The day 546 soldiers were plucked from a floundering ship off Halifax
HALIFAX — The SS Letitia was cutting through thick fog, its crew preparing to unload hundreds of wounded Canadian soldiers in Halifax’s busy harbour, when the captain stepped onto the deck and saw a dark shadow looming.
Capt. William McNeil knew instantly that the hospital ship, with its 546 injured soldiers and 137 crew, was heading directly into one of the treacherous shoals that line the entry way to the harbour.
He immediately ordered the ship full astern, hoping to prevent it from crashing into the rocks that were quickly coming into view.
But the order came too late — the momentum propelling the 473-metre vessel grounded it on a cluster of rocks near Portuguese Cove at about 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 1, 1917.