Welland, Robert P.: my Navy recollections (February 28, 2005)
ABSTRACT: Rear-Admiral Robert P. Welland Approximately 60-65 minutes in length, this was the first interview conducted by student Marshall Horne as part of the Veteran's Oral History Project and History 394. The topic of the interview is of the Royal Canadian Navy and escort duty during the Battle of the Atlantic. This format of this interview is in a question and answer type style, and does not go into any full length about the Rear Admiral's career. Topics that are discussed are as follows; On HMS Fame. Duties and responsibilities of as a Sub-Lieutenant; Meeting the first Canadian troop convoy across the Atlantic; discussing the level of stress and fatigue that sailors experienced; age of sailors became younger; time and duration of crossing, and how effected by U-boats; sleep, rest, and free time, the actuality of a U-boat threat, Rear- Admiral Welland reports 1 and 4 chances of being attacked; anti-submarine warfare ; lack of escorts in first years; how convoys received intelligence to navigate around U-boat activity; reaction to encountering U-Boat; type 271 radar; escort to merchant fleet relations; The Convoy Manual; survivors after ship sunk; rescue ships and their capabilities; HMCS St. Laurent and Andora Star incident; location of escorts during convoying; role of Convoy Commodore; lack of radio communication due to direction finding; Senior Officer Escort; detection of U-boat through their radio activity; defensive vs. offensive strategy; return to type 271 Radar and equipping of ships; Asdic, secretiveness, officers did not know how to use it, effectiveness; constant ship readiness if Asdic located a target; interference of Asdic, creating false targets; depth charge anything suspicious; how Asdic actually functions; U-Boats could not pickup Asdic readings; close attack situation; depth charges vs. Hedgehog; mid-Atlantic gap and air cover; refuelling at sea; response to historians believe RCN was ill-equipped and ill trained; the "Welland Plot"; importance of gyrocompass; organization of escort groups; 2 convoy trips to Murmansk; lack of credit to merchant fleet.
Interviewee: Welland, Robert P.
An interview/narrative of Robert Welland's experiences during World War II. Rear-Admiral Welland served with the Royal Canadian Navy. Interview took place on February 28, 2005.
Rank: Rear-Admiral.
Interviewer: Horne, Marshal S.
- In Collection:
- 2 sound recordings (MP3)
- 10, -25
- 68.97917, 33.09251
- One original audio cassette in Special Collections.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- WRP_455
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- December 13, 2012
- Digital sound recording in .wav format at 16 bits and 44 kHz. In .mp3 format at 56 kbps and 24 kHz. Digitized by JF, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview migrated to digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2012. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI
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