Weapons / Ammunition Archives | When World War II Came to Bell Island, Newfoundland

German G7e torpedo

Both U-boat attacks at Bell Island were made using G7e/T2 torpedoes. These weapons were 7.2 metres long and 53.3 centimetres in diameter. They weighed 1603 kilograms, which included […]

Unexploded shells on a Bell Island shipwreck

Unexploded artillery shells on the stern deck of one of the Bell Island shipwrecks. The shells were collected by clearance divers from the Royal Canadian Navy’s Fleet Diving […]

Video of Canadian Forces divers removing unexploded shells

Video of clearance divers from the Royal Canadian Navy’s Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic) removing unexploded artillery shells (also called unexploded ordnance or UXO) from two of the Bell […]

Video of German U-boat attacks at Bell Island in 1942

Video shows German newsreel of U-boat crews attacking Allied merchant ships with torpedoes. Transcript of narration: On September 4th 1942, U-513 under the command of captain Rolf Ruggeberg […]

Navy divers handling unexploded artillery shell

Canadian Forces clearance divers from the Fleet Diving Unit – Atlantic lift an unexploded artillery shell recovered from the SS Rose Castle shipwreck. The divers are Leading Seaman […]

Navy diver clearing unexploded ammunition from Rose Castle shipwreck

A Canadian Forces clearance diver from Fleet Diving Unit – Atlantic shows an unexploded artillery shell (lower right) on the S.S. Rose Castle shipwreck. The Royal Canadian Navy […]

HMCS Drumheller

Flower-class corvette Drumheller was a Royal Canadian Navy warship used for anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort in World War II. It carried a crew of 85, and was […]

Tank production at the Montreal Locomotive Works

Canadian industry switched to war production during World War II. For example, the Montreal Locomotive Works produced tanks for the Canadian Army. Manufacture of trucks, tanks, airplanes, ships, […]

Locking ring from German torpedo, recovered in Bell Island Tickle

Locking ring that attached the warhead to a German G7e torpedo that was fired by the submarine U-518 on November 2, 1942 at the SS Rose Castle. This […]

Fairmile Motor Launch Q-060 in Conception Bay

Royal Canadian Navy’s Fairmile Motor Launch Q-060 in Job’s Cove, Conception Bay in 1942. Fairmile Motor Launches patrolled Conception Bay and Bell Island Tickle to defend against German […]

U-513 with iceberg off Newfoundland in 1942

Photo from U-boat commander Rolf Rüggeberg’s personal collection. Probably taken in late August, 1942 in the Strait of Belle Isle off northern Newfoundland. Photo taken from the bow […]

Damaged conning tower of U-513

Photo from U-boat commander Rolf Rüggeberg’s personal collection. It shows the extensive damage to the U-boat conning tower caused by its submerged collision with SS Lord Strathcona on […]