Age: 37
Sex: male
Date: 6 Mar 1922
Place: Barrow Island, Portsmouth Harbour
Henry Canavon was found dead in Portsmouth Harbour.
He had some marks on his forehead but his death was due to drowning.
The Coroner said that he did not think for a moment that he could have met his death through anything other than accidental circumstances but also added that he did not believe that he had fallen down between the ladder and the ship.
Henry Canavon was an able seaman and quartermaster in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary on the oil-fuel ship Kimmeral. He was from Cloyne in County Cork, Ireland. He had lost his wife four months earlier but had got over depression.
On the Friday he had left the ship saying that he was going to a local music hall.
An able seaman on the Kimmeral who had been on night watch said that he heard nothing of Henry Canavon all evening.
He was seen later by a policeman from the Metropolitan Police who was attached to the Clarence Yard at about 10.45pm on the Friday night returning through the yard with the apparent intention of going back to his ship.
Another policeman said that he later saw Henry Canavon descending an iron ladder that led down the ship. He said that it was dark and that he didn't see him after that. He said that Henry Canavon walked away but that he heard no splash and could offer no theory as to how he had got into the water.
The next morning Henry Canavon was found in the water near Barrow Island, about 100 yards away from the Kimmeral.
An open verdict was returned.
see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
see Portsmouth Evening News - Monday 06 March 1922