B.L. "BARNEY" JOHNSON

Barney Johnson watched as the first Canadian submarines came alongside in Esquimalt on 5 August 1914. He was a young master mariner of considerable repute from Vancouver and had been "lent" by the BC Pilotage Authority for one month to the RCN to assist with the navigation of warships in the hazardous Inside Passage.

In the turmoil at the naval base in August 1914, Johnson found himself appointed to CC2 as her First Lieutenant (second in command). He was not officially in the navy yet, wore no uniform and was addressed as "Mister." However he attended all the hastily arranged submarine classes and learned with gusto. In late September the RCN persuaded the Pilotage Authority to release Johnson for the duration of the war and he donned the uniform of an acting Lieutenant. The one month loan ultimately extended to nearly five years--all but a couple of weeks spent in submarines.

In May 1915 Johnson heard that his request for overseas service had been granted and with it the command of a brand new submarine, H8. He went to Montreal for her commissioning and took her across the Atlantic -- the first Canadian to command a submarine and a reservist at that! After work-ups, Johnson and H8 had an exciting time in the North Sea when they were hit by a mine in March 1916. Both the submarine and the crew survived, thanks to Johnson's brilliant seamanship, but that is another story.....

Johnson commanded two other boats in WWI and was awarded the DSO in 1917 for his gallant conduct in recovering H8.

Dive into Julie's latest book
Deeply Canadian: New Submarines for the New Millenium

or read more about Canadas first submariners in
Through a Canadian Periscope

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