To understand what happened, it will be necessary to take a look at canadian history. In early fall, 1910, they arrived on their respective stations. Tony is the author of three books on the war in hong kong, with a fourth and probably. Part of the clyde aa defences, the site was known as dykebar hill or dykebarhill.
Ottawa, ontario, october 19, 2016 the canadian war museum has acquired one of the few surviving artifacts from one of canadas first two warships, hmcs niobe the historic ships wheel. Niobes boasting of her numerous progeny seven sons and seven daughters, according to euripides insulted leto latona, the mother of apollo and artemis. Navy bands in canada are part of the royal canadian navys command structure and overseen by the music branch of the canadian forces and the directorate of history and heritage of the department of national defence. Ovids metamorphoses on canvas, 28 niobe and the slaughter of her children pierrecharles jombert 17481825, the punishment of the arrogant niobe by diana and apollo 1772, oil on canvas, 40. Niobe is mentioned by achilles to priam in homers iliad book xxiv, as a stock type for mourning.
Ss montblanc, a french cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the norwegian vessel ss imo in the narrows, a strait connecting the upper halifax harbour to bedford basin. Today it is a free museum, open every day apart from mondays and fridays. When launched as a british warship in 1897, hms niobe was a large and expensive cruiser. Aug 23, 2011 and when they looked on the face of niobe and saw on it a bleeding anguish that no human hand could stay nor the word of any god comfort, the gods were merciful. Although he was technically a crew member of hmcs niobe, that ship was a depot ship, and as such, loaned out crew to other ships on an asrequired basis. Niobe is the subject of lost tragedies by both aeschylus and sophocles, and ovid tells her story in his metamorphoses.
Canadas navy was founded by the laurier government in 1910. The royal canadian navy rcn is one of the three environmental commands of the canadian forces. The foremost and aftermost guns on each side were mounted in twostory casemates, with. Yet, it was the ability and the bravery of the ships company to respond quickly, and without panic, that prevented the original explosion and resulting fire from escalating into an even greater calamity, which saved lives and the ship itself. Niobe s effectiveness as a warship depended heavily on rapid and accurate gunfire, which required frequent training. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Following the torpedoing of their ship, the survivors of hmcs trentonian were transferred to niobe to wait for travel orders for survivors leave in canada.
Aug, 2012 from the war of 1812 to modern armed forces missions around the world, legion magazine offers a blend of stories, photographs, graphics, maps and posters on canadian military history and heritage, veterans issues and the canadian armed forces. A daughter of tantalus by the pleiad taygete or the hyad dione, 1 or, according to others, a daughter of pelops and the wife of zethus or alalcomeneus, 2 while parthenius relates quite a different story, 3 for he makes her a daughter of assaon and the wife of philottus, and relates that she entered into a dispute with leto about the beauty of their respective children. Another interesting note is that hmcs niobe, still stationed in halifax at the time of the explosion, was used as a shelter for victims. Historic wwi photo the crew of hmcs niobe after loading coal. Her grief was immortalised, for niobe, at their will, became a stone, and was carried by a wailing tempest to the summit of mount sipylus, in lydia, where a spring of argos bore her name. The aurora is a huge battle cruiser, that served in the russojapanese war and in the first world war also. Ss montblanc, a french cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives, collided with the norwegian vessel ss imo in the narrows, a strait connecting the upper halifax harbour to bedford basin. By the time of niobes transfer to the naval service of canada. Royal canadian navy photographs by the men and women who were there. Papyrus fragments of sophocles niobe show that apollo and artemis appear onstage together, and apollo points out niobes daughter for his sister to kill. Royal canadian navy photographs by the men and women who. Niobe day marks the arrival of his majestys canadian ship hmcs niobe in halifax on october 21, 1910, the first canadian warship to enter canadas territorial waters and a landmark event in the beginnings of the naval service of canada.
Hmcs niobe was commissioned into the rcn on 6 september 1910 with. Hmcs rainbow was intended for the west coast at esquimalt and hmcs niobe was destined for the east coast out of halifax. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. And christmas continued through the year because my mother took me to visit a tiny book store. Niobe simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The man standing far right in the 3rd row from the front is bernard maurice cocquyt see his info below. She served in the boer war and was then given to canada as the second ship of the newly created naval service of canada as hmcs niobe. Summary of number of awards to canadians in rnrcnmerchant navy. The halifax explosion was a disaster that occurred in halifax, nova scotia, canada, on the morning of 6 december 1917. Recruiting was started for the new fcn, and for a while the future looked bright, but fate was once again to take a hand. Priam is like niobe in that he is grieving for his son hector, who was killed and not buried for several days. A book of mythsniobe wikisource, the free online library. Oct 19, 2016 canadian war museum acquires ships wheel from hmcs niobe october 19, 2016 media release.
The old cruisers, hmcs niobe and hmcs rainbow were bought from the royal navy to be used as training ships in the rcn. Few of us can claim to have changed history but for those who have been swept. Hello stranger, been a little while since our last update so i figured it was time to let you know some of the recent events. Hms niobe was a ship of the diadem class of protected cruisers in the royal navy.
She served in the boer war and was then given to canada as the second ship of the newlycreated naval service of canada as hmcs niobe. For a brief historical account of royal canadian navy vessels. A history of canadian naval aviation, 19181962 government of. Niobe and her husband, amphion, had a total of fourteen children. Hmcs niobe, about 640 metres away from pier 6, was the first ship to give the. The number of her children, which varies with different authors, is. The history of the royal canadian navy goes back to 1910 when the naval force was created as the naval service of canada and renamed a year later by king george v. Nov 14, 2019 in greek mythology, niobe, who was the daughter of tantalus, the queen of thebes, and the wife of king amphion, foolishly boasted that she was more fortunate than leto latona, for the romans, the mother of artemis and apollo because she had more children than leto. Halfway up the stairs to the book nook i could smell the enticing odor of fresh print on pages. Legion magazine is published six times a year in english with a french insert. Canadian war museum acquires ships wheel from hmcs niobe. Halifax explosion project gutenberg selfpublishing.
Hmcs niobe s stacks are visible behind the damaged rncc building and annex after the 6 december 1917 explosion. Apr 27, 2009 to accommodate the various tasks set for hmcs niobe, a large area of mainly nissen hutted accommodation was constructed in the grounds. Halifax where, on 9 may 1917, bert was placed on the books of hmcs niobe. Most are available online here for the first time, and each provides a unique glimpse into the past. Guide to sources relating to canadian naval vessels library and. The history of the royal canadian navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the naval service of canada and renamed a year later by king george v.
Learn more about canadas naval history since 1910 through hundreds of objects and images drawn from the collections of the canadian war museum and its partners. Then there were tables and shelves with stacks of books to browse through. Niobe hmcs niobes stacks are visible behind the damaged rncc building and annex after the 6 december 1917 explosion. We finished our niobe kickstarter a couple of months ago and we are so grateful for the overwhelming support. The story and myth of niobe features pictures from mythology and legend. Royal canadian navy history article view rcn history. To avenge the insult to their mother, apollo and artemis slew the children of niobe the niobids with their arrows. Royal canadian navy photographs by the men and women who were. She is death is coming soon with incredible art by sheldon mitchell. Hmcs niobe 1900, 1911 history section ww1 william d. Rcn fleet 19271939 patrician and patriot lasted until 1927, when two other british destroyers replaced them. This page was last edited on 12 february 2019, at 15.
Oct 16, 2014 niobe day is celebrated by the royal canadian navy rcn on the 21st day of october each year. Hmcs niobe was the first canadian warship to enter canadas territorial waters, on october 21, 1910, a landmark event in the beginnings of the naval service of canada. The hmcs kootenay explosion is the worst peacetime accident in the history of the royal canadian navy. To pay for her boast, apollo or apollo and artemis caused her to lose all of. Feb 17, 2014 i spent many hours reading and rereading those books. Oct 21, 2014 an anchor, believed to have belonged to his majestys canadian ship hmcs niobe, has been unearthed at hmc dockyard in halifax. Reliving the halifax explosion through the eyes of my grandfather, a sailor in the royal canadian navy john g. William dalton johnston is almost certainly the man far right in the front row. Armstrong sat night 8 dec 1917 hmcs niobe halifax my darling. The naval service of canada became the royal canadian navy in august 1911. A world war ii antiaircraft battery was sited to the south east of paisley. The royal canadian navys manning depot, hmcs niobe, located in an old castle in scotland in february 1945.
On the evening of 30 31 july, while on her way from yarmouth to shelburne in thick weather and with a heavy tide running, she struck a rock on the southwest ledge off cape sable. At the outbreak of the great war, the royal canadian navy consisted of only two ships the hmcs rainbow and hmcs niobe and less than 350 men initially, canada believed that britains powerful navy would be all that was needed to win the war on the seas. Ken prepared this pdf file containing his rcn history as well as some photos and. Niobe was a beautiful women that had a life everybody else was jealous of. He is a frequent and well known writer on defence matters, and is the author of several military history books. The ship was nearly lost when she went aground off cape sable island, nova scotia overnight 3031 july 1911. One of hmcs niobe s gun crews fires a 6inch gun during training. Photo locations which had once been identified as hmcs niobe, were identified by alex comber as being taken on hmt olympic, one of the two sister ships of rms titanic. Oct 05, 2017 the royal canadian navys manning depot, hmcs niobe, located in an old castle in scotland in february 1945.
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