Date of birth:  6 March 1919,
  Date of marriage: 12 July 1947
Date of death:  27 July 1977
 

“It was a grim situation; HMCS Chebogue had been torpedoed by a U-boat in the mid-Atlantic. Eight of the crew had been killed and the ship was being towed to Wales.

It was October, 1944.

Exactly one week later, after what seemed to be an eternity of anxiety, the little frigate was caught in the teeth of a 100 mile an hour hurricane and broke up on the shore of Wales.

To Commander Ian A McPhee it was an experience he will never forget.  He remembers the wind and the violent sea, and jumping overboard.  He hit something and was knocked unconscious.  When he came to he was in a life boat operated by members of the royal Life Saving Society. “it was the name of the game…I was one of the lucky ones” recalls the veteran naval office who on June 1st starts retirement leave to end 27 years of naval service.

Born in Yorkton, Sask., Cdr McPhee commenced his naval service as a reservist in the summer of 1941.  Five years later he transferred to the regular force and subsequent appointments on both coasts.  He served as executive office in the destroyer escort Crescent and as commanding officer in both the coastal-escort Wallaceburg and the destroyer escort Nootka. Between the summer of 1960 and that of 1962 he was Naval Member of the Joint Planning Staff at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa.

He commanded the fleet maintenance vessel Cape Breton between July of 1962 and February 1964.

Since that time he has served in HMC Dockyard, Esquimalt on the staff of the commander of Pacific Maritime Forces as Command Personnel and Training Officer and other senior staff positions”

Maritime Command Pacific
Lookout Newspaper
Friday May 24th 1968
Vol  l13  No. 10

[This material was kindly furnished by David McPhee]