August 6th 1942 HMCS Assiniboine sinks the German submarine U-210 while on patrol in the North Atlantic Ocean. On 6 August 1942, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Assiniboine,and two Canadian corvettes at the rear of convoy SC 94, sighted German submarine U-210 on the horizon. She is one of eleven U-boats were on their way to intercept SC 94. After several close encounters, HMCS Assiniboine damaged and set on fire by U-210's guns, rammed and sank the submarine. as U-210 tried to dive, the Assiniboine was able to ram her just abaft the conning tower. This damage caused her to surface, only to be rammed a second time. U-210 sank just two minutes after. 6 Germans, including the Captain, and one Canadian were killed, with many more wounded. An Account of Events After U-boat U-210 is Rammed When water began to pour into the U-boat, its senior surviving officer blew the ballast and brought U-210 to the surface, where Assiniboine was waiting. Stubbs rammed the sub again, in the same place, and then dropped shallow depth charges for good measure while a 4.7-inch shell hit the sub’s bow. With that, U-210 was finished. Dianthus emerged from the fog, her crew cheering loudly, to see Assiniboine standing by the sinking sub. All but six of U-210’s crew of 43 were rescued. With a charred bridge, buckled bow and wooden pegs protruding from holes in her sides, Assiniboine turned for St. John’s. The non-commissioned PoWs were locked in an unused boiler room, and fed by lowering buckets through an escape hatch. The two surviving officers from U-210 enjoyed the relative comfort of the doctor’s burned out cabin. Hennessy found the toughest sailor he knew to guard the door, giving him his pistol and an order to shoot if they tried to leave. The next day Hennessy and Bernays sewed Watson into a sheet of canvas, putting two tin cans full of weight at his feet to make sure his corpse sank. The youngest member of Assiniboine’s crew, and the only Canadian fatality of the action, was buried at sea with full honours. IMAGE - A chaotic picture, but a rare one. A Canadian warship attacks a U Boat. Here,the German U-210 under attack in the Atlantic. The photo was taken from the deck of HMCS Assiniboine. In the photo, HMCS Assiniboine rams U-210.
WATSON, KENNETH WILLIAM Rank: Ordinary Seaman Service No: 4354 Date of Death: 06/08/1942 Age: 18 Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Navy H.M.C.S. Assiniboine. Panel Reference: Panel 5. Memorial: HALIFAX MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of Charles George and Alice Maude Watson, of Revelstoke, British Columbia.
U210 was launched on 23 Dec 1941. Her captain was Rudolf Lemcke. She was part of wolf pack Steinbrinck which comprised of 14 submarines,between them they sunk 11 merchant ships and damaged a further 3. The wolf pack was named after Otto Steinbrinck, WW1 uboat commander credited with over 200 ships sunk. cheers........Graham.