A Canadian Battering Ram: Assiniboine's Sinking of the U-210
The story of a firefight between a Canadian destroyer and a German U-boat that broke out in the North Atlantic.
Assiniboine and the Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean was a dangerous place to be in the summer of 1942. German U-boats were stalking the waters. When they’d lost the element of surprise, they weren’t afraid to engaged in violent close-range duels.
In August of 1942, HMCS Assiniboine was in the middle of an eleven day crossing of the Atlantic. Southeast of Greenland they received orders to search for merchant ships falling behind a convoy.
While searching for stragglers, they spotted columns of smoke from one of the ships on the horizon. What they saw was the SS Spar, a Dutch merchant ship, taking a torpedo from a trailing German U-boat.
A Wolfpack on the Hunt
Another ship in the convoy, the HMCS Orillia, signaled the torpedo track. She and the HMS Nasturtium began dropping depth charges. However, the German U-boat U-210 was already on the move.
Having suffered a lost ship, the convoy was on high alert. The next morning, lookouts aboard the Assiniboine spotted the conning tower of U-210. The German U-boat was back for more.
Lieutenant Commander John Stubbs, the captain of Assiniboine, directed his ship to engage the submarine. Seeing the Canadian destroyer shifting its course in her direction, U-210 prepared to dive.
The Chase
The depths would prove not to be safe as the Germans had hoped. Assiniboine and HMS Dianthus began their search for U-210. It wasn’t long before they found the U-boat on SONAR and released their depth charges.
Despite an onslaught of depth charges, they lost contact with the submarine. However, they refused to give up their search. Their efforts would pay off later. Later that evening, Assiniboine spotted a conning tower.
Though the tower slipped below the surface, Captain Stubbs assumed the submarine was planning to go after the convoy again. He changed their course to intercept the U-boat. His assumption was spot on. Shortly before 7 p.m., Assiniboine regained contact with the German submarine. This time Stubbs would not let them get away.
A Final Fight
Assiniboine went full speed in the direction of U-210. As they did, the submarine opened fire. For a half hour, at less than 300 yards from one another, Assiniboine and U-210 fought, circling one another in the mayhem.
Fire broke out on the Assiniboine’s starboard side. Though it neared spreading to the bridge, Stubbs pressed on. One of her shells finally struck U-210. This sent the German officers scurrying below deck.
Stubbs recognized that the submarine was going to try to dive yet again. The Canadian destroyer had its chance and Stubbs ordered her full-steam ahead.
Assiniboine closed in on the U-boat and slammed into her side, near the damaged conning tower. With the hull damaged, the German submarine was forced to abandon her dive.
Wounded and exposed on the surface, Assiniboine rammed the German U-boat a second time. As they passed, they dropped a set of depth charges. Finally, a direct hit from the destroyer's gun struck the sub’s bow.
In less than two minutes, U-210 sank. The Assiniboine and Dianthus then approached where the submarine was last seen. They would rescue thirty-eight German sailors. Though victorious, Assiniboine had sustained sufficient damage. This forced the destroyer to abandon the convoy and return to Canada for repairs.
Returning to the Atlantic
Meanwhile, the convoy that Assiniboine had so heroically protected, would endure a relentless barrage of German U-boat attacks. In all, eleven convoy ships would sink at the hands of German torpedoes.
As for Assiniboine, she would return to the North Atlantic. A proven submarine killer, she was assigned to escort convoys. When the invasion of Normandy got underway, she was put on anti-submarine duties. She would serve out her time before being decommissioned and scrapped in 1945.
History for the Hurried:
April 11, 1968: A week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
April 14, 1828: The first dictionary of American-style English was published by Noah Webster as the American Dictionary of the English Language.