C.J. Dillon was a Canadian naval officer who served in the Paymaster and later Supply Branch in the naval reserve from 1931 to 1944. He then served in the Royal Canadian Navy until 1968. He retired in the rank of Rear Admiral.
British Columbia's entry into Confederation in 1871 was based on the condition that the construction of a transcontinental railway begin within 2 years and completed within 10 years. The contract was awarded to the partners of Donald Smith, J.J. Hill, and George Stephen. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company was incorporated in 1881. Under the management of W.C. Van Horne, construction moved rapidly across the plains. However, construction throughout the Canadian Shield almost equalled in difficulty the construction through the mountains of B.C. Despite numerous setbacks, the last spike was driven at Craigellachie in Eagle Pass on 7 November 1885. During construction of the railway, the C.P.R. became involved in the sale and settlement of land, the acquisition of the Dominion Express Company, and the acceptance of commercial telegraph messages. The company also constructed numerous tourist hotels and dining halls along its route through the western mountains. These hotels and dining halls were the starting point from which the company later began their international development of hotels, steamships, and airlines.
Canadian Pacific became involved with Pacific Shipping as early as 1891. It had interests in, not only Trans-Pacific shipping, but also coastal steamers (B.C. Coastal Steamers) and B.C. inland water steamers (B.C. Lake and River Steamers).
(See also: Canadian Pacific Steamship Lines).
5,905 gross tons passenger liner in the Canadian Pacific Railway’s transpacific service. In 1915, she was sold to become a hospital ship in WWI and was scrapped in 1923.
5,905 gross tons, passenger liner in the Canadian Pacific Railway’s transpacific service. She was wrecked in Mara Reef near Tokyo in 1911 and scrapped.
The Canadian Pacific Railway British Columbia Coast Steamship Service was established in 1903 when the C.P.R. purchased the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company. The company served the transportation and shipping needs of the coast of B.C. with its "Princess" line of ships.
Steel twin screw steamer, 5,875 tons gross. She was requisitioned as a troop transport in 1941, and torpedoed and sank by U-83 in the Mediterranean in 1942.
Commodor D.L. Raymond (1904-1998) entered the Royal Navy as a cadet at the age of 14. In 1944, he was loaned from the Royal Navy to the Royal Canadian Navy in the rank of Captain and, in 1948, he was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and finished his career in the rank of Commodore, having commanded the cruiser Ontario, HMCS Shearwater, the Naval Air Station in Dartmouth, and HMCS Stadacona.
HMS Malaya was a battleship who saw action in WWI as a unit in the 5th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet and in WWII in the Mediterranean, English Channel, and the Atlantic.
Lighthouse supply and buoy vessel, built in Collingwood, sailed to British Columbia via Magellan Straits. Scrapped in 1967 after 55 years of service, a record for the Canadian Coast Guard and its predecessor Marine Services.
Captain Gosse worked on the C.S.G. Estevan and for the Canadian Pacific Railway British Columbia Coast Steamship Service.