Pacific Station The Pacific Station , often referred to as the Pacific Squadron , was one of the geographical divisions into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities . Before 1837 it was called the South America Station . History . It was established in the early nineteenth century to support British interests along the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean at Valparaíso , Chile . In 1834 the Station hosted a visit by the survey ship on her second voyage . In 1837 the South America Station was renamed the Pacific Station . In 1843 George Paulet , captain of , took her out from Valparaíso to Honolulu to demand the islands of the Kingdom of Hawaii for Britain . King Kamehameha III capitulated and signed the islands over to Paulet . In the summer of that year Rear - Admiral Richard Darton Thomas set out from Valparaíso in to rein Paulet in . On 31 July 1843 Thomas assured the King that the occupation was over and that there was no British claim over the islands . In 1842 was sent north to survey the coast of Vancouver Island and what would become the Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard . During the survey trip the crew of the " Pandora " found that Esquimalt Harbour had a size and depth suited for use as a Royal Navy harbour . As tensions between Britain and America rose during the Oregon boundary dispute a base at the southern end of Vancouver Island would help strengthen the British claim to all of the island . The Oregon Treaty of 1846 ceded control over all of the island to Britain . In 1848 was sent to Esquimalt and was the first vessel to be stationed there . In the summer of 1854 several ships , including , , , , and set out from Valparaíso and sailed across the Pacific Ocean stopping at the Marquesas Islands then they went on to Honolulu where they met a French fleet of warships . In late August the combined fleets sailed to Russia to engage in the Siege of Petropavlovsk at which Commander - in - Chief David Price died . Captain of the " Pique " Frederick William Erskine Nicolson was brevetted and took command of the British naval forces from 31 August 1854 until the arrival of the next Commander - in - Chief . In 1855 three " Crimean huts " were built at Esquimalt to serve as a hospital intended to receive wounded from the Crimean War . The huts were the first shore establishment at Esquimalt . The presence of forests full of straight grained conifer s such as the Coast Douglas fir meant that Vancouver Island could provide shipbuilding material suitable for spar making in the age of sail . The later discovery of coal on the island and at Vancouver ' s Coal Harbour , meant that the area could also serve as a useful resource in the age of steam as well . Rear - Admiral Robert Lambert Baynes , aware of the political importance of maintaining British sovereignty amidst the San Juan Boundary Dispute and the British Columbia gold rushes recommended to the Admiralty a move of the station headquarters from Valparaíso to Esquimalt in November 1859 . By 1865 Esquimalt was recognized as the base headquarters of the Pacific Station . The move from Valparaíso to Esquimalt helped the Pacific Station avoid involvement in the Chincha Islands War ( 1864 – 1866 ) between Spain , Chile , and Peru . Rear - Admiral de Horsey ordered commanded by Frederick Bedford , against the Nicolás de Piérola - led " Huáscar " in the Battle of Pacocha on 29 May 1877 . In that battle two Whitehead torpedo es were fired from the " Shah " at the " Huáscar " but they missed their mark and the " Huáscar " got away . A graving dock large enough to accommodate the largest ships in the Pacific fleet was commissioned at Esquimalt in 1887 . After a period of relaxing tensions meant that British interests in British Columbia were secured , the Station was maintained to counter Russia n ambitions in the Pacific . The Station was also crucial in defending British Columbia from United States aggression during the Spanish - American War of 1898 and the contemporaneous Alaska Boundary Dispute , when the US threatened to forcibly invade and annex British Columbia if its demands over Alaska were not met . By the end of the nineteenth century , improved communications , the signing of the Anglo - Japanese Alliance and the need to concentrate warships in British waters to counter the developing German High Seas Fleet , meant that the station was closed down at sunset on 1 March 1905 . The facilities and base of operations at Esquimalt , British Columbia were transferred to the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries . The Pacific Station ' s responsibilities were divided between the China , Australia and the North America and West Indies Station s . After passage of the Naval Service Bill in 1910 there was a Canadian Naval Service that controlled the base at Esquimalt and that service became the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911 . In the 1960s a consolidation of defence forces in Canada led to its re - constitution as the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt . Commanders . Most commanders - in - chief of the station held the rank of rear admiral , with the exceptions of Hamond and Hastings who were each promoted to vice admiral before being reassigned to other duties , and Goodrich who was a commodore . Legacy . The largest remnant of the Pacific Station is the CFB Esquimalt naval base in western Canada . Many geographical features of Vancouver Island and British Columbia are named after captains , commanders , and ships assigned to the Pacific Station . The Arco Británico triumphal arch in Valparaíso was constructed to commemorate the British presence in the city , including several Naval commanders . Thomas Square in Honolulu is named after Admiral Richard Darton Thomas . Although Union Flags were flown over Hawaii as early as 1816 the current state flag of Hawaii design dates from the close of the Paulet Affair and features a British Union Flag in its canton to commemorate the help that Thomas rendered the Kingdom of Hawaii . Charles Darwin ' s visits to Valparaíso , Cerro La Campana , and the Galápagos Islands led to publication of " The Voyage of the Beagle " which , along with later works such as " On the Origin of Species " , helped to establish the field of evolutionary biology .