HMCS Esquimalt  Memorial Service, April 16, 2022

Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt Base Commander, Captain (Navy) Jeff J. Hutchinson addresses the parade.

HMCS Esquimalt was a Bangor class minesweeper that served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Esquimalt served on the Atlantic coast of Canada conducting anti-submarine patrols in the approaches to Halifax Harbour. The ship was torpedoed and sunk off Cheducto Head, Nova Scotia, by U-190 on April 16, 1945, becoming the last Royal Canadian Navy warship lost to enemy action. Every year, the military and Esquimalt community hold a memorial service to remember those who perished when the ship went down. In addition to the 28 sailors believed to have died when the ship sank, another 16 are believed to have died of exposure, on the open water, before HMCS Sarnia could rescue them.

A member of the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy salutes during the National Anthem.