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HMCS NADEN
Sail Training Vessel
Based at Esquimalt. Hydrographic Survey. Dominion Government Ship NADEN, in 1913, was built by Wallace Shipyards Ltd., the predecessor of Burrard Dry Dock as their hull #85 & was actually constructed in North Vancouver. The Naval Service bought the vessel while under construction & did not actually order it. First used as a tender to the Dominion Govt Survey Ship Lillooet, & fitted with a deck cabin or house. Capt L.R.W. Beavis states in his book that he was given command of NADEN in 1915. He was ordered to take NADEN up the Fraser River & moor her inside Popular Island. Rear Admiral William Oswald Story RN Ret'd Senior Naval Officer West Coast was onboard for the passage. He was further ordered to hide her in one of the numerous inlets if the Germans broke the blockade & came, to destroy her at once if the Germans discovered her. Later NADEN was laid up in Wheelbarrow Creek Mill Bay Vancouver Island. About 1918, NADEN being laid up at New Westminster, she was loaned to the Naval College. The deck cabin was removed & she was commissioned as a tender to the Naval College at Esquimalt for training in sail. NADEN was the tender to the College up to 01 Jun 1920 when she took over as depot ship for the shore barracks. She eventually succeeded the Rainbow as Depot Ship upon whose books the names of Officers & Ratings were borne while serving ashore. HMCS NADEN (D/S) was paid off 31 Jul 1922 & subsequently sold in Jul 1925, to Lt Joseph William Hobbs RCNVR for $1,091.00, & renamed Mabel Dell. Hobbs employed her as a training ship for naval reserve seamen of the Vancouver Half Company of which Hobbs was the CO, from 1924-28. Later Mabel Dell was sold, & became a yacht of a Hollywood movie star.
Her specification when acquired were: Displacement 118, 80x20x9ft, crew 12, 2 boats (capacity 29), Sail, 1 pump, 4-3in hawsers, provisions carried 10 days, refrigeration none, siren none, whistle none, foghorn yes, International signal flags yes, International signal books yes, Semaphore no, signal lamps no.
Commanding Officers
Cdr Hugh Edward Holme, RCN - 01 Jul 1920 - unk
They shall not be forgotten
Photos and Documents
HMCS NADEN before becoming a tender and having her after deckhouse and mast removed Courtesy of the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum
HMCS NADEN Courtesy of the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum
(Below) The Last NADEN Trip - 18 - 21 Apr 1921
Click on the above photo to view a larger image
Click on the above photo to view a larger image
From the collection of VAdm Harry DeWolf, RCN
Courtesy of Jim DeWolf
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In memory of those who have crossed the bar 
