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HMCS GALIANO
Auxiliary
Patrol Ship
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HMCS GALIANO
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Laid down: 1913
Launched: 1913
Acquired by RCN: 1917
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Commissioned: 15
Dec 1917
Foundered: 30
Oct 1918
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In late Oct 1918, the GALIANO, just returned from the Queen Charlotte Islands (now Haida
Gwaii) and, in need of some repair, was sent with supplies to the
light house at Triangle Island off Cape Scott at the northwestern
tip of Vancouver Island. A number of her regular crew were unable to
make the trip due to illness as the 1918 flu pandemic had reached
her base at Esquimalt. She set out towards the Queen Charlotte
Islands from Triangle Island at 5 pm on 29 Oct 1918. When she
made her only distress call at 3 am the next morning, she was
estimated to be within visual range of the light at Cape St. James
95 miles from Triangle Island. She was never heard from again and
went down with the loss of all hands. At the time of her distress
call, there were heavy seas running at her location in Queen
Charlotte Sound. She was lost just days after the SS Princess Sophia
ran aground on Vanderbilt Reef, near Skagway, Alaska also in heavy
weather. The Naval Memorial in Ross Bay Cemetery, Vancouver Island,
British Columbia bears the names of 39 officers and men who were
lost at sea.
The Victoria Daily Colonists noted, on November 03,
1918: "The men of GALIANO died in the performance of duty. They have
ventured into rough places and taken their chance many a time before. They
did it without a flourish of trumpets. This time they took a chance and
lost."
Photos
and Documents Ship's
company photos
Newspaper
transcriptions about the loss of HMCS GALIANO
The
wreck of HMCS GALIANO - Nauticapedia
Court of Inquiry Report
into the loss of HMCS GALIANO
“For
God’s Sake send help” HMCS GALIANO, Pacific Navigation and life in the
West Coast Reserve fleet, 1913-1918
Commanding Officers
Lt
Robert Mayes Pope,
RCNVR - 15 Dec 1917 - 30 Oct 1918
In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Lest We Forget
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AIRD,
James
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918
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AITKEN,
Peter
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
BATE, George
D.S.
Sh Ck 3, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
BENTLEY,
William J.
LS, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
DOBBYN,
Matthew
Sto 1c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
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EBBS,
Wilfred A.
AB, RNCVR
died - 30 Oct 1918 |
EDMONDS,
Peter W.
ERA 4c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
GILBERT,
Joseph
Bos'n, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
GREENSHIELDS,
Frank
CERA, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
HANBURY,
Charles L.
Sto 1c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
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HUME,
Arthur E.
Sto 1c, RNCVR
died - 30 Oct 1918 |
JEWKES,
Arthur L.
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
JONES,
Alan O.
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
KANEEN,
Thomas F.
L/Sto, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
KING,
William J.
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
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MacLEAN, Neil
LS, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
McGUFFIN,
Hudson
OS, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
McLEOD,
Roderick
Boy, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
MERCER, Harold
ERA 4c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
MUNRO, Alexander
E.P.
LS, RNCVR
MPK 30 Oct 1918 |
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MUSTY,
George H.
Sto 1c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
NEARY,
Michael J.
W/T.O. 4c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
NEWTON,
Roy E.
Boy, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
ORDANO,
Austin R.
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
PETERS,
Frederick G.
Boy, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
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POERE,
Edward C.
LS, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
POPE,
Robert M.
Lt, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918
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PRICE,
Noel G.
L/Sto, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
REEVES,
Alfred J.
Sh.Ck1, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
STAFFORD,
William J.
AB, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
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STIRRUP,
Harold
Sto 2c, VR6728, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
TABONE,
Michael
V.P.O., RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
THERIAULT,
William G.
Sto 2c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
VINNICOMBE,
James
CPO, VR5725, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
WALLACE,
William
Boy, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918
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WATSON,
Philip A.
ERA 2c, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
WHITWORTH,
Frederick
L/Sto, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
WILLIAMSON,
George
V.P.O., RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
YOUNG,
John
Sto 1c, VR974, RNCVR
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
No Photo Available
BRUNTON,
Emma Mary
Civilian
MPK - 30 Oct 1918 |
In memory of those who have crossed the bar
They shall not be
forgotten
Photos
and Documents
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Chief Petty
Officer James Vinicombe
Chief
Petty Officer James Vinnicombe, HMCS GALIANO's boatswain, was among those who
perished when the ship sank in an October 1918 storm. A handwritten caption
identifies Vinicombe as "the bos'un". As boatswain (a word spelled
in a wide variety of ways including "bosun"), he was responsible
for GALIANO's rigging, cables, anchors, and deck crew. The 53-year-old
Vinicombe, likely photographed aboard the GALIANO, was one of 40 lost when
the ship sank off the British Columbia coast. Like the majority of the crew,
he was a resident of British Columbia, although he had been born in London,
England.
Source: Canada
War Museum
Credit: VRP992.84.57 CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum
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5 sailors on APS GALIANO
Ref: ENMM No. VR992.84.14
Source: Canadian
Military History Volume 19 | Issue 1 Article
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Newspaper article on Doug Bate and Arthur Hume
Source: George
Douglas Stanley Bate and the Lost Ship, the GALIANO
Courtesy of Gayle Jesperson
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SS GALIANO ashore at Royal Roads Lagoon, ca. 1916.
B.C. Archives photo, call number B-03998.
Source: George
Douglas Stanley Bate and the Lost Ship, the GALIANO
Courtesy of Gayle Jesperson |
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Doug Bate and friend Arthur E. Hume on HMCS GALIANO
Source: George Douglas Stanley Bate and the
Lost Ship, the GALIANO
Courtesy of Gayle Jesperson
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George D S Bate, Cook, VR/6117, RCNVR
HMCS GALIANO
MPK - Wednesday, 30th October 1918
Source: George
Douglas Stanley Bate and the Lost Ship, the GALIANO
Courtesy of Gayle Jesperson
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Officers
of the GALIANO: Commander, Lieut. (Capt.) R.M. Pope, R.N.R. (in
centre); Chief Engineer, I. Greenshields (right); Wireless Operator,
Michael J. Neary (left).
Lieut.
Pope, commander of the GALIANO, had commanded the GALIANO ever since
she came to this country in 1913. He was born in England and came to
this coast about 15 years ago. He had already served on sailing ships
out of Great Britain to India, and was an officer aboard the steamers
of the East India Company. He was also an officer in the Cape service
from England to Africa. Later he served on a cruiser in the British
Navy as a lieutenant. After he arrived here he made several voyages
with the Empress of Japan as third officer. He then joined the Quadra
and was with her under Capt. J.F. Walbran and Capt. C. Hackett. Lieut.
Pope remained ashore some time and then took command of the GALIANO.
Frank
Greenshields, chief engineer, has been on the GALIANO ever since she
arrived in Victoria.
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From
the The
Daily Colonist, Victoria B.C.,
November 1, 1918
The following wireless message was received from the whaling tender
Gray at 3:47 yesterday afternoon: "Whalers went out to positions
I gave this morning and met the G.F. Foster, a trawler, which
accompanied them and picked up one dead body foul of a life jacket.
Soon after picked up engine room skylight which without a doubt is the
GALIANO's. No more wreckage in sight. Weather thick and dirty."
Yesterday
evening at 5 o'clock the following message was received from the Ikeda
wireless station: "Gray advises clothing on body picked up is
marked W.H. Ebbs, a sailor."
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From
the The
Daily Colonist,
Nov. 3, 1918
Before Aird
went away on his last trip he was sick, but he would not stay ashore, because
he said that as so many of the boys were laid up with "flu" it might
be thought that he was shirking. They needed him. And so he went to his ship
wearing several plasters, the work of "Mother" Ranns." who had
been doctoring him. From Vancouver he sent her a book with a message scribbled
on the lid of the box enclosing it, the title being "Old Friends Like
You."
James Aird came
from Calgary. His mother lives in Scotland. In a recent letter from her she
told of a brother being killed in action. The last letter told of another
brother being wounded in France.
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From
the The
Daily Colonist,
Nov. 3, 1918
When Mr. James Reeves, cook on the
GALIANO, left his wife to join the ship for
her last trip he said: "This is going to be an awful trip; but don't worry.
We'll all come home." |
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From
the The
Daily Colonist,
Nov. 3, 1918
Working in the
Armory at the Navy Yard, Mr. King was chosen to replace a member of the GALIANO's crew incapacitated with "flu". The longest journey he had
ever made on the water was as a passenger to Vancouver and Seattle. Before
leaving on the trip his relatives teased him about getting seasick. |
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GALIANO's Crew: Names of the Lost
Toronto Globe 05 Nov 1918 |
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