Royal Canadian Navy : RCN

Recruits killing time in Dominion Square (now Square Dorchester), Montreal. Four tired and slightly stunned RCN recruits killing time in Montreal.

RCN recruits killing time on the street in Montreal. The Sun Life building is in the background so they're on Dorchester Blvd. (now Boulevard Rene-Levesque).

Ship's company photo, August 1961. This official photo was taken when we were visiting San Francisco. Many men are identified but most are not. (Updated June 8, 2009).

RCN Frigates at Pier 1 in San Francisco, August 1961. At least four frigates were tied up at this jetty and Ste Therese is one of them.

Foc'sle crew, August 1961. Preparing to leave San Francisco. We dealt with the ropes and were ready to drop the anchor in case of an emergency.

Most of the weapons department, 1962/63. Taken on the quarterdeck, somewhere at sea. I can't place the time exactly but it must have been 1962 or the first half of 1963.

Foc'sle crew, coastal waters. Possibly in the Queen Charlotte Islands, but could be anywhere. As always, it was cold.

Crew on the quarterdeck in coastal waters. General view with some of the crew in the distance.

Drinking their rum ration on the quarterdeck. Location seems to be Esquimalt Harbour. Three men are now identified: Alford, Compton and Toth.

Lifeboat crew on an exercise. Hanging from the davits somewhere at sea. Names so far: Dahl and Srubowich.

Doing maintenance on the 4-inch gun. ABWS Fisher and OSWS Daniels freezing their butts off but still smiling.

Officer cadets & anti-submarine mortars. About a dozen cadets standing around the Squid-well waiting for something to happen. Names so far: Demchuck and Hoffman.

Frigates in San Francisco, August 1961. A general view over the quarterdecks of two ships, one of which must be the Ste Therese.

Ashore for a few hours in Tasu Sound. We were in the Queen Charlottes so it had to be winter. Three men almost smile for the camera. One is LS Ralph Oggelsby.

Ashore for a few hours in Tasu Sound. Crew members hamming it up for the camera. Surnames so far: Demchuk, Oggelsby, Patterson, Toth.

Leaving Hawaii: crew on the quarterdeck Catching a bit of sun as we cruise off Diamond Head.

At sea in Hawaiian waters. Crew members gaze at Diamond Head or pretend to work. Surnames: Bigcanoe, Egger, Graw, Hawkes, Hoffman.

Two of the crew having a conversation. Ordinary Seamen Yeager and Srubowich, both bosuns.

Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. Three Ste Therese sailors lean on each other at Fisherman's Wharf, 1961. Surnames: Schjolie, Mullin, Wurtz.

A Leading Seaman in the weapons department. I took this photo for him but now I can't remember his name.

Egger and Dirkacz/Dyrkacz square off in the mess-deck. But there's no contest here when it comes to beer guts.

Egger and Waldron clean a winch cover. Both were members of the weapons department.

Crew member, inland waters. OSRP Wright looking at the view.

In front of the 4-inch gun. OSWS Fred Elgert, weapons surface.

Anchored in coastal waters. OSSN Robbin Wakefield.

In Esquimalt Harbour. OSWS Robert Egger, weapons surface.

Anchored in coastal waters. Three shipmates: Boyce, McFarlane and unknown.

Caught in the act of working. LSWS Hall, OSWS Leyden and OSWS Elgert do maintenance on the Bofors AA guns.

Sailing in Alaskan waters. OS Wayne Anaka with Alaska or BC in the distance.

Bentick Island demolitions course, 1963. An instructor explains why we can't put lit cigarettes into those little cans or hit them with hammers.

Bentick Island demolitions course, 1963. OS Hawkes, Spooner and Wakefield with plastic explosives.

Bentick Island demolitions course, 1963. Instructors watch men place explosives connected by primacord.

Three destroyers at the jetty in Esquimalt. HMCS Assiniboine, HMCS Ottawa and HMCS Margaree.

HMCS Grilse at the jetty in Esquimalt. The conning tower is covered with tarps so it was undergoinig maintenance of some sort.

HMCS Ottawa at the jetty while HMCS Cape Breton leaves Esquimalt Harbour, Sept. 1962.

HMCS Grilse at the jetty in Esquimalt. Same view as above, more or less .

HMCS Cape Breton at Esquimalt View of Esquimalt harbour with HMCS Cape Breton on her way out, Sept. 1962.

Native totem poles in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria. Unknown Ste Therese crew member. I took this photo for him so I hope he has a copy.

Driving to Winnipeg, summer of 1961. OS Ron Healey and I joined another sailor who owned a car and we drove to Winnipeg.

Ashore in wildest Hawaii. Several of us were escorted around Hawaii by an American sailor. Here we are at some sort of wild west theme village. Surnames so far: Anaka, Leyden.

Ashore near Juneau Alaska, 1963. OS Daniels, Lawson and another in front of the Mendenhall glacier.

Ashore near Juneau Alaska, 1963. OS Charlie Dobie -- the photographer gets his photo taken in front of the Mendenhall glacier.

Doris Day in Long Beach, 1963. Three Canadian sailors with Doris Day during the filming of "Move Over Darling".

Robert Berbeck, 1960. Taken on his first day home after basic training, 1960.

Robert Berbeck, 1961. Studio portrait, age 18.

Lorna & Robert Berbeck Wedding photo, 1964.

Lorna & Robert Berbeck 44th wedding anniversary, Oct.3, 2008.

Hurricane on HMCS Assiniboine, 1963. The ship takes some big waves -- three photos.

HMCS Mackenzie, 1964. Photo was taken in Vancouver Harbour.

Sunset at sea, 1966. With HMCS St Croix and HMCS Stettler in the distance.

Two destroyers at Midway, 1968. HMCS Qu'Appelle & HMCS Saskatchewan at Sand Island.

HMCS Antigonish in refit in Vancouver, 1965. Two photos.

Three decomissioned Tribals. HMCS Micmac, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Haida in Halifax, 1964.

HMCS Assiniboine euchre game, 1963. One man unidentified. Surnames: Barre, Corrigal, Hazzard, Lawrence, Linaker, Thomas, White.

Graduation of SG105 in Esquimalt, 1960. Seven men. Surnames are: Berbeck, Fredrickson, Hockley, Law, Power, Stewart, Tucknott.

HMCS Grilse catches a dingy. April 1966. A dingy was caught in her vents when she surfaced. Four photos.

HMCS Bonaventure & HMCS Provider HMCS Provider refuels Bonaventure and Antigonish. Six photos taken in Feb., 1966.

Refuling from HMCS Provider. February 1966. HMCS St Croix refuling from HMCS Provider. Two photos.

Canadian sailors at Copacabana in Rio, 1966. Beach scenes in Rio plus a view from the bridge while entering Buenos Aires. Four photos.

Signalmen on board HMCS Assiniboine. October 1963. Men relaxing on board ship. Three photos.

HMCS Provider refueling HMCS Terra Nova. Two photos, one an aerial shot. Sept. 1969.

HMCS Saguenay, Nipigon, Terra Nova. September 1963. Three destroyers alongside in Halifax.

HMCS Provider and HMCS Terra Nova at sea. Two aerial photos. The ships were enroute to England.

HMCS Terra Nova refueling in the North Sea. October 1969. Terra Nova digs into the waves. Two photos.

HMCS Provider in Copenhagen. October 1969.

HMCS Provider in drydock. In Esquimalt, January 1970. Three photos.

HMCS Provider refuels destroyers, 1969. HMCS Annapolis, Assiniboine, Fraser, Skeena, Terra Nova receive fuel and groceries, Oct. 1969, 6 photos.

Relaxing on HMCS Provider, 1970. Three photos. Names: Berbeck, Brent, Broadwood, Calder, Ganner, Kain, McGregor, Mitchell, Rumble, Staples.

HMCS Cape Breton encounters a storm. Enroute to Pearl Harbor, HMCS Cape Breton encountered 50-ft. swells, and for two days she averaged 1 knot astern. Five photos.

One Path of Life -- The Thereafter. Here is an entertaining and well-written account by John Gorman of his time in the RCN -- mostly on HMCS Bonaventure -- and his subsequent 29-year career with Parks Canada. There are also two photos of John in uniform embedded in the document.

HMCS Cornwallis, 1966. Group photo of assault course, St. Laurent Division, July, 1966. You can see two different sizes of this photo.

Dave Tyson, 1962. Dave Tyson in a portrait taken at HMCS Cornwallis.

Dave Tyson, wedding photo. Dave and his wife were married in Feb. 1963.

HMCS Cornwallis, 1962. This was Dave Tyson's division, possibly Restigouche, at HMCS Cornwallis in April, 1962.

Sports at Cornwallis, 1962. This team displays a trophy, but what was the sport? Only Dave Tyson is identified.

HMCS Cornwallis, 1962. A collection of photos taken at HMCS Cornwallis in 1962. Names so far: Dunker, Jackson, Lang, "Mouse". 9 photos.

Some HMCS Ste Therese crew members. Three photos taken about 1962. Surnames so far: Bigcanoe, Brown, Demchuk, Oggelsby, Richards, Sewers, Vigor, Yeager.

Squid (anti-submarine mortar) practice. A series of four photos from the mortars splashing into the sea until a wall of water hangs in front of the ship.

Queen Charlotte Islands. Anchorages and exercises in the Queen Charlottes, in winter of course. Three photos.

HMCS Ste Therese whaler crew in action. The faces aren't quite clear enough to recognize everyone.

Russian Spy Trawler. This Russian trawler stayed close by the area where our squadron was doing exercises. Winter of 1962.

Phil Murphy, two portraits. The Cornwallis photo was taken about 1964.