When Cmdr. Jon Nicholson took command of the Arctic offshore patrol ship HMCS Harry DeWolf in Halifax in January, with his grandfather’s typewriter on board.

The ship is one of the most modern in the Canadian fleet.

Also with him aboard his previous ships, HMCS St. John’s and HMCS Halifax, was the venerable 1955 Smith-Corona Skyriter.

Nicholson, who lives in Halifax but grew up on Prince Edward Island, says the typewriter represents a connection to his grandfather, a fellow sailor. This also serves a practical purpose.

He said as part of naval tradition, officers are required to write personal letters of introduction to new superiors or commanders. They also give personal notes to shipmates celebrating milestones.

Tradition has it that such correspondence is written with a fountain pen, but, being left-handed, Nicholson said he tended to smear the ink.

Nicholson says the solution to this problem came after seeing the 2016 documentary Californian typewriter, which stars Tom Hanks, an actor and filmmaker he admires.

“I thought maybe I didn’t need to use fountain pens and was embarrassed by my writing skills…maybe I could use a typewriter,” said he declared.

“When I told my mother about it, lo and behold, there was a 1955 typewriter in the attic that hadn’t been used in 30 to 40 years.”

The typewriter, he said, had been in remarkable condition for 70 years. Everything worked.

Although he didn’t know about the typewriter until a few years ago, it originally belonged to his grandfather.

Nicholson says his grandfather was a specialist diver in the Italian navy in the early 1900s before migrating to Prince Edward Island.

He said he and his grandfather were a lot alike and shared common interests.

According to Nicholson, having the typewriter with him is like having a piece of his grandfather accompanying him on his missions in the Arctic and elsewhere.

Today, Nicholson says the typewriter takes pride of place on a desk in his captain’s cabin, near his computer and monitor that he uses for daily administrative tasks.

“I don’t use it all the time, but it gets attention when I use it,” he says. “People often comment on it.”

Nicholson wanted to refresh the typewriter if he could find someone to do it. As he headed toward Toronto with the ship, he looked online to see if there were any repair shops in the city. He discovered Toronto typewriters.

He made an appointment. During their free time during their stopover, Nicholson and a junior officer brought the typewriter into the store.

Chris Edmondson, owner of Toronto Typewriter, says he’s used to people from out of town coming to the store, often on tight schedules.

What he wasn’t prepared for was seeing Nicholson arrive in full military gear.

Edmondson said he asked Nicholson why he was so well dressed and he explained that he was in town with his warship and crew for a recruiting exercise.

According to Edmondson, the 1955 Skyriter is a lightweight, portable machine built with a level of craftsmanship that shows the Smith-Corona company was “at the top of its game.”

He says it has been serviced and cleaned and new tape installed. When the time came for them to collect the restored machine, Nicholson presented him with a hat from HMCS Harry DeWolf.

“Beautiful, beautiful feeling”

After the two agreed, Edmondson posted photos from their visit to the store’s Instagram page.

Edmondson says he finds it touching that the machine has a family naval connection.

“It’s such a beautiful feeling, so beautiful and such an interesting way to carry with you the memory of your grandfather,” he said.

“You wouldn’t do that with a cell phone. But because the typewriter is a machine, it is a tool that still has importance and meaning and can be used for what it was originally designed for. »

Nicholson says he hopes his recently restored typewriter will remain a constant companion on his travels,

“It’s part of my life now, and although my adventures with this typewriter are in their infancy, I hope they continue.”