Huntley Allison Fanning was born in Drum Head, Guysborough County, on October 28,1921, to Leonard and Thressa [sic] (Manthorn) Fanning. Leonard was the son of Edward Alexander Fanning, Drum Head, and Lavinia Langley, Seal Harbour, while Thressa was the daughter of Charles Manthorn, Seal Harbour, and Elizabeth Taylor, Port Bickerton.
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| Electrical Artificer Huntley Allison Fanning |
Leonard and Thressa were married in Seal Harbour on August 23, 1916. Their first child, Laurie Wilson Fanning, was born in same community on December 26, 1917. Huntley, who arrived almost four years later, was the couple’s second and youngest child. The family resided in Drum Head, where Leonard worked in the local fishery.
Huntley attended the local school, leaving at age 17 after completing Grade IX and “most of [Grade] X.” At an unknown time—likely by correspondence—he completed technical courses in “Blue Print Reading” and “Air conditioning - Refrigeration” from the Nova Scotia Technical School, Halifax.
On May 26, 1942, Huntley enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) at Halifax, NS. According to documents in his service file, he had served with the Pictou Highlanders, a Canadian militia unit, since 1938, suggesting he had lived in Pictou County for several years after leaving school. By the time of his enlistment, he had accumulated three years of “general experience” repairing refrigerator motors and one year of “electrical work” for Northern Electric Co., Ltd., Halifax, immediately prior to his joining the Navy.
Three days after his enlistment, Huntley reported to HMCS Cornwallis, the RCN’s main Nova Scotian training facility, located in Deep Brook, Annapolis County. On August 6, 1942, he was transferred to HMCS Star, a Hamilton, Ontario, training facility where he completed the “electrical artificer” trade program during the winter of 1942-43. “EAs” were responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of all electrical equipment and systems aboard a navy vessel. Duties also included overseeing the ship’s power generation and distribution system, as well as responding to electrical emergencies.
In early April 1943, Huntley returned to HMCS Cornwallis, where he completed a five-day “anti-gas” course. On June 1, he was posted to HMCS Stadacona, Halifax. Three weeks later, he officially qualified as “A/EA 4”—Acting Electricial Artificer, Class 4—having achieved an average of 70.9 % in his courses.
On July 4, 1943, Huntley was posted to HMCS Avalon, St. John’s, NL, a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ocean escort base. The facility also served as a repair and training centre, offering instruction in anti-submarine warfare, gunnery, radar and Loran (long-range navigation) operation, and night-escort training. During the 15 months Huntley served in Newfoundland, he was confirmed in the rank of EA 4/C—Electrical Artificer Class 4c.” A comment in his service file described him as a “good workman” and “recommended [him] for confirmation.” An evaluation form completed by Lieutenant R. C. Bryer stated that Huntley “demonstrated intelligence, energy and initiative” while serving at Avalon and that his “efficiency is superior.”
Huntley returned to Nova Scotia on October 10, 1944, and was assigned to HMCS Peregrine, Halifax. The city’s second RCN base served as a “manning pool” and co-ordinating centre for personnel drafts to vessels and shore bases. During his brief time there, Huntley was “employed in HMC Dockyard, [completing] high and low [voltage] repairs.” Nine days later, Huntley was assigned to HMCS Esquimalt, a diesel-powered, Bangor Class minesweeper.
Launched in early August 1941 and officially commissioned into service at Sorel, QC, in late October 1942, the Esquimalt carried a crew of six officers and 77 “ratings,” the naval term for “other ranks.” While initially intended for mine-sweeping duties, many of the Bangor Class ships were re-assigned as convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic. In preparation for possible U-boat encounters, two depth charge launchers and chutes for deploying depth charges were installed on the vessels, while several guns of varying calibres were mounted on their decks.
The Esquimalt arrived in Halifax in November 1942, but was plagued by mechanical issues throughout the next two years. The vessel underwent repairs in March and May 1943, after which it was assigned to the Newfoundland Force, St. John’s, NL, for local patrol duties. In September 1944, it was transferred to the Halifax Local Defence Force and commenced a three-month refit at month’s end.
In early 1945, the Esquimalt returned to duty, patrolling the approaches to Halifax harbour for enemy mines and U-boats. During his time aboard the vessel, Huntley was promoted to the rank of EA Class 3/c on March 27, 1945, having demonstrated “competen[cy] to perform the [required] duties.” The promotion came as the vessel completed preparations for an upcoming convoy escort assignment.
On the evening of April 15, 1945, the Esquimalt sailed out of Halifax harbour for an anti-submarine patrol of its approaches. A crew of 78 all ranks—six officers and 72 ratings—was aboard the vessel. The Esquimalt was to rendezvous with HMCS Sarnia, another Bangor-Class minesweeper, at 0800 hours April 16. The two vessels would then head to HMCS Avalon for a convoy escort assignment across the North Atlantic.
While there had been warnings of U-boats in the area, the Esquimalt did not deploy any of the standard evasion tactics as it patrolled the approaches to Halifax harbour. It followed a straight course, not a zig-zag pattern, and did not deploy a towed decoy designed to attract “homing” torpedoes. Unbeknownst to its crew, German U-190 had been patrolling the area off the Halifax coast for several weeks. In fact, as the Esquimalt exited the harbour that evening, U-190 was eight kilometers off Chedabucto Head.
At 0600 hours April 16, Lieutenant John Smart, the officer in charge of the night watch, ordered the depth charge crew to their stations, a routine procedure during the “changing of the watch.” Seas were calm at the time and the depth charge crew “stood down” 10 minutes later. Around the same time, U-190 detected the Esquimalt’s presence. When its captain, Oberleutnant [First Lieutenant] Hans-Erwin Reith, took the submarine to the surface, he spotted the RCN vessel approximately 1,000 to 2,000 meters away.
Unexpectedly, the Esquimalt reversed course and headed directly toward U-190’s position. While the vessel had not detected the submarine, Reith assumed that an attack was imminent and immediately ordered his crew to launch an acoustic homing torpedo at the approaching ship. At 0630 hours, the weapon struck the Equimalt’s starboard side engine room, immediately disabling its power system and preventing its crew from sending a distress signal.
As water poured into the vessel’s hull, it listed severely to the starboard side. Its Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Robert MacMillan, immediately ordered his crew to abandon ship. Unfortunately, nobody thought to fire a distress flare during the process. Due to the severe list, lifeboats mounted on the starboard side were underwater and could not be released from their davits. Crew members managed to throw four Carley floats—invertible life rafts equipped with basic survival gear—into the water before abandoning ship.
Within five minutes, the Esquimalt slipped beneath the surface. As the attack occurred early in the morning, many of the crew were lightly clothed when they jumped into the frigid Atlantic waters and swam toward the Carley floats. The lack of a distress call meant that several hours passed before anyone realized that something may have happened to the Esquimalt. As a result, many of the men who abandoned ship and made it to one of the four life rafts were soon suffering from exposure.
Around 0700 hours April 16, an RCAF aircraft passed over the location of the sinking. Men in the Carley floats waved frantically, but the air crew assumed they were local fishermen, who routinely waved at passing aircraft, and continued on their way. An hour later, survivors spotted a minesweeper heading toward the area, but it didn’t notice the men and suddenly changed course, disappearing out of sight.
When the Esquimalt failed to arrive for its scheduled 0800 rendezvous, the Sarnia set off in search of the vessel. Almost six hours after the sinking, a second RCAF aircraft spotted the Esquimalt’s sunken hull below the water and issued a distress signal. Shortly afterward, the Sarnia arrived on the scene, rescued 27 survivors from the four Carley floats, and retrieved a number of bodies from the life rafts and the surrounding waters.
EA Huntley Allison Fanning had managed to scramble onto a Carley float with 12 other survivors, but was in poor condition, suffering from hypothermia due to his time in the cold water. Able Seaman Frank Smith, Edmonton, Alberta, who survived the sinking, was aboard the same life raft and later described what transpired in a news item printed in the Halifax Herald:
“His body numbed beyond further suffering[, Huntley] spoke of his fiancée back in his Nova Scotian home town whom he was to have married on his next leave. ‘It looks as if we are not going to make it. I guess we won’t be able to get married this time,’ the dying sailor whispered. A few brief moments of silence followed as his buddies gazed into one another’s eye, then a “So long, fellows; keep plugging” and his body stilled into death.”
After his passing, Huntley’s comrades lowered his body into the water. His remains were never recovered from the sea. Seven of the 13 men aboard Huntley’s Carley float died of exposure before the Sarnia arrived. It was a similar story aboard the other three life rafts. Eight men perished in the actual sinking, while another 44 died from exposure before the Sarnia’s arrival. The Esquimalt was the last Royal Canadian Navy vessel lost due to enemy action during the Second World War.
On April 19, 1945, the Minister of National Defence for Naval Services sent a telegram to Mrs. Thressa Fanning, Drum Head, informing her that “your son Huntley Allison Fanning Electrical Artificer 3rd Class… is missing at sea due to enemy action.” A letter to Thressa from the Deputy Secretary of the Naval Board, dated May 7, 1945, confirmed Huntley’s fate:
“As circumstances surrounding his loss have been carefully reviewed, and as no news has been since received to the contrary, the Canadian Naval Authorities have now presumed his death to have occurred on the 16th of April, 1945.”
Huntley Allison Fanning’s name is engraved on the Halifax Memorial, erected in Point Pleasant Park in 1967 to commemorate 3,257 men and women from Canadian military units and merchant marine sailors who perished at sea during both world wars and have no known graves. Huntley’s father Leonard died in Drum Head in 1975 and was interred in Hillside Cemetery, Seal Harbour. His mother Thressa passed away in 1982 and was laid to rest beside her husband.
Huntley’s older brother, Laurie Wilson Fanning, also enlisted with the RCNVR during the Second World War, serving as a Hull Technician, a trade commonly known as “shipwright”. Laurie was on active duty when he met June Frances Langley in Halifax on January 1, 1942. A native of Port Hood, Inverness County, June had family connections to the Seal Harbour area and was working at the Moirs chocolate factory in Halifax when a cousin introduced her to Laurie. The following day, Laurie departed for Scotland aboard HMCS Hamilton.
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| Hull Technician Laurie Wilson Fanning |
A former US Navy destroyer, the Hamilton was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in 1941 and routinely escorted convoys across the North Atlantic. Laurie had logged one year’s service aboard the vessel prior to meeting June. Upon returning to Halifax three weeks later, he contacted her. The couple went to two movies and one dance before deciding to marry. As June later recalled, Things were different back then…. It was the height of the war, ships were sinking and I didn’t want to lose him.”
Laurie and June were married on February 10, 1942, in a simple ceremony held in a North End Halifax church. Most of the attendees were Navy personnel. Travel conditions at that time of the year meant that their parents were unable to attend. Several days later, Laurie packed his duffel bag and prepared to return to sea. Upon reporting for duty, he was informed that his time aboard ship and recent marriage had earned him a “shore draft.”
Laurie hastily returned to June with the good news. He remained in Halifax for one month before heading to a new assignment at HMCS Avalon, St. John’s, Newfoundland. In the meantime, June moved in with a cousin who was living in Glace Bay. Determined to rejoin her husband, she soon headed to Newfoundland by ship. It proved to be an arduous, five-day journey, due to intense submarine activity in the Cabot Strait.
Upon arriving in Port aux Basques, June was initially denied entry to the British colony, but finally managed to obtain a permit for a five-week stay to visit her husband. She somehow managed to continually renew the permit, living in a small apartment for two and a half years while Laurie worked on base. During that time, the couple’s eldest child, a daughter, was born.
After the war, the young Fanning family returned to Drum Head, where Laurie “tried his hand at fishing” for a few years. He then worked on a Great Lakes iron-ore freighter for “about one year”—ship’s manifests indicate the year was 1951—before returning to Nova Scotia. Determined to remain at home, in 1953 he found permanent work at the Mindamar hard rock mine, located in Stirling, west of Framboise, Richmond County,
The Mindamar mine, a copper-lead-zinc operation, had opened in 1927 but was shut down in 1938. Production resumed in April 1952 following construction of a new mill and a four-compartment shaft and continued operation until 1956. During the time in Stirling, the Fanning household included three children, two more arriving in the ensuing years. The family lived in a small house Laurie built on Five Island Lake Road, approximately one kilometer from the mine. The structure was heated with coal and was not equipped with running water or indoor plumbing. A barrel beside the driveway, set into a spring, served as a water source.
When the Stirling operation closed in 1956, the Fannings joined a small group of mining families that relocated to the Heath Steele Mine, a copper-lead-zinc operation 60 kilometres north of Newcastle, NB. The family settled in Sevogle, a rural community approximately 26 kilometers northeast of Newcastle, where Laurie helped convert an old general store into a duplex that housed two families.
When the mine closed in 1958, the Fannings relocated to Ontario, only to return to Newcastle in November 1961 when the mining operation resumed. Laurie and June lived out their remaining years in the New Brunswick community. June passed away there at age 74 on June 10, 1997, and was interred in Miramichi Cemetery. Laurie Fanning died on November 3, 2003, at age 85 and was laid to rest beside his wife.
Background information on the HMCS Esquimalt sinking was obtained from Gerry Madigan's excellent online article, "A Memory Stirred." Information on Laurie Wilson Fanning's life, naval service and post-war years, was obtained from two online sources—an online story about the Sterling Mine written by Laurie's son Zane Fanning, and a profile of Laurie and June Fanning written by Beatrice Jardine and published in the Miramichi Leader on January 29, 1992.
