Melville, Bruce: my experiences serving in Canada's ASW Fleet during the Cold War (April 5, 2017)
An interview/narrative of Bruce Melville's experiences during the Cold War. Interview took place on April 5, 2017 in Victoria, B.C.
Interviewer: Cahoon, William
Interviewee: Melville, Bruce
ABSTRACT: The interview starts with a discussion of the veteran’s early life and what sort of training he received upon first joining the Canadian navy. The interview itself follows a somewhat chronological approach looking at the overall service of Commander Melville. The interview discussed the various ships he served on and looked at things such as weapons systems and his individual duties aboard the ships. The cold war tensions presents during the time that Commander Melville was serving in was also discussed especially that of the soviet submarine threat that was present. The interview then discussed when he received his first command and the various operations that he took part of during his time aboard the ship. He goes on to discuss his time as part of the RIMPAC operation and then discuses his retirement. 0:00 – 2:04 – Early life, joining the Navy and Going to University 2:05 –3:49– Training during summers 3:54 – 7:57– life aboard HMCS Annapolis, anecdote about one of his bunkmates. 8:08 – 10:07 – Becoming operations officer HMCS Mackenzie, his duties and the defense systems aboard HMCS Mackenzie. 10:13– 12:31– left HMCS Mackenzie, joined Maritime Officer Production Study and then became Maritime Officer’s Career Manager 12:36– 12:45 – Served DDH 280s and then went to staff college 12:46– 14:18– Became CO HMCS Kootenay, discussed process of gaining command 14:41–18:40– Soviet Submarine threat and Canada ASW capability over time discussed 18:49– 25:34– Operations while in Command HMCS Kootneay, RIMPAC 25:37– 27:26– Contact Soviet Ships 27:30– 30:45– Unification, Civilian Military policy 30:51 – 33:09– Changes made to DDEs/ DDHs over the years, Refits 33:17– 35:35– The aging nature of DDEs/DDHs 35:42– 43:24– What did when off duty, port visits 43:28– 45:09– Retirement 45:17– 46:39– How the Navy has changed Suggested Clip(s) for Archive: 10:20 – 12:30 – Maritime Officer Production Study
- In Collection:
- 1 sound recording (MP3)
- 48.4359, -123.35155
- Original sound recordings (MP3) also available.
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- MB_866
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- April 5, 2017
- Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 128 kbps. Recorded in digital format by interviewer, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2017. 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
