Survivors gather to remember HMCS Kootenay accident
Posted Oct 21, 2011 04:51:30 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Survivors of the worst peacetime accident in the history of the Canadian Navy are gathered in Halifax this weekend to mark the anniversary of a disaster at sea and to remember their commander, who died last year.
Many members of the crew took part in a special trip aboard HMCS Sackville into Halifax Harbour on Friday, where the captain’s ashes were committed to the sea.
On 23 October, 1969, HMCS Kootenay was steaming out of the English Channel 210 miles west of Plymouth, along with HMC Ships Bonaventure, Terra Nova, Fraser, St. Laurent, Ottawa, Assiniboine, Margaree and Saguenay.
At 8:21 a.m., during a scheduled full power trial, Kootenay’s starboard gearbox exploded, sending a fireball through the engine room and along the main passageway, incinerating everything within 35 meters of the engine room hatch. Nine perished as a result of the inferno and fifty-five were seriously injured in what is known as the worst peacetime accident in the Canadian Navy.
John Montague, a sub-lieutenant at the time says others were left with less visible wounds.
“A lot of others suffered from psychological problems over the years and decades,” says Montague. “And by getting together, just talking to one another, we’ve helped one another.”
“Initially, there was great confusion as every sailor fought their way to the upper deck to get away from the fire and deadly smoke,” said Capt(N) ret’d Montague. “Once it was determined where the fire originated and the extent of the damage, the Kootenay crew went to work. Based on our training, competency and experience, we eventually brought this disastrous situation under control. Yes, there were many acts of extreme bravery that day and an outstanding manifestation of courage by everyone.”
Their captain, Commander Neil Norton, died last year.
“His family members are here from all over Canada and even from Europe,” says Montague. “Some family members came in from Denmark.”
Norton was remembered fondly as a tremendous navigator and great leader, who once said of the surviving Kootenay sailors “a less professional crew could have easily finished the day in life rafts.”
On Sunday morning at 8:21 a.m., the exact time of the explosion, the tragedy will be commemorated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Bonaventure Anchor in Point Pleasant Park. After the ceremony and unbeknownst to the Kootenay crew, their collective bravery 42 years ago will be formally recognized by the Navy with the presentation of the “Commander RCN” award by RAdm David Gardam, Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic on behalf of VAdm Paul Maddison, Chief of Maritime Staff.
Following the Kootenay explosion the Canadian Forces system of honouring bravery and courage was revised and among the first of 7 recipients of the Medal of Bravery and Star of Courage were six Kootenays; their names are inscribed on CFB Halifax’s Wall of Valour in Admiralty Garden.
- More on the Kootenay accident: http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/restigou/kootenay-explosion/
