Huntley Osborne Giffin was born at Isaac’s Harbour, Guysborough County, on January 9, 1890. Huntley’s parents, Theodore Harding Giffin and Martha Elizabeth Lintlop, were also Isaac’s Harbour natives. Theodore was the son of Edward and Rachel (Langley) Giffin, and a Master Mariner by occupation. His wife Martha was the daughter of William and Isabel Lintlop. The couple raised three sons and six daughters in their home, Huntley being both the middle child and middle son.
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| Master Mariner Huntley Osborne Giffin |
Around the time of his wife’s passing, Theodore moved the family household to Halifax, where he found employment as an insurance agent, presumably in the shipping business. A second tragedy struck the family on December 6, 1917, when Huntley’s older sister, Mabel Lulu, her husband Edward Hugh Beiswanger, and their two young sons, Kenneth and Everett Allister, perished in the Halifax explosion. Officials recovered their remains from the family home at 47 Union St. and Theodore accompanied the bodies to Goldboro, where they were laid to rest in Bayview Cemetery.
On December 31, 1919, Theodore married Violet Richardson, a native of Halifax, and spent the remainder of his life in the city. Following his death in 1932, he was laid to rest in Camp Hill Cemetery, alongside his first wife Martha.
Meanwhile, Huntley pursued a career at sea. Unfortunately, details on his early years are sparse. Later documents indicate that he went to sea between the ages of 15 and 20. His 1914 marriage license identifies his occupation as “Marine Officer,” indicating that he had begun his progression through the merchant marine ranks. By the late 1920s, he had achieved the rating of Master Mariner, a position that required at least a decade of service at sea and entitled the bearer to command vessels of any tonnage.
While employed full-time in the merchant marine, Huntley also enlisted as a Lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve on December 5, 1924, and was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on January 9, 1935. By the time Canada’s entry into the Second World War, however, he had been placed on the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve’s list of “Retired Officers.”
The years after 1911 also saw several important milestones in Huntley’s personal life. On June 3, 1914, he married Winifred May Davidson, daughter of Robert G. and Marcella “Mercy” (Langley) Davidson, Isaac’s Harbour, in a ceremony held at Stellarton, NS. The newlyweds established residence at Halifax, where Winifred gave birth to a daughter, Winifred Marcella “Winnie,” on December 20, 1920. Tragically, Winifred fell ill several months after her daughter’s birth and passed away from “acute septicaemia” on February 23, 1921.
Two-month-old Winnie was taken in by her maternal grandparents and spent her formative years in their New Glasgow home. She later married J. Gerald Belliveau and resided at Halifax, where she and her husband raised their only child, a son. Winifred Marcella (Giffin) Belliveau passed away at Halifax on October 26, 2011.
By the early 1930s, Huntley had ascended to the position of Master of Canadian National Steamship Lines’ SS Prince Henry. Launched in 1930, the vessel initially serviced ports along the coastline of British Columbia and the United States Northwest. The Great Depression’s impact on commerce resulted in its transfer to the eastern seaboard, where the vessel commenced regular service on the company’s Montreal - Bermuda route.
A December 1931 Port of Boston crew list identifies Huntley as the Master of the Prince Henry. According to the document, he had been “engaged” at Vancouver, BC, on November 12, 1931, suggesting that he commanded the ship as it made its way from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. Huntley made regular stops at Boston aboard the SS Prince Henry over the ensuing six months.
Huntley’s name next appears on a Port of Boston crew list dated February 3, 1936, where he is listed as the Master of RMS Lady Drake. He had joined the vessel’s crew at Halifax in late December 1935, and stopped at Boston on the vessel’s return journey from Bermuda and the British West Indies. A second visit to the port took place late the following month, on the way to Bermuda. The documents are the first record of Huntley’s service aboard one of the five vessels that constituted Canadian National’s famous “Lady Boat” fleet.
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| Master Mariner Huntley Osborne Giffin |
Canadian National Steamship Lines first established a Canada - West Indies freight and passenger service in 1927. Prior to that time, a number of privately owned vessels had serviced the route, with little commercial success. Canadian National assumed responsibility for the route, with the support of the Canadian government and several of its West Indies destinations. Five new vessels were constructed at Cammell Laird Shipyards, Birkenhead, United Kingdom, to conduct the service. The ships were named after the wives of British Admirals with historical connections to the region.
Three vessels—Lady Nelson, Lady Hawkins and Lady Drake—serviced an eastern route, sailing from Halifax to Bermuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Dominica, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad and British Guyana. The ships then made return calls at each location, stopping at St. John, NB, before returning to Halifax. The two other ships—Lady Somers and Lady Rodney—travelled a western route, providing monthly summer service from Montreal through the Strait of Canso to Halifax, then on to Bermuda, Nassau, and Kingston, Jamaica. During the winter months, the ships departed from Halifax, due to the winter closure of the St. Lawrence River.
The Lady Nelson—the first vessel to enter service—commenced its maiden voyage on December 14, 1928. All five vessels were in operation by April 1929 and continued to sail throughout the following decade, despite the Great Depression’s impact on human and commercial traffic. By the spring of 1939, Huntley was the Master of the Lake Hawkins, and made regular stops at the Port of Boston throughout the year on his way to and from the West Indies.
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| Lady Hawkins dockside at Halifax, NS |
Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Canadian National made several modifications to its Bermuda and West Indies voyages. The entire fleet was repainted grey from mast top to waterline. The colour provided camouflage at dusk and dawn, the times when U-boat attacks were most likely. Vessels also followed a timed zigzag pattern, changing course every five to 10 minutes, and enforced a strict blackout order after sunset.
In October 1940, the Canadian government requisitioned the Lady Somers into naval service, making it the first Canadian merchant vessel to enter wartime operations. The ship was converted into an armed cruiser at a Bermuda dock, at which time Canada chartered the vessel to the British government. The Lady Somers entered active service as a patrol vessel enforcing a naval blockade of Nazi-occupied Europe in the late spring of 1941, only to be sunk by an Italian submarine in the Bay of Biscay on July 16, 1941.
By late 1941, German U-boats had made their way into the waters along the North America’s Atlantic coast in large numbers, making the Lady Boat fleet’s West Indies voyages increasingly perilous. In response, the Hawkins, Drake and Nelson were outfitted with one four-inch, low angle gun, and assigned a Navy gun layer responsible for the weapon’s deployment. While crew members were also trained in its operation, in reality the stern-mounted gun offered little protection from submarine attack.
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| Naval gun mounted on Lady Drake's stern |
On January 16, 1942, the Lady Hawkins departed Halifax for Boston, once again under the command of Master Huntley Giffin. The ship left secretly in the middle of the night, and cautiously made its way southward. At Boston—its first port of call—a large group of American workers came aboard, destined for Trinidad, where they were to assist with the construction of a new American naval base. Several American army and British naval personnel also boarded, bound for special training at the same location.
The Lady Hawkins then proceeded along the Massachusetts coastline, through the Cape Cod canal and into Vineyard Sound, then southward to New York Harbour. A US destroyer escorted the vessel out of Brooklyn Navy Yard, turning back at the Statue of Liberty as the Lady Hawkins entered open waters. The ship remained as close to American shore as possible until it reached Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, at which point it veered southeastward toward Bermuda, its next port of call.
The Lady Hawkins was now on its own as it crossed the open sea. Its radio operators received numerous calls from other unescorted ships, warning of torpedo attacks close to the Lady Hawkins’ planned route. In response, Master Giffin ordered the vessel to follow a zigzag course at a speed of 15 knots.
The following day—Sunday, January 18, 1942—was calm and sunny, prompting some crew members and passengers to sit on the deck and enjoy the fine weather. As night fell, Chief Officer Percy Kelly ensured that no lights were visible and checked that the ship’s lifeboats were ready for deployment if required. At 10:30 pm, Kelly reported to Master Giffin that all was well and headed to bed.
Less than three hours later, Kelly was awakened by an explosion, followed shortly afterward by a second blast. A later news report described the incident in detail:
“The Lady Hawkins…was steaming through a smooth sea on a perfect, moonless night when at 1:05 am January 19 a torpedo exploded against the hull at a point almost under the bridge. So violent was the concussion that the ship heeled over, sweeping virtually every one who was on deck into the sea…. The mainmast toppled and fell with a crash, adding to the confusion and excitement. Within a minute or two a second torpedo crashed into the engine room…. Every light on the ship was put out of commission by the torpedoing, but the passengers and crew groped their way along slanting companionways and decks to the [life]boats. Several boats were launched in the 25 minutes before the Lady Hawkins plunged to the bottom.”
A surviving crew member, ship’s carpenter William Burton of Hamilton, ON, later recalled seeing the submarine in the waters near the vessel immediately prior to the incident:
“It was a great big one and it came up about 100 yards from us and just lay off there with two white lights on us…. A torpedo hit Hold No. 2 about one minute later. The second torpedo hit Hold No. 3 and probably reached the Engine Room bulkhead. I think all of the 2-to-4 watch was drowned. The same torpedo blew up the No. 6 Lifeboat. I believe that three boats got away but we know nothing of the others.”
A later assessment indicated that three lifeboats were damaged or destroyed in the initial blast, while a fourth broke apart as it was lowered into the water. Most crew members and passengers were forced to jump into the surrounding waters as the vessel listed and began to sink. Chief Officer Kelly was among them, looking around in the darkness and fortunately spotting a lifeboat. He managed to swim to it and clung to the grab lines until he was pulled on board.
In total, 76 crew members and passengers were either in the lifeboat as it was lowered, or able to clamber aboard in the minutes following the attack. The surrounding waters were filled with others calling out for help. Kelly immediately took charge of the lifeboat, ordering crew members to deploy the oars and row it clear of the Lady Hawkins. The vessel disappeared beneath the surface less than 30 minutes after the torpedoes struck its hull.
Once clear of the site, Kelly took stock of their situation. Unknown to the group at the time, they were the only survivors, 76 souls crowded into a lifeboat designed to accommodate 63 people. A wireless operator had rushed to the radio room prior to abandoning ship, only to discover that all of the portable sets were damaged and thus unable to issue an SOS. The survivors’ only hope was to deploy the lifeboat’s sail and make their way toward the American coast.
Many of the survivors were wet and cold, having jumped into the water to escape the ship. About one-third lacked adequate clothing, as they were asleep at the time of the incident. The overcrowded boat was riding low in the water, the waves splashing over its sides. Crew immediately began the incessant process of bailing out the bottom of the boat. Chief Officer Kelly ordered the survivors to sit as low as possible, while he assessed the situation. As it was dark, the boat sat idle until daylight, when Kelly ordered the crew to rig the lifeboat’s sail and begin the arduous journey westward, in hopes of encountering a passing ship.
The survivors were approximately 200 kilometres from shore, a distance that would require approximately two weeks to traverse. According to later reports, “some other lifeboats were sighted in the first day or two after the Lady Hawkins went down,… but gradually they separated” and were never seen again. Whether they carried any survivors is not known. There was a limited supply of water and biscuits on board, along with a small quantity of canned milk. Chief Officer Kelly established a strict rationing protocol, providing survivors with a small portion of biscuit and water at the beginning and end of the day, and a small amount of milk at noon.
On the first day, darkness engulfed the boat at 6:00 pm and lasted until 7:00 am the following morning. While the survivors made steady progress westward, their greatest fear was that their supplies would soon expire. On the fifth day at sea, crew members spotted the Puerto Rican merchant ship Coamo. Shining their flashlights on the lifeboat’s sail, they managed to make their presence known. Hesitant at first, the Coamo’s captain fearing they were being lured into a U-boat trap, the vessel’s crew soon recognized the mystery object and came to the rescue.
During the four days the lifeboat spent at sea, five survivors died of shock or exposure and were buried at sea. The Coamo’s crew hauled the remaining 71 survivors aboard and transported them to safety at San Juan Puerto Rico, on January 28. Master Huntley Osborne Giffin, 86 crew members, one gunner and 163 passengers perished at sea in the sinking of the Lady Hawkins.
Before war’s end, two more Lady Boats fell victim to German U-boats. The Lady Nelson was sunk at a St. Lucia Harbour dock on March 22, 1942, with the loss of 17 lives. The vessel was later salvaged and converted into Canada’s first Second World War hospital ship. The Lady Drake was torpedoed 90 miles south of Bermuda on May 8, 1942, with the loss of 12 lives.
The Lady Rodney, the only “Lady Boat” not to fall victim to a German U-boat during the war’s early years, was requisitioned by the Canadian government in June 1942 and entered service as a troop transport, conveying military personnel from Montreal, Quebec and Halifax to Newfoundland and Labrador. The vessel always sailed with a corvette escort or as part of a convoy. While the ship had a few “close calls” with German U-boats, it served without incident for the duration of the war. After the conclusion of hostilities, the Nelson joined the Rodney in bringing war brides and their children from Britain to Canada before returning to their West Indies routes.
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| Master Mariner Giffin's name on the Halifax Memorial |
Master Huntley Osborne Giffin and the 86 crew members who perished aboard the Lady Hawkins are commemorated on the Halifax Memorial, erected in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, in memory of the 3,257 Canadian merchant marine and military personnel lost at sea during the two world wars. Huntley’s second wife Mathilda spent the remainder of her life in Montreal, where she passed away on January 18, 1972, one day shy of the 30th anniversary of her husband’s tragic death.
