HMCS GALIANO
HMCS GALIANO
The History of HMCS GALIANO
In late October, 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 October 29, 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. Of these, 36 were from HMCS Galiano, which sunk on 30 October 1918.
HMCS GALIANO Statistical Data
- Pendant:
- Type:
- Class:
- Displacement: 393 tonnes
- Length: 162.3 ft
- Width: 27 ft
- Draught: 13 ft
- Speed: 11 kts
- Compliment: 33 Officers and Crew
- Arms:
- Builder: Dublin Dockyard
- Keel Laid:
- Date Launched: 1913
- Date Commissioned:
- Paid off: