Evening star., 1943-03-17
CorveHes Find Winter
On North Atlantic as
Cruel a Foe as Subs
Vessels Bridges Have
Foot Of Ice on Them
When They Return
BY 1T. COMDR. GEORGE A..
LAWRENCE. r. c. n. v.R.

OTTAWA, March lon Can
ada's eastern seaboard two wars are
being fought today. One is the
smashing Of the U-boat campaign.
the other is against an enemy of
our ships Just as bitter and unre-
lenting-North Atlantic winter.
The men who take the ROYAL
Canadian Navy's ships to sea know
every trip means action-if not with
U-boats then against storm, winds,
ice and 40-foot waves. Sometimes
they face both enemies at once.
That their active service is a role
OF action is indicated by the terse
meteorological service statement
that storms of unusual frequency
and severity" have swept the North
Atlantic this season.
In terms of the daily life of men
| this means hardship and, perhaps,
suffering: it means cold meals and
soaking, cold clothes; it means NOV
ing inch by inch on deck along the
course Of hfellnes where bowling
gales drive words back down mans
throat; 1t means sleepless nights
and grave responsibilities. 1t means.
too, the deep-felt satisfaction of
| whipping the enemy on his own
ground. But let seaman tell it - =
Describes Christmas at Sea.
He begins with an apology. 1T
ho
that's lie-it is worse than I could
ever describe in words. But it isn't
bad for us because we've been fight
ing out there for months and we're
hard and healthy and know the 10Y
a fighter has in licking a bully. We
hate 1T and we curse the ice and
storm, but we love it and We love
our ships. But you want to know
what happens out there.
Did you have good Christmas?
We spent ours in gale off Iceland
Cooking was impossible. We had
bully beef sandwiches and we
washed them down with cold water.
The decks were leaking and
every one was wet. 1t was freezing
above, and below every one was
trying to find dry corner to steam
out his wet clothes But that wasn't
bad. Take the last storm, for in
stance
L went up on deck when there
was a gale wind. They said off,
cially it went up to so and 70
miles an hour sometimes. We were
in the Arctic current that sweeps
down from Greenland's icecape It
was cold, bitter cold for the sea = =.
Spray Freezes in Air.
you know how the novelists
speak romantically of the spindrift,
the salt spray that whips down
from the bow along the ship? 1t
was arriving as ice, cutting and
burning the skin. giving a funny
sound effect on our upper works.
Our ships began to ice up.
You've been in car when it was
icing up? You've seen the windshield,
tenders, hood, every part covered
with pebbly layer of ice? That's
what it's like. Except that the glass
plates on our bridge, that might be
compared to the windshield of a
car, had foot of ice on them when
We made harbor.
That's when you hang on to the
lifelines. when the waves toss 40
feet, and you watch for green water
spilling solidly over your decks.
After 36 hours of icing we were
in dangerous shape. We had ice
right up to the crows nest. The
flimsy signal halyards were half
foot thick, like huge bakers rolls.
Our ship began to list. After one
roll she didn't come back for SO
long some of us were saying prayers,
to ourselves.
Working Under Water.
"Of course all hands were called to
clear ice long before this. Every
croWbar. fire ak and shovel aboard
was in use, But the working condi-
tions were appalling.
THE wind was so strong you
couldn't breathe. The temperature
at sea is always modified by the
water, and it was l6 to 18 degrees
below zero. With the wind and the
wet you could work only three or
four minutes at a time. And, of
course, the worst icing was to wind
ward, the list was to WindWard and
the heaviest rolls were to windward
all Of which meant we were
working in the teeth Of the gale, and
the Ice we were trying to chop was
under water most of the time.
It's funny how ice affects ships
Their noses get heavy. A destroyer,
now, is narrow, just few feet wide.
but hundred yards long. A cor
vette is stubby and wide. So the
corvette keeps taking longer rolls
and hanging over on her side as if
She'd never come back, and she bobs
like a cork without much speed on.
Men Proud Of Work.
when she logs down with ice
up either Her nose gets down In
the water, heavy, and the combers
come breaking up over the bridge
like surf"
But in spite of storm and danger
| from ice their captains proudly
/ declare North Atlantic convoy
/ escort ships will ride out any storm
and to date they have stood up
well under every storm encountered
on the high seas
It's all in what you like and what
you're familiar with" one corvette
captain summed up.
But there's a sense of comrade-
/ snip IN a ships company sharing
/ dangers at sea, q, sense of accom-
plshment and satisfaction in our
share in the Job Canada S rising
seapoWer is doing, that We'll not
! trade until The Hun pig boat Is