Canada's Naval History

Second World War
Battle of the Atlantic - Lost at Sea: HMCS St. Croix

In September 1943, in a battle surrounding two convoys in the North Atlantic, German submarines sank the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Croix and eight other Allied warships and merchant vessels. The loss of St. Croix, like the loss of many Canadian ships during the battle of the Atlantic was felt across the country.

"Canadian Destroyer Sunk", HMCS St. Croix

The loss of HMCS St. Croix and all but one of the ship's crew was headline news in Canadian newspapers like the Toronto Daily Star.

These clipped newspaper headlines, placed carefully in the album, mark the death of Lieutenant Alex Ross and the sinking of the St. Croix, starkly capturing the scale of a loss that was both personal and shared. While Alex Ross and some 80 other crew had initially been rescued by the British frigate HMS Itchen after 13 hours in the water, only one Canadian, Stoker William Fisher, survived when Itchen was itself torpedoed. St. Croix's loss was felt nationwide because the crew, as on many Canadian ships, was drawn from across the country.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19800567-001_p29