Canada's Naval History

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First World War (1914-1918)
War in the Pacific

At the outbreak of war in August 1914, only three obsolete ships and two recently-acquired submarines protected Canada's west coast. Canadians feared that German cruisers might attack merchant ships or bombard cities and towns. After these attacks failed to materialize, many vessels and personnel were transferred to the Atlantic to deal with the growing German submarine threat.

Chief Petty Officer James Vinicombe

Chief Petty Officer James Vinicombe, 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 "bos'un"), 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.

VRP992.84.57
CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum