Prestonian Class frigate, did closely track one or more Soviet trawlers as it was known that the Soviet Navy used fishing fleet vessels for intelligence and logistics support. The Royal Canadian Navy took the Cuban Missile Crisis very seriously and watched all Soviet military and civilian vessels very closely.

Brian

[truenorth51]

Serge,

With respect to your request for information regarding the former Soviet naval trawler Shkval, which HMCS Inch Arran (incidentally, one of the RCN warships, River Class Frigate, that my father served in during WW2, prior to its conversion to and recommissioning as an RCN Prestonian Class Frigate in 1954) shadowed during the October 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis. After some sleuthing and trusting that this information is accurrate, I've determined the following for you:

Shkval (Soviet "pennant" T-282) was transferred to/acquired by the Soviet Navy on 20 May, 1945 from U.S.Navy, under the immediate post-war Lend-Lease program between the two countries, having served as USS Rampart (AM-282), an Admirable Class Minesweeper, originally launched and commissioned on 18 November, 1944 at the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp. yard in Chicksaw, AB. The Soviet's converted this vessel to a naval trawler in 1948, renaming her Shkval at that time. She was stricken in 1964, never having been returned to U.S. Navy custody, due obviously to the Cold War relations at that time.
While Shkval's ultimate fate still remains unknown, interestingly, while still unaware of the ship's fate, the U.S Navy reclassified her as MSF-282 on 7 February, 1955 and she remained on the American Naval Vessel Register until her name (USS Rampart) was stricken on 1 January, 1983.

While I was unable to find an exact photograph of USS Rampart/Shkval, the attached is a representative photo of a U.S Navy Admirable Class Minesweeper.

I trust that this information, again as accurate as I've been able to determine of useful and of interest to you.


Regards

[truenorth51]

Apologies.... I neglected to attached the representative photo of the Admirable Class Minesweeper per my previous post.

Hopefully, it's attached here

[Old Seaman]

Thanks to everybody who answered me in this topic.
I know it for sure that at the beginning of 60-s Russian AGIs carried false names in order to make their classification and recognition more difficult. You know this case with trawler VEGA in 1960 shaddowing USS G. Washington during her POLARIS test launching. In fact it was AGI KRENOMETR (50 years ago). I think that SHKVAL might be of OKEAN class as well.
Thank you and best regards,
Serge.

[Brian Wentzell]

Serge:

I have been doing some further digging on the Shkval. From available USN and Canadian documents on the web and a close reading of Peter Haydon's book on the Canadian Navy's role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, I am reasonably sure Shkval was an Okean Class intelligence collector. Her real name remains unknown but she was in the Canadian operating area in early November 1962 until she sailed in the middle of that month to the northeast. Her support vessel was the Atlantika which provided fuel on one occasion within the Canadian operating area.

She was shadowed throughout by a frigate (Prestonian Class, perhaps HMCS Inch Arran). Shkval transited the operating areas of the 7th and 9th Escort Squadrons (all ships were Prestonian Class ships) and the Bonaventure Carrier Group (HMCS Bonaventure and three Restigouche Class destroyer escorts).

Regards,
Brian