Not being a submariner nor masquerading perhaps as an able seaman aboard a naval surface vessel, finding myself in imminent danger of being torpedoed was not a risk I ever expected to have to mitigate. Having immigrated from the UK to Canada, my wife and I had settled in Vancouver about a year previously and had recently bought a sailboat, a 24 foot ‘Shark,’ a Canadian designed and built One-Design racing sloop. Embarked on a two week cruise and having just sailed the twenty nautical miles or so from West Vancouver across an arm of the Salish Sea – the Straight of Georgia, we were positioned close to the Vancouver Island shore. We were heading north under power the characteristically light westerly summer wind that had enabled our roughly four hour crossing under full sail having died to the point of being essentially non-existent.
A fast moving power boat suddenly closed in on us from astern slowing only when it was almost on top of us. An individual appeared on the foredeck and hailed us with a warning that we were in danger of being torpedoed if we maintained our course. He told us to bear away ninety degrees to starboard or in other words make a sharp right turn and clear off. I was dumbfounded. We might be torpedoed?
I took a good look at the power boat. It carried no Canadian ensign, was unnamed and displayed no insignia that might indicate what authority I was dealing with if any. Perhaps it was just a bunch of drunks out for a lark I wondered. What Canadian naval officer in their right mind would knowingly direct a torpedo at a 24 foot sailboat flying the Canadian ensign in Canadian waters? It did not make any sense. I quizzed the individual further. For whom was he speaking I demanded to know?
Whisky Golf he replied. Sure I thought, he is either demented, drunk or both. Whisky Golf indeed. “I don’t play golf” I said “and if I did I wouldn’t drink Whisky between shots”. For sure maybe a beer, preferably pale ale, but not whisky. “Who or what is Whisky Golf and why might it take out a small sailboat by means of a torpedo?” I asked.
The words Whisky and Golf are two of the established letter names in the International Phonetic Language used worldwide. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardised representation of speech sounds in written alphabetic form. Based on the Latin script it is used for numerous communications needs including for example air traffic control, ship to ship and ship to shore communications along with radio communications in general. Whisky therefore simply implies W, Golf implies G. I part owned a vintage aircraft at one point, a 1947 Aeronca Champ. Her call sign was C-GHIR. (Charlie Golf Hotel India Romeo). Frustratingly she was wrecked on her home airstrip tie down at Delta Heritage Airpark, BC courtesy of an idiot, the then manager of the airstrip but that is another story.
Operated by the Canadian armed forces, area Whisky Golf or WG it turned out, is the name for a section of the Straight of Georgia used by the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges, a marine test facility located on the east side of Vancouver Island at Nanoose Bay, BC. We were at that point quite close to Nanoose Bay and unwittingly heading for WG.
As recently landed immigrants in the spring of 1967 and rookie cruising sailors, we were blissfully unaware of the WG facility. Opening in 1965, to date it has performed over 31,000 torpedo tests. Happily the torpedos never carry explosives, however a hazard to shipping still exists due to the possibility of vessels being forcefully struck by an unarmed torpedo making its way back to the surface. There but for the grace of God might have gone we neophyte sailors. Some time after our encounter with the power boat, I read that a sailboat was struck and sunk by an unarmed surfacing torpedo at a similar test facility in California! The boat sank in minutes and the crew were quickly rescued unharmed. We had indeed unwittingly been close to putting ourselves in potentially mortal danger from a torpedo.
The individual on the nameless power boat which was also unlike our vessel unflagged, as in not flying the maple leaf Canadian national ensign, assured me he was legit and gave us the run down on WG. Once convinced of his disturbing message, I did not hesitate to make a 90 degree course change to starboard and hightailed it out of the vicinity. I have never been even remotely close to the Whisky Golf range ever since. Actually now I think about it, the same is true of both whisky and of golf. Good ale? That’s a different story. Most of the tests done by Whisky Golf involve surface ships. Although far less in numbers, submarines do also use the facility.*
Some years ago, a Chilean submarine ran torpedo tests at WG before heading south on the long journey back to Chile. On the surface at night and traveling through the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Victoria, BC they rammed a 50 foot sailboat causing it to sink and quickly. It was being single handed by the owner who lived aboard. They were able to rescue him from the frigid north pacific waters before hypothermia would have claimed him. The submarine crew subsequently denied that the accident was their fault and the Chilean government would not provide compensation! Given that it was dark, there were of course no witnesses.
* Canada has four aged British built diesel electric subs bought let’s say, well used. One of them was built in my home town of Barrow-in-Furness and all of which were accepted by Canadian navy personnel at Barrow docks prior to embarking for Canada. One is stationed on our west coast the others on our east coast.
The detailed information on WG below is the excellent work of John McFarlane. Go to his web site for a wealth of further and very interesting information.
MacFarlane, John (2020) The Mysterious Area Whiskey Golf. Nauticapedia.ca 2020. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Winchelsea.php
Area Whiskey Golf ‘WG’ is the name for a section of the Strait of Georgia covered by the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges, a maritime test facility located on the east side of Vancouver Island at Nanoose Bay BC.
It is reported that approximately 300 to 400 torpedo tests are done at the facility each year. The Canadian government allows foreign governments, mostly the U.S., to test torpedo firings. An estimated 31,000 plus torpedo tests have been conducted since the range opened in 1965. The U.S. Navy routinely sends naval warships – submarines and surface ships to area ‘WG’ (more than 400 since 1999).
The Canadian Forces actively use this area for testing torpedo firings. It is isolated from the open ocean; the depths are good for testing and the bottom is relatively flat for easily retrieving a torpedo.
Installations on Winchelsea Island from the sea (Photo from the Pete Mercer collection.)
The Nanoose Range is maintained and operated by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport WA (NUWCDIVKPT). The range is a joint United States–Canadian facility located in the Strait of Georgia on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The underwater instrumentation consists of 26 short–baseline hydrophone arrays that provide a coverage area of approximately 56 square nautical miles.
Unlike test ranges in California and Hawaii, Nanoose Bay’s average depth of 410 metres and unique seabed makes it easy to retrieve torpedoes. High-tech military hardware is used to track underwater objects in 3–D. The area is part of the test facilities at Canadian Forces Experimental and Test Ranges, which has been open since 1965 as a testing site for torpedoes, sonar equipment, sonobuoys, and other maritime warfare equipment.
The range tests between 300 to 400 torpedoes annually, most of them American. Almost all are launched from surface craft. There have been 31,000 test firings since the range opened. An average of two submarines and six surface ships visit the range each year. The facility is also used by other allies, including the Royal Australian Navy, the U.K., and Norway. Since the range opened, as of 1999 there had been 246 visits by U.S. surface ships, 162 by U.S. submarines, six by Canadian submarines and 254 by Canadian ships. A Chilean submarine visited Nanoose in 1994. In 1996, the U.S. Navy said it had saved $2 billion over 30 years by using Nanoose Bay.
No explosives whatsoever are used: however, a hazard exists due to the possibility of vessels being struck by an unarmed torpedo on its way to the surface.
Area ‘WG’ constitutes a ‘defence establishment’ as defined in the National Defence Act to which the Defence Controlled Access Area Regulations apply. The area, designated Area ‘WG’ (Whiskey Golf) is clearly marked on Canadian Hydrographic Charts 3512 and 3459. Additional information as to active hours may be obtained from:
- Continuous Marine Broadcast (CMB) WX1 and VHF 21B (listen only)
- Canadian Coast Guard Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre (MCTS) located in Victoria
- Winchelseas Island Control VHF Channel 10 or 16
- Notices to Shipping
Due to countless requests from vessels (at times only minutes from other calls), mariners approaching Area ‘WG’ and wishing to find out if Area ‘WG’ is active or not are requested to monitor CMB channel prior to calling.
CMB channel means continuous marine broadcast: 161.65 MHz (Channel 21B) and 161.75 MHz (Channel 23B)