OTTAWA, TODAY – Mr. Stéphane Ouellette, President and Chief Executive Officer, Merchant Navy Commemorative Theme Project (MNCTP), was joined by members of Royal Canadian Medical Service Association (RCMSA) and the Canadian Armed Forces in remembering the sinking of the Llandovery Castle.

On June 27, 1918, the HMHS Llandovery Castle, under the command of Lt.–Col. Thomas Howard MacDonald (a native from Nova Scotia), was torpedoed by German submarine SM U–86, off southern Ireland (en route from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England). Out of the 258 souls on board, 234 lives were tragically lost by drowning and subsequent machine-gunning of lifeboats.

The hospital ship consisted of a crew of 168 men and 94 Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) personnel, including Medical Officers, Nursing Sisters, a Pharmacy Dispenser, a Ward Master, Medical Orderly NCOs, dozens of Medical Orderlies, and a hospital Chaplain. Only one lifeboat survived the attack. It was picked up by the destroyer HMS Lysander on the morning of June 29, 36 hours after the attack. Twenty-four people survived the attack on lifeboats, including six members of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. This tragic sinking was the deadliest Canadian naval disaster of the Great War, and became internationally infamous as one of the greatest atrocities of the First World War.

On June 26, 2018, The Llandovery Castle: A New Canadian Opera, premiered at the Calvin Presbyterian Church (located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Another performance followed on June 27th. This ‘New Canadian Production’ was created by composer Stephanie Martin and librettist Paul Ciufo as an act of remembrance for this special centennial commemorative date. On April 6, 2020, The Llandovery Castle: Opera Laurier’s First Full Performance was streamed on “YouTube Premieres.” Please Click Here to Watch on YouTube.

The Llandovery Castle is part of a ‘Canadian driven’ worldwide recognition initiative dedicated to honouring our Allied Merchant Navy and American Merchant Marine Veterans as the mainstay of the Allied Forces victories in both World Wars. It also highlights their contributions to the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Likewise, we pay tribute and promote the modern day shipping industry as paramount to international security, defence, and to the global economy.