Submarine Sailor: The First World War Adventures of a Canadian Submarine Captain

William Glassman is a professor of psychology at Ryerson Polytechnical
University.

Captain Barney Johnson was a prominent and respected member of
Vancouver’s maritime community who is still remembered today, almost
30 years after his death at the age of 90. Johnson first arrived on the
B.C. coast in 1893; shortly thereafter, he joined the Union Steamship
Company, soon rising to command one of its ships. He continued in
command at sea for USC, and later for the Grand Trunk Pacific, until
1913, when he joined the B.C. Pilotage Service. It was as a pilot,
offering his service to the Royal Canadian Navy, that he was introduced
to submarines.

David Perkins, a retired RCN chief petty officer and submariner, nicely
chronicles Johnson’s World War I service in submarines—an
interesting and adventurous part of Johnson’s life that is full of
color and drama (such as when Johnson brought his submarine, H 8, back
to harbor after it had been badly damaged by a mine).

While this slim work is clearly (and properly) aimed at a popular
audience, it has nonetheless been carefully researched. The bibliography
cites two national archives and several municipal and specialized
collections, and the book provides information not widely known about
the Vancouver waterfront. Submarine Sailor should be available in every
maritime- and war-museum bookshop in the country.