By Canadian Press

Navy identifies sailor who died after small boat capsized in Halifax harbour

Jan 27, 2025 | 3:56 PM

HALIFAX — The Royal Canadian Navy has identified the sailor who died Friday after a small boat capsized in the north end of Halifax harbour.

Commodore Jacob French, commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, says Petty Officer 2nd Class Gregory Applin was one of two sailors who were thrown into the cold water at around 10 p.m.

French says the second sailor, whom he did not identify, survived the ordeal but Applin could not be revived in hospital.

Applin was a 38-year-old weapons engineering technician aboard HMCS Montreal, which had completed sonar trials when the small, open craft — known as a rigid inflatable boat — was summoned to take some crew members to shore, about 1.6 kilometres away.

French says the boat flipped after its passengers were dropped off at the Mill Cove jetty on the northwestern side of the Bedford Basin.

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He says an investigation by the military will determine what happened, and he declined to speculate about what went wrong.

The commodore says the temperature of the water would have been just above freezing at the time, but he says the waves were less than a metre high and the outdoor temperature was around -7 C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2025.

The Canadian Press