HMCS Winnipeg returns to B.C. after master sailor lost at sea
Posted December 18, 2020 10:30 pm.
Last Updated December 18, 2020 10:44 pm.
ESQUIMALT, B.C. — Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan stood with hundreds of Canadian Forces members saluting in quiet formation, a flag at half-staff, honouring the memory of Master Sailor Duane Earle on Friday.
The HMCS Winnipeg returned to its home port at CFB Esquimalt after a search for Earle, who is believed to have fallen overboard off the coast of California, failed to find the 30-year navy veteran.
Sajjan offered his condolences to the family.
“Today, we welcomed home HMCS Winnipeg to CFB Esquimalt to honour the memory of Master Sailor Duane Earle, who we tragically lost at sea earlier this week. We are thinking about his family, friends & loved ones today, and we’ll be there to support them in their grief,” he wrote.
Today, we welcomed home HMCS Winnipeg to CFB Esquimalt to honour the memory of Master Sailor Duane Earle, who we tragically lost at sea earlier this week. We are thinking about his family, friends & loved ones today, and we’ll be there to support them in their grief. pic.twitter.com/5OJvbvjqBi
— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) December 19, 2020
Local first responders were also at the seaside to pay their respects.
Firefighters from CFB Esquimalt Fire Rescue and the @EsquimaltBC honour Master Sailor Duane Earle and welcome home @HMCSWinnipeg. #onewiththestrengthofmany #CFBEsqSupports pic.twitter.com/Writ21rxXj
— CFB BFC Esquimalt (@CFBBFCEsquimalt) December 19, 2020
@WestshoreRCMP paying our respects to HMCS Winnipeg as it returned to B.C. this afternoon following the loss of Canadian Armed Forces member, Master Sailor Duane Earle. Our condolences go out to his family and @CanadianForces May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/B3nxOPcWVf
— West Shore RCMP (@WestshoreRCMP) December 18, 2020
On Tuesday, the military issued a statement saying the ship, which was heading back from a deployment in the Asia-Pacific had turned back after Earle was identified as missing.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in California, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the United States Coast Guard were all called in to help with the search.
The following day, the search was called off.
“Sadly, he has not been found,” reads a Facebook post from the Maritime Forces Pacific.
On Dec 15, 2020, at 5:37 pm PST, the active search for Master Sailor Duane Earle, a boatswain aboard HMCS Winnipeg, has…
Posted by Maritime Forces Pacific / Forces maritimes du Pacifique on Tuesday, December 15, 2020
The Canadian Armed Forces is investigating “the circumstances of how MS Earle went missing.” The findings will be released “in the coming weeks.
