People in the Navy

'Father of electronic chart' awarded Admirals' Medal

By Virginia Beaton, Trident staff

Credit:  DND Photo R.M. Eaton, "Father of the electronic chart" receives his Admiral's Medal from the Honourable Myra Freeman, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

It wasn’t his 32-year career with Canadian Hydrographic Services (CHS) that earned R.M. ‘Mike’ Eaton an Admirals’ Award, but rather his retirement hobby.

Eaton was recognized at an April 6 luncheon in Halifax for, “substantially improving the safety of maritime navigation through the development and implementation of state-of-the-art electronic navigational aids,” said Lieutenant-Commander (ret’d) Jim Reddy.

At the luncheon, Eaton was presented a medal from the Hon. Myra Freeman, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

Eaton is frequently called the father of the electronic chart in Canada. In a biography of Eaton, LCdr (ret’d) Reddy wrote that he, “played a very significant role in the development of the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) that is becoming the standard for the present-day seafarer.”

In an interview before the award ceremony, Eaton, who now resides in Dartmouth, said he spent 12 years in the British Royal Navy, and joined the Hydrographic Survey Branch in 1950.

After coming to Canada in 1957, he joined the CHS, staying there until his 1989 retirement.

Of the electronic chart, Eaton said, “I didn’t really start working on it much until after I retired … 10, 15 years I’ve worked on it now, but I was in retirement.”

His final research was the product of a busy career in geodesic surveying, which could only have happened in Canada, said Eaton.

“If I had stayed in the U.K., I would have surveyed a muddy estuary,” said Eaton. “I came to Canada and I helped produce the electronic chart, which is the biggest development in marine safety or navigation since radar. And I never would have had the opportunity if I hadn’t come to Canada.”

Together with Paul Brunavs of the Nautical Geodesy section of CHS, Eaton first developed the theory of radio wave propagation into a working model used by the navy as a navigation tool.

“I’ve had a very interesting time,” said Eaton. “I have worked all over Canada and then with the electronic charts, I’ve had meetings all over Western Europe.”

Eaton is demonstrably proud of his accomplishments, saying, “That was really the highlight, because it was such a huge advance for the mariner, to reduce the stress when he is in a difficult situation.”

Master of ceremonies for the luncheon was Lieutenant-Commander Graeme Arbuckle, executive secretary of the Admirals’ Medal Foundation. Vice-Admiral (ret’d) Dan Mainguy gave the concluding remarks before a crowd of many retired navy personnel and Admirals’ Foundation members.

The Admirals’ Medal was established in 1985, the navy’s 75th year of Canadian service, wrote LCdr (ret’d) Reddy, to recognize those who, “make a permanent and significant impact on the development of maritime affairs in Canada.”

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