The Royal Navy Base at Esquimalt


[Click to enlarge] Courtesy BC Archives: A-02597


[Click to enlarge] Courtesy BC Archives: A-00733

Esquimalt in 1858 and 1870, showing the development from a somewhat jumbled mass of small buildings to a cluster of solid-looking permanent naval establishments. Note also the large fleet at anchor in 1870 - this might be a 'flying squadron' which visited on a Pacific tour in May of that year. Verney arrived at a particularly crucial time in the Esquimalt base's history. Between 1858 and 1862, a barracks, a coal depot, a magazine, and the Fisgard lighthouse were all added, creating a permanent base for the British Empire's key instrument. With this work complete, the headquarters of the Navy's Pacific Squadron was moved to Esquimalt from far-off Valparaiso, Chile in 1862, the same year that Verney arrived to assume his new command.
Source: Government of Canada, "The Royal Navy Patrols the West Coast," Canadian Military Heritage <http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/en/page_475.asp> (20 June 2004).