The Arctic Expedition That Asserted Dominance Over Nazi Forces 

On June 23, 1940, a 100-foot-long patrol boat named the St. Roch slipped out of its dock in Vancouver, British Columbia, on a mission that would secure a place in history. By the time it returned four years later, it had completed both the second and third transits of the fabled Northwest Passage through Canada’s Arctic islands. It was the first ship to do so traveling from west to east and, on the return voyage, the first to complete the journey in a single season.

But the record-making transits of the Passage, while significant in the annals of polar exploration, were in fact a cover story. Many decades later, it was revealed that the St. Roch was on a cloak-and-dagger wartime mission and that its actual destination was Greenland.

Launched in 1928, the St. Roch had a double hull, retractable keel and other features that enabled it to operate as a patrol and supply ship among the islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Having effectively been deeded the islands by Britain shortly after Canada’s founding in 1867, Canadian officials were keen to demonstrate a presence in the remote region as a way of underlining Ottawa’s sovereignty.

The ship “was kind of a beacon for a lot of communities up there,” explains Ermen DelliCarpini, curator of exhibits at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, where the St. Roch is on display. “When the St. Roch came to a community, people would come and flock, and [after World War II began] even Inuit would come and ask, ‘What’s happening with the White Man’s War?’”

So when the ship's captain, Henry Larsen—himself an expat Norwegian—told his small crew that they would be aiming to complete the Northwest Passage, a feat only achieved to that point by compatriot Roald Amundsen in 1906, it made sense. The expedition would serve as a demonstration of Canadian authority over the region.

Not until the journey east was halfway through did Larsen inform the crew of their true goal: to get to Greenland, preempt a possible Nazi invasion and maintain the Allies’ ability to build fighter planes.

Greenland boasted the only known source of cryolite, a mineral that was crucial to the production of aluminum that was used to construct fighter planes. But in April 1940, the Nazis invaded Denmark, which owned and administered Greenland, and were now showing interest in the island itself. Its proximity to North America—at their closest points, Greenland and Canada are just 16 miles apart—as well as its mineral resources made it an attractive proposition to Hitler’s forces.

The Aluminum Company of Canada (ALCAN) lobbied Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King to take action to protect the resource. King’s plan was to land a force of 250 personnel at the cryolite mine in Ivittuut, supported by the RMS Nascopie. The St. Roch, which Larsen had assured officials could complete the Passage in 90 days, would be the backup that nobody expected to turn up in Greenland after leaving Vancouver.

But then ice—long the bane of attempts to transit the Passage—would intercede again. It blocked the St. Roch’s path, obliging it to spend not just one but two winters in the Arctic. By the time it reached Halifax, Nova Scotia, in October 1942, the calculus had changed.

The United States, which had been neutral in World War II when the St. Roch left Vancouver, was an active participant by the time it emerged from the Northwest Passage. And it had its own views on Greenland.

The U.S. position, DelliCarpini explains, was that “if Denmark doesn’t want it, it’s ours.” The Americans also had a company, the Pennsylvania Salt Co., that coveted the cryolite mine every bit as much as ALCAN.

“The U.S. sends its own ship, the USCGC Comanche,” DelliCarpini says. “They land on Greenland. Plain clothes U.S. personnel prevent the crew of the Nascopie from disembarking their vessel for several weeks until Pennsylvania Salt has an exclusive deal to operate the cryolite mine.”

The growing American military presence in the region prompted anxious Canadian officials to reassert their country’s Arctic sovereignty. So after undergoing a refit in Halifax, the St. Roch took the northernmost known route in the Northwest Passage back to Vancouver.

Equipped this time with a more experienced crew, as well as Inuk guide Joe Panipakuttuk, several of his family members and 17 dogs, the St. Roch made a mockery of the conditions that had bedeviled previous expeditions. Departing Halifax on July 22, 1944, it transited the Bering Strait on September 27 and arrived in Vancouver on October 16. The ship had traveled 7,300 miles in 86 days, an astonishing achievement.

Following the war, Denmark resumed possession of Greenland, and in recent decades, the island has assumed progressively more autonomy. The cryolite mine closed in 1987, but 80 years after World War II ended, American interest in Greenland continues.

The St. Roch, meanwhile, is enjoying a quiet retirement in Vancouver. Its museum resting place designated a National Historic Site in tribute to its successful voyages and its secret role in protecting the Arctic from covetous foes.