The Athabascan (Part 5 of 5)

Heroes Remember

The Athabascan (Part 5 of 5)

Well we went along a little further and then the engine broke down again and I looked at the thing and had been an old engine room apprentice, I looked at it, I said to the stoker, "Do you know anything about it?" and he said, "I haven't a sweet Fanny Adams." So and what it was is a Coventry, what was called a Coventry Victor flat horizontally opposed diesel engine and there's a control rod you control from the, on the port side are the controls for the engine and this thing when it was put forward in full speed it wasn't moving the starboard one over enough so it wouldn't kick the other cylinders over. So I got in there and I pulled it over, and said, "Start it" and they tried it again and it went. So I said, "Okay, fine we're off." And I held it and I was sittin' there with this thing until the engine got so hot I nearly burnt my arm you see, so I cut a piece of wood and jammed it under the control rod and hammered it in and it ran for the rest of the day and we got home. Now, in the afternoon, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we're still plowin' along and the wind came up and got a bit of spray and we saw two more planes coming from the other way so everybody out on the upper deck and all waved and it was two German (inaudible) 109's and the pilots all came down and they all waved and continued. Gee, I don't tell you well we were under the canopy again. So lo and behold we continued all day and it started to get, the sun started to get down and suddenly we saw two more planes coming right towards us and everybody said, "Oh they're after us again." So we all dove under the canopy again and it happened to be two Spitfires of the Coastal Command, everybody was as happy as a jay and I had found a varice (sp) pistol in one of the port lockers that they hadn't taken out so as they went around I was firing the varice pistol for all I was worth and the RC Rescue Launch came out and picked us up about 8 o'clock at night, 9 o'clock and we were in the, into Falmouth and while we were there, I should say that while we were on the crash boat, the RAF crash boat, they gave us a couple of tots to warm us up and some tea and some sandwiches and stuff and when we got there, two very dapper looking clothes, plainclothesmen came on board and said, "Now we don't want you to talk to anybody about this." Can you imagine, a couple of 18 year olds full of rum not being able to.

Mr. Hannam talks about the Athabascan, and his experience with it (part 5 of 5). They continue to hide from aircraft, but are finally rescued.

Jack Hannam

Mr. Hannam was born in Vancouver, BC on June 19, 1924. At the age of five, shortly after his father's death, he moved to Victoria. His father survived the sinking of the HMCS Charlottetown in the St. Lawrence River but was tragically run down by a drunk driver. He started with the Merchant Marine at the age of 15 and then went on to the navy when he was 17. He joined the reserves Sept. 9, 1941. He served first on the HMCS Camrose and later on the HMCS Haida in both the North Atlantic and off North Africa.

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:41
Person Interviewed:: Jack Hannam
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Atlantic Ocean
Branch:: Navy
Units/Ship:: HMCS Haida
Rank:: Leading Seaman
Occupation:: Seaman

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Date modified:: 2024-12-30