Rick Grant
Tuesday Night Talk
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
In March 1940, six months after Canada declared war on Germany, a British freighter, the SS Esmond, on its way into Halifax to join a convoy collied with Pilot Boat #2, Hebridean. Nine men, including six harbour pilots died.
The communities of Herring Cove and nearby villages where the men were from, were devastated, and the Pilotage service, already short of pilots, were left scrambling. A snap investigation conducted its inquiry behind closed doors, and the results were kept secret for decades. Broadside by Rick Grant, reveals what is in the documents, how the eight widows and 40 fatherless children coped.
Rick Grant spent over 40 years as a news reporter in radio and television, and worked as an investigative reporter for about 15 years i the Atlantic region. His areas of special interest were the Port of Halifax, offshore oil and gas exploration in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, making numerous trips to drilling rigs off the coasts of both provinces. During his time in Halifax, he focused a good deal of time covering military affairs. Rick retired in November 2015, and has written articles for the Financial Post, Saltscapes Magazine and several online news sites.
Broadside: Halifax’s wartime pilot boat disaster, is his first book.
