War ships must salute Memorial in Spencer Smith Park; Promenade in front of statue to be named Naval Veterans Promenade.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON.  March 4^th, 2013  While never a “naval town” Burlington has perhaps the best World War II naval memorial in the country with a statue that captures perfectly the young men who went to sea on corvettes that bob in the Atlantic waters on a corkscrew pattern.

Convoys would assemble in the Bedford Basin, part of the Halifax Harbour and make the run to the United Kingdom with much needed supplies or take the more northerly route known as the Murmansk run – where the weather was brutal.

Our tribal class ships, when they were available, sailed with a convoy.  Failing that they were escorted by frigates, one of which was named HMCS Burlington.  Correction: Les Armstrong correctly advised us that HMCS Burlington was a minesweeper and not a frigate.  Indeed she was a Bangor class minesweeper) She sailed into Burlington one afternoon, took the salute from the naval team ashore and sailed out the same day – there wasn’t an opportunity for the ship to tie up alongside the canal and take on visitors for a few hours.

These were the ships that fought the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest naval battle in history. Shown here is HMCS Haida, currently tied up in Hamilton.

One of the Canadian Navy’s Tribal Class destroyers is tied up alongside Pier 9 in Hamilton.  She is a proud piece of our Naval history – perhaps some day she might be tied up in Burlington where she would be seen by many more people.

When city council approves the idea this stretch of Spencer Smith Park will forever be known as the Naval Veterans Promenade. Great idea.

Back then there wasn’t the Spencer Smith Park we have today with its long pleasantly landscaped promenade.  The Burl-Oak Naval Veterans wrote the city last June and asked if the promenade, which didn’t have a name, could be named the Naval Veterans Walkway, to further commemorate the men, the ships and the men who went down with many of those ships.

Parks and Recreation staff pointed out that the piece of property was a promenade and at a council committee meeting late in February the name was approved.

The Naval Veterans Promenade will pass right in front of the Memorial.

The Mayor thought it was a good idea and took it to a council committee where it passed faster that a frigate could drop a depth charge.  The decision will be ratified at the March 19^th Council meeting and then commemorated at the Battle of the Atlantic Sunday in May.

The stretch of the promenade from where people will walk out onto the pier, west to the Discovery Centre will thereafter be known as Naval Veterans Promenade.

What few people know is that the existence of a Navy Standing Order that requires all warships leaving Hamilton Harbour to stop and salute the Memorial before continuing on their way.