Here are a few final facts and thoughts about HMCS QUEBEC’s fascinating story.
Once she was cut loose from the British Pacific Fleet in July 1945, QUEBEC arrived in Esquimalt on August 10th. After wholesale crew changes, leave, and all the normal routine of a warship’s existence, she assumed important duties as a training ship.
On January 14th, 1952, HMCS UGANDA (as she was still known) was renamed HMCS QUEBEC. Thus the two most formidable ships in the RCN (QUEBEC and ONTARIO) were fittingly named after our largest provinces. They both performed training functions until they were ultimately paid off. In the case of QUEBEC, that occurred on June 13th, 1956.
HMCS UGANDA/QUEBEC was led by exemplary officers during World War II. Among them were her Commanding Officer, Captain Rollo Mainguy, (1901-1979), OBE, CD. He retired as a Vice-Admiral, having been the seventh Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. He was the primary author of the Mainguy Report, which looked into the causes and cures following a series of near-mutinies in the RCN.
The 57-page report ultimately recommended, among other things, more “Canadianization” of the RCN. In an amusing comment that has a certain ring to it today, one of the “mutineers” responded this way to a suggestion that perhaps Communist agents had been fomenting trouble: “Communists? Us guys from Alberta were all red-necks!”
UGANDA’S Executive Officer was Commander Hugh F. Pullen, (1905-1983). He retired as a Rear Admiral after a distinguished career.
The Gunnery Officer was Lieutenant William M. Landymore. One of my personal heroes, Landymore rose to the rank of Rear Admiral and was appointed the first Commander of Maritime Command after the RCN was folded into the unified Canadian Armed Forces. He resigned in protest over the treatment he—and the navy—received at the hands of Prime Minister Lester Pearson and the Minister of Defence, Paul Hellyer, in the course of unification.
I recall reading the Mainguy Report as a part of our three weeks in Leadership School in Cornwallis in 1961. It was an interesting document which had a significant impact on the culture of the RCN.
Rollo Mainguy—what a hilariously appropriate name for an Admiral. Not to laugh at the navy, but i did just see the HMS Pinafore at SAC last night!