The Tribal Legacy: Advocacy, Ship Design and the Canadian Navy's Force Structure Crisis, 1957 ...

503 Pages·2008·4.15 MB·English

The Annapolis Riddle: Advocacy, Ship Design and the Canadian
Navy’s Force Structure Crisis, 1957-1965

by

Richard Oliver Mayne

A dissertation submitted to the Department of History
in conformity with the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
April, 2008

Copyright © Richard Oliver Mayne, 2008
This degree is dedicated to my wife Tara.
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Abstract
The Annapolis Riddle: Advocacy, Ship Design and the
Canadian Navy’s Force Structure Crisis, 1957-1965.
The General Purpose Frigate was the centrepiece of the Royal Canadian Navy’s
fleet planning for over three years, and its cancellation by the newly elected Liberal
government in October 1963 set off a divisive and chaotic yearlong debate over what
should be built in its place. After exploring numerous options, such as aircraft carriers
and nuclear submarines, the navy came to the conclusion that its best option was to
pursue a guided missile destroyer program that was similar to the General Purpose
Frigate. What happened next has confounded a number of modern naval historians. Just
as the navy was about to acquire its long sought after guided missile destroyers, a
decision was made to build four smaller specialized anti-submarine vessels that would
repeat the less sophisticated Annapolis class instead.
Although a number of theories have been put forward to explain this decision, the
one common factor among these hypotheses is the notion that an egocentric and
dominant defence minister named Paul Hellyer forced the Repeat Annapolis upon a
reluctant navy that unanimously despised the concept. According to these
interpretations, both the Repeat Annapolis and General Purpose Frigate were reflective of
a larger debate over whether the navy should have the capability to participate in more
versatile operations, such as containing limited wars in the Third World, or maintaining a
specialised antisubmarine fleet. Conventional wisdom, therefore, suggest that Hellyer’s
selection of the repeat Annapolis was indicative of a minister who gave the navy little
choice but to specialize in anti-submarine warfare. This dissertation, however, challenges
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this premise by arguing that the navy was far from united over its force structure - a term
used to describe the process through which the navy selects the types of ships it requires
to fulfil its current and future roles. Instead, it will show how the birth of the Repeat
Annapolis was actually the product of conflicting opinions and struggles from within the
navy itself. Understanding the self-inflicted damage resulting from these conflicts is
crucial, particularly since the force structure that emerged from this chaotic period (1957
- 1965) would influence the composition of the Canadian navy for the next forty years.

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Acknowledgments

There are a great number of people who have my internal thanks because without
their assistance this dissertation would never have been completed. First and foremost, I
would like to acknowledge the efforts of my advisor Dr. Allan English and co-advisor Dr.
Richard Gimblett. Both men are model supervisors who not only gave me the latitude to
discover the exact topic that I wanted to explore, but also had the good sense to keep me
on track once I began writing. I would also like to thank the other members of my
committee, namely Dr. Doug Bland, Dr. Jim Pritchard, Dr. Roger Sarty and Dr. Bob
Shenton, who all provided excellent advice and suggestions for improvement. It is
equally important to thank the department of history (and in particular Yvonne Place - the
graduate secretary) as well as Queen’s University itself. Queen’s is a wonderful
institution and my time there was a truly rewarding experience.
The Directorate of History and Heritage at National Defence Headquarters is
another organisation that deserves much credit, the more so because of the friendship and
guidance I received from this fine institution. In particular, Dr. Steve Harris, Mr. Mike
Whitby, and Dr. Isabel Campbell were not only constant sources of encouragement, but
also key figures who helped me with the formation of ideas and concepts. Unfortunately,
there are simply too many historians at DHH to thank everyone, but it is important to
record that I cherish all the discussions I had with them as well as their advice for both
this dissertation as well as my work on Volume III of the Official History of the Royal
Canadian Navy. Other DHH staff also played a pivotal role in helping me. As with other
projects of mine, Warren Sinclair has yet again proven that he is one of the finest
archivists I know. Likewise, Madeleine LaFleur-Lemire, DHH’s Librarian, went well
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beyond her normal duties in finding numerous obscure references, books and articles. But
it was Andrea Schlecht who truly made things possible through her efforts to declassify
the mountain of documents that were required for this dissertation.
The kindness, patience and helpfulness at the various archives I visited need
similar recognition. I was always treated with the utmost courtesy whether it was the
British archives at the Public Records Office (Kew), the Imperial War Museum
(London), and the National Maritime Museum (Brass Foundry) or the domestic
institutions at the Canadian War Museum and the Library and Archives of Canada.
There is, however, one individual at the latter organization that deserves a special word of
thanks. Working on a subject that dealt with so many classified sources was never easy,
but Danielle Simard and her staff at the Access to Information division at the Library and
Archives did an amazing job in clearing the documentation needed for this dissertation.
My greatest appreciation, however, is reserved for my family and friends. Jamie
Paxton, a fellow PhD candidate at Queens and close friend since my undergraduate days
at the University of Toronto, was always willing to listen and offer suggestions on my
dissertation (frequently over coffee or beer at the local café or pub). The same was true
for Chris Knowlton and a number of others who stuck by me despite the fact that I was
often an absent friend while researching and writing. My Mom, Helen, late father,
Richard, brother, Michael and sisters Alyson and Susan, always believed in my academic
pursuits and provided an unbelievable level of support. While he arrived later in the
process, my son Matthew (my pride and joy) was a particularly welcome addition who
made the final stretch much more pleasurable. But it is my wife Tara who lived with this
PhD on a day to day basis. Tara is one of those special spouses who are willing to make
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any sacrifice to see their partner succeed. She is a wonderful woman who I was
extremely fortunate to meet and had the common sense to marry. It is to her that I owe
(and dedicate) this degree.

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Table of Contents

Dedication ii

Abstract iii

Acknowledgments v

Abbreviations ix

Chapter One 1
Introduction

Chapter Two 29
“Small, Cheap and Many”

Chapter Three 103
“A Cold Hard Look”

Chapter Four 175
“A Wasteful Navy Project”

Chapter Five 246
The Battle of the Iwo Jimas

Chapter Six 311
Victory over the Essex and the “poor man’s solution”

Chapter Seven 385
“A poor cousin on a picnic”

Chapter Eight 434
Conclusion

Bibliography 445

Annex A Comparison of proposed naval force structures, 1961-1964 457

Annex B Comparison of destroyer designs 458

Annex C Illustrations of Various Ships and Aircraft 459
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Abbreviations

AA Anti Aircraft
AAW Anti Aircraft Warfare
ACDS Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff
ACNS (A&W) Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Air and Warfare)
ACNS (P) Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Plans)
ACLANT Allied Commander Atlantic
A/S Anti-submarine
ASROC Anti-submarine Rocket
ASW Anti-submarine Warfare
A/VCNS Acting Vice Chief of the Staff
AVM Air Vice Marshal
CANAVHED Canadian Naval Headquarters
CAS Chief of Air Staff
CCSC Chairman Chief of Staff Committee
CDC Cabinet Defence Committee
CDS Chief of the Defence Staff
CF Canadian Forces
CFHQ Canadian Forces Headquarters
CGS Chief of the General Staff
CHSS-2 Canadian Sea King helicopter (American version known as HSS-2)
CINCEASTLANT Commander in Chief Eastern Atlantic
CLG guided missile cruiser
CNP Chief of Naval Personnel
CNS Chief of the Naval Staff
CNTS Chief of Naval Technical Services
COR Chief of Operational Readiness
CRMS Close Range Missile System
CSC Chief of Staff Committee
CUSRPG Canada United States Regional Planning Group
CVH Helicopter carrying aircraft carrier
CVN Nuclear powered aircraft carrier
CVS Escort aircraft carrier
DASH Drone Anti-submarine Helicopter [check]
D/COR Deputy Chief of Operational Readiness
DD Destroyer
DDG Guided missile destroyer
DDH Helicopter-carrying destroyer
DE Destroyer escort
DDE Destroyer escort
DDP Department of Defence Production
DG Air Director General Aircraft
DGFD Director General Force Development
DGFE Director General Fighting Equipment
DG Ships Director General Ships
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DGNS Director General Naval Supply
DGSF Director General Support Facilities
DHH Directorate of History and Heritage
DNFER Director of Naval Fighting Equipment Requirements
DNI Director of Naval Intelligence
DOD Date of Death
DOR Director of Operational Research
DM Deputy Minister
DNAR Director of Naval Air Requirements
DND Department of National defence
DNPC Director of Naval Programme Control
DNOR Director Naval Operational Requirements
DNPO Director of Naval Plans and Operations
DNSR Director of Naval Ship Requirements
DSDC Director Ship Design and Construction
DSNSP Defence Supply Naval Shipbuilding Panel
EASTLANT Eastern Atlantic
FOAC Flag Officer Atlantic Coast
FOPC Flag Officer Pacific Coast
FRAM Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization
F/Y Fiscal Year
GIUK Greenland Iceland United Kingdom
GPD General Purpose Destroyer
GPF General Purpose Frigate
HMCS Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship
HMS Her Majesty’s Ship
ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
IFF Identification Friend or Foe
IRE Improved Restigouche
ISL Improved St. Laurent
LAC Library and Archives Canada
LPD Landing Platform Dock
LPH Landing Platform Helicopter (also helicopter-carrying assault ship)
MAD Magnetic Anomaly Detection
MND Minister of National Defence
MPA Maritime Patrol Aircraft
MRMS Medium Range Missile System
MSSG Maritime System Study Group
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NCC Naval Constructor in Chief
NHQ Naval Headquarters
NPCC Naval Policy Coordinating Committee
NSST Nuclear Submarine Survey Team
OSS Operational Support Ship
PDMS Point Defence Missile System
PPCC Policy and Plans Coordinating Committee
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