Only a few days earlier, the Iroquois, a veteran of the Murmansk convoy run helped disperse a German convoy of six ships. The engagement off the French west coast port of St. Nazaire developed early Wednesday as the guns of the Canadian Tribal class destroyer blasted a convoy made up of a German destroyer, two minesweepers and merchant men.

In company with the Royal Navy cruiser Mauritius and destroyer Ursa, the Iroquois chased the fleeing enemy ships so close to shore that shells from coastal batteries came close and in the middle of the action we had to alter course to avoid enemy torpedoes, so the action was broken off.

The next encounter was with a German tanker attempting to skip back into St. Nazaire. Although shore batteries opened up again, we chased the tanker into shallow water and drove home the attack. The Ursa and the Mauritius joined in the chase and the tanker was left in flames and sinking

As we steamed away, contact was made with four more enemy ships moving along the coast. Dawn was just breaking and, still under fire from the shore, we closed with the enemy. The first salvoes set two of them afire. The other two beached themselves.

It was then decided to go in and finish off those two—one minesweeper and one flak ship. As we approached. I could see the crews abandoning the ships, rowing ashore in small boats and running up the beaches. Lt.-Cmdr. C. R. (Tony) Coughlin, D.S.C.. of Ottawa, yelled: "Be prepared for anything. We are going in for the kill. Take your time and take it easy. We will sink the enemy." We cautiously picked our way through shallow water, wondering  if we ourselves would go aground.

Then the Ursa opened up on the flak ship. A second later we joined in the bombardment. Our first salvo was a direct hit amidships. We fired again and again until the enemy ship quivered and belched fire and smoke as it died. Then the second ship became the target and in a matter of seconds, it  too was destroyed.