BOBBERS IN THE WATER

CORVETTE AND HER CREW

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In the great majority of corvettes and minesweepers commissioned from Canadian yards in 1941 and 1942, only a handful of officers and seamen had ever been to sea before. In HMCS Chambly, a corvette commissioned at the end of 1940, for example, only four of fifty-one ratings had served in the regular navy. Fourteen had been in the prewar Naval Reserve and the remaining thirty-three had no prior seagoing experience. “If you were fortunate enough....to serve in a new ship commanded by an experienced merchant seaman....you were one of a lucky minority,” recalled one Canadian officer. “Most of the new ships in the early months of the war were a shambles....There was incompetence of every sort at every level; some of the ships were barely able to get to sea, and once there were fortunate to find their way back without mishap.” One Canadian admiral noted that in the fall of 1941 a typical Canadian corvette had a “Sublieutenant, RCNVR (temp) of two months sea experience as senior watch-keeper, backed up by a Sublieutenant, NVR  (temp) with no sea experience and a mate, RCNR (temp) who has lately risen from apprentice in a merchant ship and has never before been to sea in charge of a watch on the bridge.” “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!” an irate senior officer signaled to a new corvette captain after a particularly inept maneuver by the latter. “LEARNING A LOT,” came the reply.

Well folks I don't know how many of you..[it don't make any difference what 'Navy' you were in]....ever done sea duty on "what we called a bobber"...[a extremely small vessel...that actually was worth there weight in gold]....but let me tell you it was an experience that you never forget.

So...here is an article with some insight into 'one' such extremely effective small attack vessel....hopefully at the end you'll have gained your 'sea legs' of understanding what it was like to be part of the crew on these little puppies.

You can give this one your undivided attention by clicking: HERE  to read: "CORVETTE AND HER CREW"
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cshortridge@comcast.net