Barnet Submarine Yard
by Hannah Edmunds
Near Barnet Submarine Work yard, 2013, Hannah Edmunds
Barnet Village in Burnaby, BC supported a thriving mill and community in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Located to the east of Vancouver with easy access to the railway and the ocean from Burrard Inlet, it was an ideal place for both industrial activity and settlement. Now the area is mostly a park, with the old houses long since taken down and only the ruins of the burners to indicate that it used to be anything else. Although one would never know to look at the coast now, during the First World War between 1914 and 1917, six submarines were assembled not too far away from the Barnet town site.
Near Barnet Submarine Work Yard, 2013, Hannah Edmunds
To go to the location today, one sees little that would give any idea of what once happened there. Like most of the stretch of beaches in the area of Barnet Marine Park it is littered with bits of rusting nails and bricks, and in the surrounding area one can find the odd piece of rusty machinery that may or may not have been associated. The slope down to the beach is steep and rocky, and the flat area immediately adjacent is no easier to access as a result of tangled blackberry bushes, shrubs and small trees. It still sits right next to the railway, and an unsuspecting visitor can be trapped on the wrong side of the tracks if a train comes by while exploring the site.
“Submarine Works Yard at Barnet 1917.” City of Burnaby Archives, Planning Department fonds. Photo ID 466-005
The chemical plant next door is the main landmark of the area, fenced in with barbed wire and signs that state “private property” and “keep out.” A casual visitor would never know that the beach several hundred meters away was once a busy industrial site. Maps of the area show Submarine Creek flowing into Burrard Inlet where the construction site used to be. However, without these markers there is nothing left to suggest that this is a place with ties to a war that began almost one hundred years ago and majorly shaped the world in all the years that followed.
Between 1914 and 1917, the site looked very different. Primarily an outdoor construction area, the submarines were assembled directly on the beach before being disassembled for loading onto trains and shipped eventually to Russia. 460 men worked here over the three years that the site was in operation.
The story of how this site came to be in Burrard Inlet is linked to international politics. A company in Seattle received a contract to build six submarine hulls for the Russian Royal Navy, but since the United States were neutral in the First World War at that point they could not legally build anything for active participants. Instead, the owner of the company made an agreement to manufacture the submarines in Canada by sub-contracting to the British Pacific Construction and Engineering Company, which had its offices in Vancouver. The site near Barnet Village was chosen.
Construction on the six US H-class submarines from the Electric Boat Company began in 1914-1915 but the work yard was supposed to be kept top secret. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the work yard was for building barges and the workers at the site were pledged to secrecy. 9 men were loaned from the Canadian military to guard the site, as well as the people working there. The idea was that the submarine hulls would be built on Burrard Inlet before being taken apart, loaded onto trains, and eventually shipped to Vladivostok in Russia where they would be reassembled.
The site itself included a handful of buildings near the beach on a levelled area, next to the railway that was run down from the main line for ease of shipping and materials. Poles and wires were likewise run down to the site to supply power. Boardwalks ran between various areas and construction itself took place outdoors on the beach. The submarine hulls were assembled on long rows of scaffolding. Barbed wire fencing around the buildings and grounds provided an extra layer of protection.
Between 1914 and 1917, the site looked very different. Primarily an outdoor construction area, the submarines were assembled directly on the beach before being disassembled for loading onto trains and shipped eventually to Russia. 460 men worked here over the three years that the site was in operation.
The story of how this site came to be in Burrard Inlet is linked to international politics. A company in Seattle received a contract to build six submarine hulls for the Russian Royal Navy, but since the United States were neutral in the First World War at that point they could not legally build anything for active participants. Instead, the owner of the company made an agreement to manufacture the submarines in Canada by sub-contracting to the British Pacific Construction and Engineering Company, which had its offices in Vancouver. The site near Barnet Village was chosen.
Construction on the six US H-class submarines from the Electric Boat Company began in 1914-1915 but the work yard was supposed to be kept top secret. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, the work yard was for building barges and the workers at the site were pledged to secrecy. 9 men were loaned from the Canadian military to guard the site, as well as the people working there. The idea was that the submarine hulls would be built on Burrard Inlet before being taken apart, loaded onto trains, and eventually shipped to Vladivostok in Russia where they would be reassembled.
The site itself included a handful of buildings near the beach on a levelled area, next to the railway that was run down from the main line for ease of shipping and materials. Poles and wires were likewise run down to the site to supply power. Boardwalks ran between various areas and construction itself took place outdoors on the beach. The submarine hulls were assembled on long rows of scaffolding. Barbed wire fencing around the buildings and grounds provided an extra layer of protection.
“Submarine’s Hull Under construction, 1917.” City of Burnaby
Archives, Planning Department fonds. Photo ID 466-018.
Only three of the intended submarine hulls were assembled at the site and shipped for service in the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The submarines were eventually put into service but things did not quite go as planned. By the time the submarines reached Vladivostok in 1917, the Russian Revolution had begun. The foreman who travelled with the disassembled submarine hulls was put in jail for several months before the Canadian Government managed to negotiate his release.
At this point, the construction site on the Burrard Inlet had already been closed down and disassembled. The Americans entered the First World War in 1917 so the measures to bypass neutrality were no longer required. In addition, the start of the Russian revolution disrupted the contract as the Russians withdrew from the war. The businessman who brought it to British Columbia in the first place moved on to other projects, and the site was mostly forgotten.
The workyard’s story is almost anticlimactic, but at the same time all the more interesting. It trails off, leaving little trace behind on the landscape and little impact in the grand scheme of things. In a war where so many submarines were commissioned and used in battle, six built at a site in Burnaby go almost unnoticed. The fact that the site was used for such a short period and taken apart directly after means that there is little left behind. Unlike many industrial sites, the ruins are long gone except for the odd nails and bricks and its mark on the landscape is as minimal as its place in history books.
This brief period in the history of Burrard Inlet is not well known, and many people re surprised to learn that there were ever submarines at Barnet. As detached from the heart of World War I as it is, it’s no wonder that people do not expect to find a submarine construction site there. In a way, the site is a reflection of the vast impact this first truly “modern” war had on the world, even in a place the conflict did not directly touch.
At this point, the construction site on the Burrard Inlet had already been closed down and disassembled. The Americans entered the First World War in 1917 so the measures to bypass neutrality were no longer required. In addition, the start of the Russian revolution disrupted the contract as the Russians withdrew from the war. The businessman who brought it to British Columbia in the first place moved on to other projects, and the site was mostly forgotten.
The workyard’s story is almost anticlimactic, but at the same time all the more interesting. It trails off, leaving little trace behind on the landscape and little impact in the grand scheme of things. In a war where so many submarines were commissioned and used in battle, six built at a site in Burnaby go almost unnoticed. The fact that the site was used for such a short period and taken apart directly after means that there is little left behind. Unlike many industrial sites, the ruins are long gone except for the odd nails and bricks and its mark on the landscape is as minimal as its place in history books.
This brief period in the history of Burrard Inlet is not well known, and many people re surprised to learn that there were ever submarines at Barnet. As detached from the heart of World War I as it is, it’s no wonder that people do not expect to find a submarine construction site there. In a way, the site is a reflection of the vast impact this first truly “modern” war had on the world, even in a place the conflict did not directly touch.
Web Resources:
Canadian Submarines and Submariners. By Friends of the Canadian War Museum.
Building Submarines in Burrard Inlet. By W Kaye Lamb. BC Studies pp. 3-26.
Submarines built in Burrad Inlet. By David Shirlaw.
Submarines in Burrard Inlet? By Al Sholund. Historical Insights, City of Port Moody.
Building Submarines in Burrard Inlet. By W Kaye Lamb. BC Studies pp. 3-26.
Submarines built in Burrad Inlet. By David Shirlaw.
Submarines in Burrard Inlet? By Al Sholund. Historical Insights, City of Port Moody.
Further Reading
Ciment, James D. 2006 The Home Front Encyclopedia: United States, Britain, and Canada in World Wars I and II, ABC-Clio.
Delgado, James 2011 Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare. Osprey Publishing.
Pipe, Jim 2011 World War I: A Very Peculiar History. Book House.
Stachen, Hew ed. 2003 The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War.
Wolf, Jim and Harry Pride. 2004 In the Shadow by the Sea: Recollections of Burnaby’s Barnet Village. City of Burnaby.
Delgado, James 2011 Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare. Osprey Publishing.
Pipe, Jim 2011 World War I: A Very Peculiar History. Book House.
Stachen, Hew ed. 2003 The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War.
Wolf, Jim and Harry Pride. 2004 In the Shadow by the Sea: Recollections of Burnaby’s Barnet Village. City of Burnaby.