HMCS Athabascan

[chris vickery]

On Warstories the other night on Global, the story of the sinking of this magnificent ship off the coast of France, April 29, 1944.
For those of you who may not of seen the episode, a group of divers located and dove on the wreckage to try and bring some light to the mysterious sinking.
Apparently she was hit by a german torpedo and a fire broke out. Some reports say that a second torpedo was what sunk her, the official report indicated that the fire ignited stored explosives down below. The story of the second torpedo inplicated Royal Navy MTB 677 accidently firing on the wrong ship. This was never proven and totally denied.
The group of divers included the grandson of the ships captain who is missing presumed dead. He placed a plaque on the hull in honour of the victims.
HMCS Haida picked up as many survivors as possible before being chased out by the germans who picked up the remainder, and of course made the into POWs for the duration.
It was an excellent story and hope it come on again for those who missed it. There are plans for future research and dives on the sight to gather more information....