The Alberni was a Flower class corvette built at Esquimalt, British Columbia, and commissioned early in 1941 which served diligently on convoy escort in the north Atlantic and the Mediterranean. She was steaming to duty off the beaches of Normandy 19440821 when she was struck without warning by a torpedo from U480, and sank within 30 seconds. Two Royal Navy motor torpedo boats in the area managed to rescue three officers and 28 men out of a crew of 90. But most of them never stood a chance, they were below decks eating lunch. Included among the casualties were M Kowbel, GA Merk, D Stephen and GA Stuart.

Interestingly, the Alberni was initially thought to have been mined and it was not until after the war that the truth emerged. U480 had been given an all-over rubber coating designed to absorb asdic signals, and this probably allowed her to escape detection.

See http://www.alberniproject.org/The_Alberni_Project.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Alberni_%28K103%29 .