This day 75 years ago marks the beginning of a little remembered part of the Second World War, the Battle of the St. Lawrence, which brought fighting to North America. In the early morning hours of May 12, 1942, a German U-boat sunk the freighter Nicoya.
While the Kriegsmarine had no formal plans to attack shipping in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, the German submarine U-553 had been operating off the Canadian coast and made its way into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On May 12, it torpedoed and sank the Nicoya at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Between 1942 and 1944, a total of 23 ships, including four Canadian warships, all well within the territorial limits of Canada.
Sources
- Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Veterans Affairs Canada
- Battle of the St. Lawrence at Wikipedia
- Battle of the St. Lawrence at Legion Magazine
- Battle of the St. Lawrence Begins at Radio Canada Int’l