Grandson remembers
Paul Taverner never met his famous grandfather, but still knows him well
It can be argued that Paul Taverner owes his very existence to seasickness.
It was precisely because of unconquerable seasickness that Paul’s father, Colin Bruce Taverner, went into mechanics instead of following his father to work at sea.
Paul’s grandfather, Capt. Benjamin Taverner from Port Rexton, Trinity Bay, was a seafaring man.
He served on the SS Kyle on the Labrador run before taking command of the SS Caribou, where he would eventually perish with two of his sons, Stanley and Harold, when the passenger ferry was torpedoed by a German U-boat in October 1942.
Paul Taverner never met his grandfather, though he’s heard plenty growing up and has read even more. He has a few favourite stories.
One of the family’s tales maintains the captain knew all about the subs before the SS Caribou ever went down and didn’t want to sail that fateful night.
“When he was crossing the gulf, he knew the subs were there. He’d seen them before on different trips and he wanted to do the day crossings instead of the night, because he would have a better, clearer vision,” said Taverner.
“With the torpedo you’d have a better chance of seeing it in the daytime than you would in the night.”
But there was little the captain could do. Canada and Newfoundland were at war and the military was calling the shots.
“That submarine probably wouldn’t have come up in the middle of the day,” speculates Taverner, who believes the disaster was avoidable. He also doesn’t understand the military policy of the day which had the minesweeper escort follow the SS Caribou instead of leading the way.
“I’d really like to know the answers.”
Shortly before sailing that night, Taverner claims his grandfather foretold the tragedy to a crewmember. The captain’s penchant for premonitions was well known to his family and friends.
“This is the night we are going to get it,” quotes his grandson from his pile of personal notes.
The captain’s dire prediction was unfortunately correct. The SS Caribou was torpedoed that very night and Benjamin and his sons went down with her. The timing was tragic in more ways than one.
“That same year he (Benjamin) was supposed to retire and my uncle Stan was to take over as captain of the ship,” said Taverner.
Taverner regrets he didn’t ask questions when he was a child and now it’s too late as family members who would know more about his grandfather’s adventures and his uncles have passed on. But in addition to the stories came memories of a tragic, unbearable loss.
“My grandmother lived until 1953 I think,” said Taverner of his grandmother Amelia. “After that happened she was never the same. She was really broken hearted.”
Like his father, Taverner eschewed life at sea in favour of dry land, working as a welder with the railway to repair train cars. He worked in Port aux Basques, then Moncton for 17 years before retiring back home.
As for his two uncles, Taverner admits he doesn’t have a lot of information about them, but he does have a theory about their actions that fateful night as well. He believes the two men deliberately chose to stand by their father to the very end.
“They were absolutely perfect swimmers,” said Taverner. “And there were people that night who got rescued who didn’t know how to swim.”