Sunday 11 May 2014

HMS Canton.

HMS CANTON   22-Jun-42   to   10-Jul-42

The only Canton I can find was an armed merchant cruiser. I can find no proof that she was near Durban at this time. However in an album kept by P.R. Porter (Dad’s Dad) it says that Dad made the1800 mile rail journey from Durban to Cape Town along with the rest of the Admirals staff. This would explain the two days between leaving the Ramillies and joining the Canton.

SS.Canton recently completed new.

HMS Canton was originally P&O’s Canton. She was built in Glasgow and launched in 1938 for use on the London, Bombay, Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama run.
LOA    566’
Beam   73’
Draft   30’
Speed  18kts
GRT    15748 tons
She briefly went aground in the Thames on her maiden voyage and then collided with French liner ‘Marechal Joffres’ in fog off Hong Kong. She was three weeks being repaired. Later she rescued 39 passengers from the Danish Liner ‘Asia’ which was on fire.

HMS Canton as a troopship after conversion in April 1944.

The Royal Navy took her up from trade in October 1939 and converted her to an armed merchant cruiser in Glasgow were 8 x 6” and 2 x 3” guns were added. On leaving the Clyde she ran aground off the isle of Lewis in a gale. Two holds were flooded and she was abandoned. A few days later, on 11-Jan-40, she came free herself and was boarded and taken back into Glasgow. She was once again fully seaworthy in April 1940 and was put to work as convoy escort in the South Atlantic working often along the coast of Africa. She was refitted and upgraded on the Clyde again in July 1942 which would indicate that she was making her way north when Dad joined her. She was converted to a troopship in 1944 and handed back to P&O in 1947.

I must assume that Dad joined Canton in Cape Town on her way north and left her on arrival in Freetown to join his next ship that was already there.

12 comments:

  1. According to my Dad's Naval Records, he joined HMS Canton in October 1941 and stayed with her until August 1944; he was a Radio Officer

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    1. Thanks for looking in on the blog. I can't prove that my dad was aboard the 'Canton' for this trip from Cape Town to Freetown but the timing fits. With my dad being a cypher rating and yours in the radio office, I wonder if they met?

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  2. My father was on HMS Canton.He visited and talked fondly of Durban.He passed away April 2018 at the age of 99 years old

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  3. Hi There, thanks for reading the blog. I think my Dad was only in Durban for a few hours after arriving and boarding HMS Canton to set off for Freetown. I must say I enjoyed it when I was there, but it was the dying days of apartheid so had a nasty side too.

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  4. Hi, My Grandfather, Claude Marriott Hunt was an Oerlekon gunner on HMS Canton where he also served as Ship's Cobbler. His service papers list joining the Ship on 24th August 1941 until 24th Dec 1941, signing back on on 25th December 1941 until 13th April 1944. He then returned to HMS Victory 14th April 1944 to 20th March 1945 then joined HMS Frobisher which provided Naval Support for the D-Day Landings on 21st March 1945 until 23 October 1945. Gary Glover

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    1. Hi Gary, sorry that I have taken so long to reply to your comment but I rarely look in on this blog. Dad was only aboard the Canton a short time and certainly didn't mention it. I have been to Durban a few times and it is a nice place. Your Dad would have had a nice run up and down the West African coast but it was often visited by U Boats so nerves would have been jangling. All leading up to D Day too. Thanks for reading the blog. Regards, Tony Porter

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  5. My father served on HMS Canton during WW2. He was an anti aircraft gunner. I remember him speaking about Durban. Apparently an opera singer used to sing the boats in to the harbour. He spoke about going through the Susz canal and also visiting Bombay and being demobed in 1946

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    1. Hi There, Thanks for reading my blog, and I'm sorry I haven't replied earlier, but I seldom look in on this blog. Durban certainly is a nice port and a good run ashore. I was first there in 1974 and it will have changed an awful lot since then. I have been through the Suez a few times and is not my favourite place, but I have never been to Bombay. I will have to look up about the opera singer. They used to play the national anthem of the ships that passed at a restaurant on the approach to Hamburg, but I have never been sung at before. Keep safe, and thanks for reading again. Tony Porter

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  6. My father served on HMS Canton during WW2. He was an anti aircraft gunner. I remember him speaking about Durban. Apparently an opera singer used to sing the boats in to the harbour. He spoke about going through the Susz canal and also visiting Bombay and being demobed in 1946

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    1. Thanks for reading this blog. I don't look in very often as the story of my father's time in the Navy is complete. It is amazing to think that folk from all walks of life were thrust together on ships and other units and soon learned to work together as a team. Friendships made and experiences banked that would last their lifetimes.

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  7. I believe my dad was on as canton which docked in Southampton on 20th December 1945 when it was hospital ship.My father had been a low in changi.My dad was at deaths door He arrived home on 22nd of December 1945 when his health had improved.Had he been released later he wouldn't have survived

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  8. Thanks for reading. What a great early Christmas present for all concerned. My Dad didn't get home until July 1946 after travelling back on HMS Duke of York with a contingent of POW's from Changi POW Camp in Singapore, once they had recovered sufficiently.

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