William Hall was the son of African American refugees who settled in Nova Scotia after the War of 1812. During the Indian Mutiny, Hall became the first Canadian winner of the naval Victoria Cross. He was the third Canadian to win the Victoria Cross.
A new Canadian patrol ship will be named after the first Nova Scotian to receive the Victoria Cross.
Julian Fantino, the associate minister of national defence, made the announcement Friday in Halifax.
Petty Officer William Hall, who was born near Wolfville, N.S., is remembered for his actions in the Relief of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion in 1857.
He and one other man were the only members of their brigade to survive a battle with mutineers, but still managed to successfully operate their ship's remaining functional gun.
William Hall was the first black recipient of the decoration created by Queen Victoria in 1856 to honour extraordinary valour.
HMCS William Hall is the fourth of the Royal Canadian Navy's new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships to be named in honour of Canadian naval heroes.
The son of two black refugees from the War of 1812, Mr. Hall was believed to have been born in Hantsport, N.S., in 1829. At 15, he joined a merchant marine ship, and moved on to the Royal Navy at 22.
Mr. Hall reportedly told recruiting officers he joined the navy to repay a debt to the British for rescuing his father from a slave ship.
His first assignment was with HMS Rodney, which took part in the Crimean war of 1854. He was then posted to HMS Shannon, which took part in suppressing the Indian rebellion against the East India Company in Calcutta in 1857. That same year, HMS Shannon's brigade, along with that of HMS Pearl, were towed to Lucknow.
At Lucknow, Mr. Hall was among those who volunteered to move several naval guns next to a heavily fortified mosque that was firing at the ship's brigade. They fired the gun next to the mosque's walls in hopes of breaching it, but every time the gun fired, it recoiled, sending Hall and the other volunteers directly in the line of fire. However, they kept pushing it back and firing it, until the wall was breached and the 93rd Highlanders could get through.
In 2010, Mr. Hall was posthumously awarded with a stamp bearing his image. The stamp features Mr. Hall, with HMS Shannon in the background.
With files from Globe reporter Oliver Sachgau