HMCS Galiano

HMCS "Galiano" was Canada's only warship lost in World War I. The ship was built by the Dublin dock yard company in Dublin, Ireland, in 1913. She was the sister ship of HMCS "Malaysia". HMCS "Galiano" was used in the fisheries protection service as a patrol boat.

She arrived in Esquimalt, British Columbia, and started her duties on February 21, 1914. HMCS "Galiano" was made of tough steel and was a single-screw vessel. She was 160 feet (48.8 m) long, with a 26.5 foot (8.08 m) beam and a 12.5 foot (3.81 m) draught. She displaced 700 tons.

She had a powerful search light and the whole ship was electrically lighted. She was named after commander Dionisio Alcalá Galiano of the Spanish navy, who had explored the Strait of Georgia in 1792, and for whom Galiano Island was named. She was commanded by Lieutenant Robert May Pope, RNCVR, and carried out minesweeping training and trials.

The "Malaspina" was employed in similar roles. They alternated civil duties with a naval patrol and examinations vessel, from the west coast, throughout the only effect of the loss of the HMCS "Galiano" would be the deaths of the people on board, but other than that no other effect has been known. The ship itself did not put an impact in Canadian history; the loss of the ship is barely noted.

pecifications

* Commissioned: 1917
* Launched: 1913
* Paid Off: ??
* Displacement: 393 tons
* Length: 162 feet
* Width: 27 feet
* Draught: 13 feet
* Speed: 11 knots
* Crew: 33
* Armament: N/A

References

* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/ww1/convert/ Converted civilian vessels]