(this page and the links from it are all BALS (Before ALS) whereas the rest of the site is pretty much AALS (After ALS)

  •   anyone wanting their pictures on the site 

  •   SHIPS PICTURES 

  •   BASES AND SHIPS I SERVED ON  

  •   THE "DEMON" RUM 

  •   NICKNAMES 

  •    PICTURES FROM CRUISES WHEN I FIND MORE I WILL ADD   THEM 

  •   EASTER ISLAND, THE MEDICAL EXPEDITION, PICTURE & MORE    (all  stories in E-Book format as well as Adobe PDF format)       

A long, long time ago!!

Not quite so long ago but still a long time!

David Peskett

1958

HOW MANY OF YOU REMEMBER THIS INFAMOUS DATE???

Naval Rum Terminology

  • Grog: Traditionally, 2 parts water, 1 part Pusser's rum
  • Tot: 1/8 pint rum, the standard daily ration
  • Neat: Rum without water
  • Splice the Main Brace: A double tot for a job well done
  • The Framework of Hospitality: Where 3 sippers equal 1 gulp, 3 gulps equal 1 tot
  • Gulpers: One, but only one, big swallow from another's tot
  • Sandy Bottoms: To see off whatever's in a mug when offered by a friend
  • Bob's-a-Dying: In Admiral Nelson's day, it meant a "stupendous drunken bash" (sounds like one of our parties)

Drink Measures

  • 1 dash = 8 to 10 drops
  • 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
  • 1 jigger = 1 1/2 ounces
  • 1 'tot' = 2 imperial ounces or 2 1/2 US ounces
  • 6 dashes = 1 teaspoonful
  • 2 tablespoons = 1 fluid ounce or 1 pony
  • 1 large jigger = 2 ounces
  • 1 cup = 8 ounces or 1/2 pint

For all you Storesmen out there:

8455 21 522 3517

BADGE

QTY 1        3/63

Bases & Ships I was on:

HMCS Queen Regina

HMCS Cornwallis N.S.

HMCS Sioux Halifax

HMCS Cape Scott Hfx.

HMCS Kootenay Hfx.

HMCS Hochelaga Mtl.

NRS Albro Lake N.S.

HMCS Skeena Hfx.

   

    HMCS Queen, in Regina was where I joined the Navy and found out just how to polish brass fire extinguishers (for two weeks), by the time you finished the last you had to start all over again! 

    I was then sent to Cornwallis and basic training and as I was a storesman I was required to stay there for an additional time to learn typing. 

    I was then drafted to HMCS Sioux who at that time was very close to the end of her career, we made a trip up the Great Lakes and then she was scrapped in 1963, her last cruise was around Newfoundland stopping at all the small outposts.  At that time many of these places had no roads leading into them and the only way to them was by boat.

      My next draft was to the Cape Scott, what a disappointment, here was a factory/supply ship that never left harbour, well my doubts about her soon disappeared as was chosen to be the ship that transported the Canadian Medical expedition to Easter Island.  Through the Panama Canal to Easter Island and then on to Chile and Peru, back to Easter Island and then home by way of the Galapagos Islands.

      I was then sent to the Kootenay for a short time but did get trips in to Ireland, England, and Holland, and then back to the Cape Scott via HMCS Hochelaga in Montreal for a training course.

      Once again I was met with a pleasant surprise as she was chosen as the supply ship for a joint training operation off Brazil.  We had the chance to stay in Rio de Janeiro for some time while the ships were on exercise. We also had the chance to see Recife Brazil as well as Columbia on the home bound trip. 

    I was then transferred to Naval Radio Station Albro Lake in Dartmouth N.S. which eventually closed down and was moved to CFB Mill Cove on St. Margaret's Bay in N.S., I understand that it has closed since then but was brand new at that time.

    Then the posting came to the Skeena, six months of refit in St. John, N.B. and then work ups for I am not so sure how long but it seems like forever.  It was then that I decided that as my sons did not recognize me it was time to move on.  I managed to get off the Skeena the morning that she was sailing for Portugal, and you guessed it back to the Cape Scott for my final time in the Navy. 

    I have seen a lot of the world, being to England 4 times and Bermuda 21 times as well as Puerto Rico and some other places as well as those mentioned above.  They were good times while I was single but not so good for married life, at least for me.  Still some good memories and some pretty funny ones that it would likely best not to go into here!

 

HMCS SIOUX

Type: Destroyer
Class: V Class ex-Royal Navy
Displacement: 1710 tonnes
Length: 362.8 ft.
Width: 35.7 ft.
Draught: 11.5 ft.
Top Speed: 36
# Officers: 14
# Crew: 230
Weapons: 4-4.7", 8-21" Torpedo Tube (2 x IV), 4-40mm, 4-20mm
Pendant (Hull Number): R64
Builder: J. Samuel White & Co. Ltd., Cowes. lOW., U.K.
Laid Down: 31-Oct-42
Launched: 14-Sep-43
Commissioned: 21-Feb-44
Paid Off: 27-Feb-46
Remarks: Ex HMS VIXEN. Later recommissioned with pendant 225. Finally paid off 30 Oct 63.

 

HMCS CAPE SCOTT

Type: Escort Maintenance Ship
Class: Cape
Displacement: 8,580 tonnes
Length: 441.5 ft.
Width: 57 ft.
Draught: 20 ft.
Top Speed: 11
# Officers:
# Crew: 270 Total
Weapons: None fitted.
Pendant (Hull Number): 101
Builder: Burrard D.D. Co., Vancouver
Laid Down: 8-Jun-44
Launched: 27-Sep-44
Commissioned: 28-Jan-59
Paid Off: 1-Jul-70
Remarks: Ex-RN BEACHY HEAD was turned over to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1947 and served there until 1950 as the VULKAAN, when she was returned to the RN. In 1952, she was turned over to the RCN and renamed CAPE SCOTT. CAPE SCOTT was used on the East Coast until 1970 and was used alongside for several years for the Fleet Maintenance Facility until that organization moved ashore in 1975. Towed to Texas for scrapping in 1978

HMCS SKEENA

 

Type: Destroyer Escort
Class: St. Laurent
Displacement: 2,263 tonnes
Length: 366 ft.
Width: 42 ft.
Draught: 13.2 ft.
Top Speed: 28
# Officers: 12
# Crew: 237
Weapons: 4 - 3" (2 X II), 2 - 40MM, 2 Limbo, Homing Torpedoes. After refit to DDH: 2 - 3" (1 x II), 1 Limbo, Homing Torpedoes, Helicopter

 

HMCS KOOTENAY

Type: Destroyer Escort
Class: Restigouche
Displacement: 2,366 / 2,390 (post refit) tonnes
Length: 366 / 372 (post refit) ft.
Width: 42 ft.
Draught: 13.5 / 14.1 (post refit) ft.
Top Speed: 28
# Officers: 12
# Crew: 237
Weapons: 4 - 3" (2 x II), 2 Limbo, Homing Torpedoes. After IRE refit: 2-3" (1 x II), 1 Limbo, 1 ASROC, Homing Torpedoes.
Pendant (Hull Number): 258
Builder: Burrard D.D. Co., Vancouver
Laid Down: 21-Aug-52
Launched: 16-Jun-54
Commissioned: 7-Mar-59
Paid Off: 18-Nov-95
Remarks: Modified as Improved Restigouche Class 1970-1972. DELEX refit in 1984.

 

HMCS BRAS D'OR

I wonder sometimes if they still do things like this and how much it cost, enough to find a cure for ALS or close I would think.

Type: Hydrofoil
Class: Bras D'or
Displacement: 180 tonnes
Length: 151 ft.
Width: 21 ft.
Draught: 23 ft.
Top Speed: 60
# Officers: 4
# Crew: 25
Weapons: None fitted.
Pendant (Hull Number): 400
Builder: Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel Quebec
Laid Down:
Launched:
Commissioned: 19-Jul-68
Paid Off: 1-May-72
Remarks: Vessel was largely experimental. Project scrapped in 1972.

*Note built and paid off times, all it ever did was establish a speed record to Bermuda and was then placed on a barge where it rusted.


"If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard-enough problems. And that's a big mistake."  F. Wikzek

"NICKNAMES"

Often, a sailor's identity is a nickname. Many sailors are known only by their nickname, their real first name is often strange to many, and only appearing on official documents and records.

A practice, probably unique in naval and military circles is that of associating certain nicknames with particular surnames. Although the reason for some of these is obvious, the origins of others are obscure.

The following nicknames have at one time or another (some for long periods: some for short) been current in the Canadian Navy for sailors with these surnames:

Surname, Nickname

Surname, Nickname

Surname, Nickname

Baker, BAGSY
Bell, DAISY
Bell, DINGER
Bennett, WIGGY
Beresford, CHARLIE
Bone, JOHNNY
Brown, BUSTER
Campbell, SOUPY
Casey, GINGER
Clark, NOBBY
Cole, SMOKEY
Collins, JUMPER
Day, HAPPY
Evans, BANDY
Ford, HENRY
Francis, CONNIE
Freeman, HARRY
Gale, WINDY
Gardiner, DIGGER
Gordon, FLASH
Gray, DOLLY
Green, JIMMY
Harris, WIGGY
Henderson, GRANNY
Hewitt, NOBBY

 

Hinds, COSHER
Holland, DUTCHY
Howe, GIBLEY
Hughes, FLAPPER
Jones, TAFFY
Kay, DANNY
Knight, BOGIE
Lane, SHADY
Larking, SKY
Long, DODGER
Marsh, SWAMPY
Martin, PINCHER
May, DAISY
Miller, DUSTY
Moore, PONY
Murphy, SPUD
Noble, CHARLIE
Parker, NOSEY
Payne, WHACKER
Powell, COZY
Reynolds, BURT
Rhodes, DUSTY
Rogers, BUCK

Shaw, ARTIE
Shepherd, JACK
Short, JUMPER
Smith, SMUDGER
Snow, FROSTY
Steel, RUSTY
Sullivan, SPIKE
Taylor, BUCK
Thomas, TOMMY
Todd, SWEENEY
Turner, TOPSY
Walker, WHISKEY
Wallace, NELLY
Ward, SHARKEY
Webb, SPIDER
West, BANJO
White, CHALKIE
White, KNOCKER

White, NOBBY
Williams, BUNGY
Wilson, TUG
Wood, TIMBER
Woods, SLINGER

 

 

H.M.C.S CORNWALLIS - BASIC TRAINING - 1962-1963

 

 

HALIFAX (SLACKERS) - 1963

 

 

 

H.M.C.S. SIOUX - BERMUDA - 1963

 

 

 

H.M.C.S. SIOUX - GREAT LAKES - 1963

 

 

 

H.M.C.S. KOOTENAY - PORTSMOUTH ENG. - 1964

 

 

 

h.m.c.s. cape scott - easter island - 1964 - 65

see easter island page

 

 

Link to a good Navy site:  

Ready Aye Ready

"The greatest of follies is to sacrifice health for any other kind of happiness." Arthur Schopenhaur

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