Huge crowds gathered at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax on Sunday morning to commemorate the end of the Battle of the Atlantic, the single longest battle of the Second World War.

Just offshore, HMCS Halifax sailed as trustees committed the ashes of twenty-six veterans to the sea.

Representatives from the Stadacona Band, the Royal Canadian Legion, the Royal Canadian Naval Association, the Royal Canadian Air Force Association, the Merchant Navy Association and Sea Cadets all took part in the event.

The Battle of the Atlantic began on Sept. 3, 1939, when a German submarine sank the Montreal-bound passenger ship SS Athenia west of Ireland.

The sinking killed 188 of those aboard, including four Canadians.

The Royal Canadian Navy's chief responsibility during the years-long battle was to escort merchant ship convoys. The first sailed from Halifax on Sept. 16, 1939, escorted by the Canadian destroyer St. Laurent.

By mid-1942, the Royal Canadian Navy, with support from the Royal Canadian Air Force, was providing nearly half the convoy escorts, and afterwards carried out the lion's share of escort duty.

Training, air cover, special intelligence and more and better equipment turned the tide in mid-1943, although the battle is considered to have lasted until the end of the Second World War.

More than 3,000 sailors and merchant seamen lost their lives crossing the Atlantic Ocean to deliver supplies to Europe.