Star of Courage

• Awarded on: June 8, 1981
• Invested on: September 18, 1981

Master Corporal Roddrick Warren Hipson, S.C.
Star of Courage

On 12 March 1980, MCpl. Roddrick Warren Hipson, a member of the Canadian forces serving on the H.M.C.S. Huron rescued twenty-one crewmen stranded aboard the sinking motor vessel Maurice Desgagnés some 120 kilometres from Halifax, Nova Scotia. During a howling winter storm, an immense wave hit the Desgagnés causing its cargo to shift and the vessel to list precariously in sea swells in excess of six metres. The helicopter of the Huron responded to the distress call and set out amidst winds of sixty knots, driving snow and freezing weather. While the helicopter hovered perilously close to the foundering vessel, MCpl. Hipson was lowered to the deck. He placed the rescue collar on one frantic man after another making each one ready for the hoist, instructing and guiding all twenty-one of the crew members. The operation required three helicopter sorties and lasted 90 minutes. Following this rare display of courage, MCpl. Hipson was the last to be removed, the ship was then listing almost horizontally and sank thirty minutes later.