Escorting Convoys on the Triangle Run

Heroes Remember

Escorting Convoys on the Triangle Run

Transcript

I was posted to a corvette, HMCS Nanaimo. Convoy escort duty, that was primarily the job that they were called to do, called upon to do. That was a “Triangle Run” that I was on, it just didn't mean direct from Halifax to Newfoundland, from Newfoundland to New York. It was called the “Triangle Run” because those were the three main ports. We normally met the convoy coming from the United Kingdom, oh I guess about 200 miles northeast of Newfoundland, mostly unloaded merchant ships that had unloaded their cargo in the UK, Scotland. Sometimes the convoys, if there was submarines reported on the northern route, the convoys would be rerouted to the southern route and it was a couple hundred miles southeast of Newfoundland. Next would be a convoy with loaded ships coming out of Halifax, New York, Boston, some from Sydney. Our duty was to form up and escort them in an easterly direction to be met by the Canadian corvettes coming out of Londonderry, Ireland and other ports.

Description

Mr. Boicey names the ports and describes the convoy routes where his vessel, HMCS Nanaimo, patrolled in an effort to protect Allied shipping on what he calls The Triangle Run.

Orville Boicey

Orville Boicey was born in 1924 in Almont, Ontario. His father, a First World War veteran, spoke of his experiences so his children might better understand patriotism. Mr. Boicey completed grade nine in 1941, and in August, 1942 enlisted in the navy. He trained as a torpedo man at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, and then joined the crew of the corvette, HMCS Nanaimo. Nanaimo protected convoys in the Western North Atlantic, on what Mr. Boicey calls “the triangle run”. This refers to the three Atlantic ports of origin for convoys, St. John's, Halifax and New York. He discusses anti-sub tactics and a probable sinking of a submarine. Mr. Boicey pursued his career in the RCN after the war, sailing on all three of Canada's aircraft carriers, HMCS Warrior, HMCS Magnificent and HMCS Bonaventure, as well as the destroyers HMCS Wallaceburg and HMCS St. Croix. He retired with the rank of Petty Officer.

Meta Data