Tall Ships, Spies & Torpodoes
How are Tall Ships and Saint Lucia connected to Canadian Naval history?
One of the more dramatic events in Saint Lucia’s history occurred on March 10, 1942 in Castries harbour. The story starts three years earlier………………………….
In May 1939 the tall ship Gorch Fock, a German naval training ship, visited the Saint Lucian port of Castries. The ship’s company of 200 were welcomed by friendly Saint Lucians eager to show off their beautiful island. Unfortunately Saint Lucian officials were not aware of their true agenda. The German officers and trainees were not just interested in photographing the iconic Pitons, they had a plan to carefully document military and naval installations.
The editor of The Voice newspaper made a rather ominous predication regarding the motives of the German sailors aboard the Gorch Fock.
“𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘪 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 1940 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘷𝘺… 𝘐𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴; 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘦, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦, 𝘓𝘢 𝘛𝘰𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘴… 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘧 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 1𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸’𝘴 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥?”
Gorch Fock painting by Hesekiel – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
Unfortunately the editor’s grave concerns were justified. One of the trainee officers from the Gorch Fock, Albrecht Achilles, returned to Saint Lucia three years later as Captain of U-161, one of the two German submarines that entered Castries Harbour in the early hours of March 10, 1942. At 4:49 two torpedoes were fired. The first hit Canadian-registered ship RMS Lady Nelson and the second hit SS Umtata. Both ships were sunk and twenty-nine lives, including 7 dock workers were lost. Both vessels were later salvaged and repaired.
The Lady Nelson was converted to a Royal Canadian Navy hospital ship in April 1943. A Saint Lucia commemorative stamp shows the Lady Nelson with her WWII hospital ship livery.
