Canadian naval hero DeWolf dead at 97

Harry G. DeWolf, Canada's most decorated sailor from the Second World War, has died at 97.

The retired vice-admiral died at his home in Ottawa on Monday.

Born in Bedford, N.S., DeWolf left home at 14 to enter the Royal Naval College of Canada in Esquimalt, B.C., where he stayed for three years.

He served in the navy for 42 years, rising to naval chief of staff in 1956. He retired four years later.

During the Second World War, he was captain of the newly commissioned HMCS Haida, a Tribal class destroyer with a crew of 275.

The Haida regularly clashed with German warships in the English Channel. DeWolf once returned to enemy waters to rescue the survivors of the sunken Canadian ship HMCS Athabaskan.

That mission was taken in the dark and against orders.

For that and other such exploits, DeWolf earned the nickname "Hard Over Harry."

DeWolf received various awards for his service, including the United States Legion of Merit, the Norwegian Cross of Liberation and the French Cross of the Legion of Honour.

A waterfront park in his home town of Bedford, N.S., was named the Admiral Harry DeWolf Park in 1992.