Reward offered after theft of submarine’s bell 

HMCS Grilse bell stolen from Langford front yard.

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer — A Langford family continues their hunt to recover a decades-old family heirloom – a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ship’s bell stolen from their front yard.

The large brass bell, which weighs approximately 50lbs, once belonged to the former Balao-class submarine HMCS Grilse during the height of the Cold War. Following the ship’s decommissioning in 1969, the bell was gifted to Clyde Rose, a Grilse engine room worker.

Since then, it hung in front of the Rose family home from a steel lamp post. Michael Rose, Clyde’s son, says the bell disappeared sometime between Apr. 16 and 17.

“I was shocked when I first noticed the bell had been removed from the post,” he said. “Dad cherished that bell and had it professionally polished and cared for, and even went to the trouble of replacing the bell’s knotted rope.”

Clyde served 35 years in the RCN, mostly as a mechanical engineer, and retired at the rank of Chief Engine Room Artificer (ERA) in charge of ship’s engine rooms. A bell from a decommissioned ship is one of the many items aboard often gifted to the crew. The memories it provided after its days in the Navy are priceless, Michael said. 

“I grew up in that house and whenever Dad’s friends from the Navy would come to the house to visit, they would ring the bell at the top of the driveway to let us know they had arrived,” he said.

Clyde has recently moved into a senior’s home. In recent weeks, Michael and his wife Maureen had been emptying the home of its contents. When Michael returned to Clyde’s home on the morning of Apr. 17, he was disappointed to see the bell had been ripped from its post.

“Dad had taken great effort to secure the bell to the post so it couldn’t be stolen but the thieves simply cut the top of the post it was secured to,” he said.

Michael reported the item stolen to the West Shore RCMP. He has also since affixed a sign to a hydro pole in front of the house offering a $250 reward for its safe return.

“If someone decides out of the goodness of their heart to return it, we will gladly accept it and offer the reward with no questions asked.”

The family urges anyone with information about the bell’s whereabouts to contact them at (250) 784-4022.