This story was submitted by Vernon A.C. Mills, a cadet in post-war service aboard the ship. Thanks Vern!

Being the following incident has happened many years ago, I will try to be as accurate as possible. It would be best to keep in mind that at the time, I was only 15 years old, therefore everything seemed so critical and disastrous. In all honesty, I can’t remember if the winter of 1971–1972 was particularly bad or not, after that amount of time the best I can say is, “I’ve had a sleep since then” and winter is winter.

It was during the very early spring thaw that a fairly large log had floated downstream on the Talbot River through Port Stanley, Ontario and somehow managed to get jammed between the pier and port side of the ship. Due to the strong current of the river and high winds, the constant rocking and sway of the ship, a fairly large hole had been punched into the hull right at the water line on the port side slightly forward of amidships. I believe it was Lieutenant Harrington, who at the time was at his place of employment, had been notified that the Rhea was sitting low in the water and had a noticeable list. Read the rest of this entry »