The Royal Canadian Navy has identified the sailor who died last week, and has revealed a fellow sailor called 911 when their inflatable vessel capsized in a Halifax-area bay.
Petty Officer Second Class Gregory Applin, 38, of HMCS Montreal was a weapons engineering technician who had just returned from a deployment to the Indo-Pacific in October. He had served with the navy for 19 years.
Applin and another sailor were aboard a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) in the Bedford Basin when it overturned and capsized around 10 p.m. Friday.
Commodore Jacob French, commander of the Canadian Fleet Atlantic, told reporters Monday that crew had been taking part in sea trials on HMCS Montreal.
After the day’s trials were complete, a 24-feet-long RIB was used to bring the crew from HMCS Montreal ashore to Mill Cove Jetty — about a mile away.
Once the crew members were dropped off, Applin and the coxswain from the Naval Fleet School set off on the inflatable boat to return to the dockyard.
French said the trip from the jetty to the dockyard should have taken about 10 minutes. He said there were “approximately five to 10 knot winds” and “waves were less than a meter — wasn’t that wavy in the harbour in that particular evening.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
“An incident occurred which caused the RIB to capsize, throwing both sailors into the water. The radio was not available to the boat’s coxswain, so the boat coxswain used his cell phone to call 911,” said French, who added that the radio was unreachable because it was on the capsized boat.
“The 911 call triggered an immediate response by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC), who deployed a Halifax pilot boat which affected the rescue.”
Commodore Jacob French, commander of the Canadian Fleet Atlantic, addresses the media on Jan. 27, 2025.
Heidi Petracek/Global News
The two sailors were pulled from the water and brought to the jetty, where they were treated by paramedics. They were transferred to hospital, but Applin could not be resuscitated.
“We are, all of us, profoundly saddened by the loss of Gregory. We are doing our utmost to support the ship. We are doing our utmost to support the family and loved ones through this,” said French.
The boat coxswain was released from hospital Saturday.
French said the incident is under investigation by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, a branch of the military police, which is standard practice.
“There are, of course, details pertaining to questions that we all want answers to, but some of these details will be known only following the investigation,” said French.
He said while it’s happened before, it’s uncommon for RIBs to capsize. There are, however, no plans to pause the use of RIBs.
“We’ll obviously take the right precautions that we can in terms of the driving of the RIBs and the personnel transfers to and from,” he said.
“But there’s been no ceasing of RIB operations. We don’t have that type of evidence that would lead us to that conclusion or potential causes.”
The HMCS Montreal’s sea trials have been put on hold.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
