Why the commander of a modern Canadian navy ship keeps a vintage typewriter on board

When Cmdr. Jon Nicholson took command of the Arctic offshore patrol vessel HMCS Harry DeWolf in Halifax in January, his grandfather's typewriter went aboard with him.

The vessel is one of the most modern in Canada's fleet.

The venerable 1955 Smith-Corona Skyriter was also with him aboard his previous ships — HMCS St. John's and HMCS Halifax.

Nicholson, who lives in Halifax but was raised in P.E.I., says the typewriter represents a connection to his grandfather, a fellow sailor. It also serves a practical purpose.

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

Tradition dictates that such correspondence be written with a fountain pen, but, being left-handed, Nicholson says he tended to smear the ink.

Nicholson says the solution to this problem came after he saw the 2016 documentary California Typewriter, which features Tom Hanks, an actor and filmmaker he admires.

"It popped in my head maybe I don't need to use fountain pens and be embarrassed of my handwriting skills ... maybe I could use a typewriter," he said.

'When I mentioned that to my mother, lo and behold, there was a 1955 typewriter in the attic that hadn't been used in 30-40 years."

The typewriter, he says, was in remarkable condition for 70 years old. Everything worked.

Although he wasn't aware of the typewriter's existence until a few years ago, it originally belonged to his grandfather.

Nicholson says his grandfather was a specialist diver with the Italian navy in the early 1900s before migrating to P.E.I.

He says he and his grandfather looked 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 to the Arctic and elsewhere.