WWII Shipwreck: Deep Dive to a Sunken Canadian Warship

As OceanXplorer transits from Norway to Portugal, we stopped to map a shipwreck from the Second World War in the English Channel.

HMCS Athabaskan was a destroyer in the @RCNMRC. On April 29, 1944, just weeks before D-day, while patrolling the coast of Brittany, France, she Athabaskan was torpedoed by German boat T-24, 128 lives were lost and the vessel was destroyed.

The sinking of the Athabaskan was one of Canada’s greatest naval losses during the Second World War, making this visit of particular significance to the Royal Canadian Navy and to the families of the service members who were lost when the ship sank.

In 2002, French marine archaeologist Jacques Ouchakoff located the wreck using a hand-launched ROV, but was only able to find half of the ship, and many questions remained about her sinking.

On this visit, we'll use OceanXplorer's multibeam echosounder and ROV to map the entire site in high resolution, use photogrammetry to create a 3D model of the wreck, document the condition of the ship, and attempt to locate Athabaskan’s missing aft section.

Joining us will be French Archeologist, Jacques Ouchakoff and OceanX expedition leader Mark Ward, whose grandfather was one of the Athabaskan crew members lost.

Royal Canadian Navy | Marine royale canadienne

📷 HMCS Athabaskan (G07). Royal Navy official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons