Artifacts
The Crow’s Nest is not just a social club, it is a living breathing museum. With each ship that enters the harbour of St. John’s, our history expands – and it has been that way since the Club opened in 1942.
In 1987 the Club established the Crow’s Nest Military Artifacts Association Inc., for the purposes of preserving and maintaining custody of its historic and military assets and memorabilia. Click here for more information on the association.
We have collected a unique and valuable collection of artifacts of all kinds. Over time we aim to archive all of these artifacts right here on our website. View our online archive with the links below.
HMCS Skeena and her sister ship, HMCS Saguenay, were the first ships built specifically for the RCN. They were constructed in the UK and patterned after the RN’s Acasta class destroyers but with modifications for Canadian weather. Among other features, the hull was strengthened for ice and an extra margin of stability was given to […]
Built in 1917, the ex-USS Laub was transferred to the RN and commissioned as HMS Burwell in Halifax on October 9 th , 1940. It then sailed for the UK to undergo modifications to suit RN purposes. Following convoy work in the Northwest Approaches, it was transferred to the newly formed Newfoundland Escort Force in […]
Specially built and fully equipped rescue ships were not available in the early days of the war. Instead, ocean-going tugboats, trawlers and coastal passenger transports were modified to serve in that role. Dedicated rescue vessels permitted the naval escorts to focus on countering any attacks. They also took the burden off merchant ships to stop […]
This spike was driven into the deck by LCdr Bert Shadforth on the Crow’s Nest’s opening night in January 1942. LCdr Shadforth was the Commanding Officer of HMCS Spikenard, and the winner of the nail driving contest. The ship was lost a few weeks later. Her captain, all her officers and a good many of […]
The table holds an embroidered cloth that has the names of many of the Crow’s Nest members in 1971. This table cloth was presented to Lady Outerbridge that year in appreciation of her efforts in making the space available during the war. In her will, Lady Outerbridge left it back to the Club. The embroidery […]
The periscope comes from the U190, the German submarine that surrendered at Bay Bulls at the end of WWII. The German crew were transferred at sea to Canadian ships and taken to Halifax. The U190 was brought into St. John’s by an Allied crew and then taken to Halifax. It was briefly commissioned in the […]
