Clippings courtesy Leigh Cossey, Jan. 30, 2020.

	Vancouver Sun, Wed. Nov. 20, 1946. Navy Vessel Sunk At Bedwell Bay Loss of the 40-foot steel naval tug Barkerville a year ago near the mouth of Bedwell Bay, Burrard Inlet, was disclosed today for the first time. Several marine interests recently have been studying possibilities of salvaging the vessel. The RCN made no announcement of the loss of the tug, which capsized and sank while engaged in towing decommissioned war vessels into Bedwell Bay. Her crew had a narrow escape. Fred McKim, now a diver with Burrard Drydock Co., believes he might be able to raise the Barkerville, and is investigating possibilities. Ghost Fleet of Bedwell Bay 1946 - 1949. Indian Arm, Burrard Inlet BC. Photo Credit, Vancouver Archives online.
	Times Colonist, Wed. Mar. 26, 1947. Buys Sunken Tug The 40-foot steel navy tug Barkerville, which now lies submerged under 50 to 60 fathoms of water, has been purchased by H. More, shipper here. The craft capsized and sank in Bedwell Bay several months ago. Earlier salvage attempts failed.
	Nanaimo Daily News, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. 26 Mar 1947, Wed Page 3 - Buys Submerged Naval Vessel VANCOUVER The 40-foot steel navy tug Barkerville, which now lies submerged under 50 to 60 feet of water, has been purchased by H. More, city shipper. The ship capsized and sank Bidwell Bay several months ago, while towing decommissioned war vessels. Attempts were made the navy and other organizations to salvage the Barkerville, but with no success. Mr. More believes he can succeed where others have failed, although the task of refloating the ship is said to be one of the toughest ever tackled by a one-man outfit.
	Vancouver Sun, Mon. Dec. 1, 1952. WILL USE DIVING BELL One-Man Salvage Operation Confident of Raising Ships Photo Caption: DIVING BELL enables John Pieters to make the deepest dives in Canadian history. He'll use a new bell he is making to find the tug Barkerville off Bedwell Bay. John Pieters is still convinced his future lies on the ocean floor. This is the same opinion held by some of the people who saw his first home-made diving bell. S far, however, Pieters has proved that he is right and that the rest of the world is an un-informed majority. For one thing, he is still alive. For another, he is still a one-man salvage operation doing business in Vancouver harbor waters. DIVE VIEWED He has a new diving bell, a system of cables, windlasses, donkey engines and derricks, and some, although scarcely enough, financial backing. He is again supremely confident that he can drag valuable ships of the ocean floor and sell them for large numbers of dollars. Three years ago he tried to salvage the big tug F. M. Yorke off the floor of deep Howe Sound - that vast sunken river Valley that gashes the the B.C. coast just north of this city. I watched Pieters make what is believed to be the deepest dive in Canadian history there. Furthermore, he returned to the surface. He then proceeded to make many more dives and eventually located the sunken tug. Before he could lasso his prize, however, Pieters lost his capital, his business associates, and finally his diving equipment. Why anybody stole the one-ton diving bell or what they did with it remains a mystery. STILL HAS NERVE A first-class electrician, Pieters went back to his trade and in the intervening three years he has lost some of his hair but none of his optimism and nerve. So today he is happily hammering out a new diving rig at the old Dollar pier in Dollarton. He has acquired a new barge, more money, bigger equipment and a new ship to salvage. The ship is the navy tug Barkerville wich sank of Bedwell Bay in 1946 while towing a decommissioned corvette to the boneyard. The Barkerville has had two previous owners since she sank, neither of whom found her. Pieters bought the rights for $1000. GEAR APLENTY The new salvage barge has bunkrooms for eight men, a spotless white modern kitchen and masses of winches, pulleys and cables on her decks. Also about a dozen steel crab traps which the crew use upon the crab population of the old wharf. Pieters and I sat in the galley munching licorice candy and he described how he is going to raise the Barkerville. "I'm having a new diving bell built," he said. "A little smaller - seven feet long and two feet in diameter." Pieters himself is six feet long and a foot and a half wide. "There'll be room enough," he said. "But you could hold a dance in there." WILL USE DERRICK He pulled out the brown paper roll of an echo sounding machine and pointed to a sharp bump that showed on the shaded lines of the graph. "That's the Barkerville," he said. "I'll go down and find it with the new bell, direct a line to her and we'll rent a floating derrick to pull it up. It's only a little more than 300 feet down," he said. When he cleans up the 125 horsepower Cummins diesel engine of the salvaged tug, Pieters says he will then put the Barkerville to work towing his diving barge around to Howe Sound. "Then," he said, "we'll finally haul the F. M. Yorke to the surface." TIMBER PROJECT Next he plans to tow his barge to Jervis Inlet where he and his business associates own a crop of timber that has to be harvested before February 19. Thence farther upcoast to slice scrap metal off two ships which are lying high and dry on the beaches."In a couple of weeks I'll have the world by the tail on the downhill drag," said Pieters.
	Vancouver Sun, Wed. Sept 23, 1953. Young Salvors Need Tug; They'll Pluck It From Deep The sea disgorged five rust and barnacle-encrusted trucks a few days ago and firmly entrenched two young Vancouver men in the most exciting business in the world. John Pieters and George Alce admit that their first salvage job was a snap compared to the fantastic plans they have made for robbing the hostile sea bottom of its wealth. The trucks spilled off a barge just over five years ago in 45 feet of water near Halfmoon Bay. Pieters went down in a diving suit and attached the cables while Alce operated the winch gear to hoist them to the surface. WON'T RUN AGAIN Although none of the trucks will ever run again, the salvors have recovered 29 heavy duty tire, hydraulic lift equipment, several dump bodies, rear axles, and engine blocks. Five years of immersion in salt water has apparently not affected the tires. They still had full pressure. Pieters created a salvage sensation when he dived to 950 feet in a home-made bell to the wreck of the big tug F. M. Yorke which lies on the bottom of Howe Sound. The Yorke is almost an obsession with him. After 17 dives and completion of the preliminary work, someone stole his equipment and set him back for three years. Now he is ready to try again but first he wants a boat to tow the the partner's new salvage barge. He has his eye on a fine craft for this job, the only catch being that it is in more than 300 feet of water off Bedwell Bay. The pair plan to raise the 45-foot ex-navy tug , Barkerville, sunk in 1945, clean up her hull and engines, and use her themselves. The truck raising was a routine salvage job, but the partners are still laughing over a mishap that occurred as they hoisted one of the vehicles out of the water. OIL SPLATTERS Oil pressure in a hydraulic lift unit burst through through a seam and splattered 40 feet into the face of tenderman Harry Sandvik. The young salvors say they five or six wrecks charted along the B.C. coast which they intend to raise. "We're just getting our heads above water," says George Alce. "A few more small jobs and we'll be ready to tackle the biggest wrecks on the coast."

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