The Athabaskan

by: Author Unknown,

H.M.C.S. ATHABASKAN

There is a little story

That I wish to tell Of the last time we left Plymouth For the unknown waiting Hell

It was early in the Springtime Just a couple of days before We had returned to our welcome haven Feeling proud, having boasted our score We slipped slowly away in the evening Heading straight for the old French coast And little was thought that in the morning Twoud be Hitler's turn to boast The boys never thought or worried Of the "runs" we were doing of late But little we knew of this one Was shrouded and guided by fate There was no mistaking the orders "Attack enemy shipping ahead" So through these cold Channel waters At thirty-five knots we sped The enemy shipping was sighted Destroyers, but that wasn't all For Crazy and mad as Hitler may seem He had more than that on the ball Behind some nearby Islands Lay E-Boats quite unseen Which the Radar Operator Could not see upon the screen The star shell found our target The Destroyers not far away And at this Crucial Moment The E-Boats made there play From behind their protecting Islands these E-Boats made there dash Firing their torpedoes Which hit us with a crash Just aft of the torpedoe tubes The first one found its mark Exploded with a muffled roar And flames broke through the dark "X" and "Y" guns were no more Destroyed just like there crew The Pom-Pom was a crumpled wreck And it was also through Just after the break of morning The second "fish" hit true Finding one of the boiler rooms And immediately it blew The shower of sparks and shrap that flew Through the early morning air Found a resting place in many a man Told the rest of us "BEWARE" We crouched in any protected spot With a prayer upon our lips And when the din was over We're forced to leave the ship Some were badly injured Others terribly burned And as we hit the water Our attention to them was turned Some wanted to give up the fight To sleep forever more We did our best to give them strength Till we hit the distant shore They seemed to die all around us It was pitiful to see How can others calmly say "Tis the price of VICTORY" A few got back to England About forty-six in all While those who hadn't perished Went behind the Atlantic Wall Now we are "gerfangeners" In a German prison camp And as we think of loved ones Sometimes our eyes are damp We feel that in the battle His life our skipper lost A finer man I never knew It was a hellish cost So please do not forget those boys Who dressed in NAVY BLUE And fought on the "ATHABASKAN" And gave there all for you

Note: Captain John Stubbs and 128 men were lost, 83 taken prisoner and 44 rescued by HAIDA