The Rough North Atlantic

Heroes Remember

The Rough North Atlantic

Transcript

Interviewer: What was the ship? The Algonquin. Interviewer: The Algonquin. And can you just describe that ship for me? What was its purpose, what was its design? We were a destroyer escort. Interviewer: And describe the ship for me. Big, small... Huge. Two hundred and what was it, thirty-five feet, something like that, long and we were converted from a Tribal class and we had a huge super structure so we were sort of top heavy. But, we came through some heavy seas. We all made it. But there was some scary moments, I tell you. Interviewer: Tell me about those. The pipes down below decks would be busting and the ship would go over and she'd... just teeter-totter and then she'd finally come back up. It was very scary. Yes. All hatches were closed tight because you never knew what was gonna happen, and as you know the North Atlantic, it's the roughest sea in the world.

Description

Mr. Rochon describes some scary moments in the rough seas of the North Atlantic.

David Rochon

David Rochon was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1939, and was raised in foster care. After joining the Royal Canadian Navy in 1957, he took basic training at HMCS Cornwallis and later joined HMCS Algonquin, a converted Tribal class destroyer. Mr. Rochon volunteered for and became a weapons/underwater specialist, skills which he seldom needed to use during peacetime service. He was aboard HMCS Algonquin’s deployment during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but the vessel saw no action. Mr. Rochon left the navy in 1964, holding the rank of Able Seaman.

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