One Tragic Night: In an Effort to Get Home Early After Being Away at Sea, One Group Neglected to Follow Procedure and the Valleyfield Paid the Price

LIEUTENANT IAN TATE SAT down at his desk to write a letter. He hated having to write these letters but was compelled to go through with it by a promise he made to his men, many of whom now rested at the bottom of the Atlantic on account of his inaction. The blank page that sat in his typewriter was intended for the mother of David Brown who was one of the 126 men killed when a German U-boat's torpedo sank the H.M.C.S Valleyfield. Tate would tell the heartsick mother that her son was one of the finest men he had served with; that had he not been killed in action he'd have surely earned his commission quickly. He told her about the act of epic heroism her son and two other torpedomen carried out while their broken ship sank into the ocean. Brown had been seen running to the aft of the ship to remove the primers from the depth charges so they wouldn't explode when they went down with the Valleyfield.