Friday, October 4, 2013

"Canadian" Submarines in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1 of a series)

This is a photo of HMS Alliance, a Royal Navy A-boat (also sometimes known as the Amphion or Acheron class). She is wearing camouflage, and probably in the Far East when the photo was taken. The Alliance lives on as the main feature at the RN Submarine Museum at Gosport, Hants.
There were fourteen A-boats built in the United Kingdom, of which two served in Canadian waters during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They were stationed in Halifax as the Sixth Submarine Flotilla, but were under Canadian operational control. They typically carried a number of Canadian officers and men serving on loan and for training with the Royal Navy.
The two A-boats mentioned above were Her Majesty's Submarines Alderney and Astute.
More about them in subsequent posts.
My novel about a fictitious "Canadian" A-boat, HMCS Alert, in the Cuban Missile Crisis is due out in August 2014, the Canadian submarine centennial year.

2 comments:

Lamont said...

Touring HMCS Ojibwa in Port Burwell, Ontario, with you this spring was awesome. Can't wait to read about the antics aboard your fictitious submarine. Fictitious? Does that mean you are changing the names to protect the not so innocent?

Robert Mackay said...

The visit to "Ojibwa" was a highlight of my trip east. She brought back many memories. And, as you guessed, names have been changed to protect the guilty.

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