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Chapter 3:

    On October 17, three days after the sinking of the S.S. Caribou, the Honourable Frank Pike a former member of the Legislative Council, the Upper House in the Newfoundland Legislature until 1934 (when Constitutional Government was suspended), wrote a caustic letter to Major General Page. In his stinging attack he complained about the wrong direction of the sinking that was relayed to shore by the Royal Canadian Navy and passed on to the rescue craft. Even today, more than sixty years later, people from the southwest coast of Newfoundland when talking of the sinking, refer to the wrong direction relayed to the crews of the rescue craft as a factor in the searchers being unable to find survivors. 

    To be fair to the Royal Canadian Navy, when Port Agent Lewis George gave instructions to the captains of the  vessels departing in search of survivors, he said the S.S. Caribou had been torpedoed approximately twenty miles southwest of Channel Head. The Royal Canadian Navy gave the position as 223 degrees 19.2 miles from Channel Head, which is the general direction given by Lewis George to the captains of the search vessels. On that day the wind was westerly at 30 knots with a heavy sea running which could have caused considerable drifting for objects floating on the water. These conditions may have, and probably did account for, the bodies being in the area where they were found. Also, at a speed of 7 knots it would have taken the searchers craft three to four hours to arrive at the site of the sinking thus allowing ample time for drifting to occur and for ocean currents to have an effect.

    The Honourable Frank Pike in his letter also complained about the lack of patrolling along the coast by the navy. We now know that corvettes, the workhorse of the navy, were not available at that time because all available warships were on convoy duty in the North Atlantic, keeping the supply lines open to Great Britain. This lack of protection is evident in that from January 1, 1942 until November 24, 1942, according to Angus L. MacDonald Minister of Defence and Naval Services (1940 - 1945), 20 ships were sunk in eastern Canada (6 in the Strait of Belle Isle and the Cabot Strait, and 14 in the Gaspe area).

    The question of the S. S. Caribou sailing during daylight hours rather than at night was also raised by the Honourable Frank Pike. Although it had been discussed on many occasions, no record of any request to change the time of sailing from night to day either verbal or written to naval officers or Naval Services Headquarters had been found. The Honourable Frank Pike, in asking the question to Major General Page, was able to put the matter of the sinking to rest, so that the people of Port Aux Basques and area were able to again focus on continuing the war effort.

    The question of why the S. S. Caribou was sunk has been asked many times. The easy answer is that the ship was a troop carrier as is evident by the fact that one hundred and eighteen military personnel were aboard when it was sunk. If we take an average of fifty service personnel per voyage across the Cabot Strait to Newfoundland, and the same number crossing to Canada on the return voyage, that would equal three thousand personnel per month, or thirty-six thousand military personnel a year, equivalent to two divisions of troops.

    The ship also carried ammunition on its voyages across the Cabot Strait. This was confirmed to me in conversation with a former officer of the S. S. Caribou who did not sail on the ill fated voyage.

    In addition, in 1942, Long Range Aid to Navigation (LORAN) stations were being built in Labrador at Battle Harbour, at Great Caribou Island, and at Bonavista on the east coast of Newfoundland to aid allied convoys on their voyages to Russia. The construction was carried out by United States personnel with the consent of the Newfoundland Government and operated by the United States Navy. There was a delay in the installation of the LORAN equipment at the station in Bonavista as the equipment was cargo on the S. S. Caribou when it was sunk. The station was finally opened on March 15, 1943.

    A number of the Canadian military personnel on the S. S. Caribou were probably members of W - Force, the Canadian Forces who occupied and defended Newfoundland during World War Two. When Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939, Newfoundland, because of its political status, was also at war and undefended. Although Canada did not declare war until September 10, 1939,  Canada requested permission for aircraft of the Royal Canadian Air Force to fly over Newfoundland and land for servicing at the airports there. Soon after this request was granted Canada supplied Newfoundland with small arms and ammunition.

Chapter 4