From his Bio on the site:
Captain Brannen had avoided death on his previous command, the Deliverance when it sank and he narrowly avoided being drawn down with the ship"On 06 Dec 1917, Stella Maris, with Captain Horatio Harris Brannen and 23 others aboard, was towing two scows near mid-channel in the Narrows of Halifax Harbour leading into Bedford Basin. Shortly before the explosion, the tug narrowly avoided being hit by SS Imo, which then collided with Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship. The collision started a fire on Mont Blanc, forcing the crew to evacuate. The burning ship then began drifting towards Halifax's Pier 6 on the western shore. After a failed attempt to get close to the French ship, Stella Maris's crew were in the process of retrieving a ten-inch hawser from the hold to assist a party of volunteers from HMCS Niobe's steam pinnace in securing a line to Mont Blanc. They wanted to pull the French vessel away from the pier to prevent it from catching fire. Before this could be done, the explosion occurred. Stella Maris was severely damaged; 19 men were killed, including Captain Brannen."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uftwx4fbS7c
http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/RC ... m#RCN04365
http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/STELLAMARIS.htm