X̱uuyaa V of Haida Gwaii
X̱uuyaa V (b. 16 September 1907 in Skidegate; d. 10 April 1996 in Sandspit, aged 88) was King of Haida Gwaii from 30 September 1933 to his death in April 1996, reigning for a period of 62 years, the longest known reign of any Haida monarch. While only married once, in 1928 at the age of 20, X̱uuyaa V had a total of seven children, six daughters and one son, the latter of whom was the second-eldest child and the heir apparent to the throne of Haida Gwaii from his birth in 1930 until his death by drowning at sea in 1966 during a Haida Navy training exercise in which two of the seven ships involved, one of which was a destroyer carrying the prince, experienced an underwater hull breach, later found to be the cause of improper maintenance, with the three Haida Navy mechanics responsible dishonourably discharged from the military a month after the incident and court-martialed, each being sentenced to six months' prison time at Haida Gwaii's only military prison, Port Clements Military Prison. The hull breaches caused an immediate and uncontrollable flow of seawater into the ships' hulls, resulting in their total sinking within at most 30 minutes.
While around half of the crew of each ship managed to escape via lifeboats, the prince himself is thought to have been inside his private quarters when the incident occurred, which were locked and rendered impossible to unlock due to the failure of several hydraulic systems and the short-circuiting of electrical systems caused by the rapid submergence of the engine room, which was closest to the hull breach, in seawater. Following the prince's death, the royal couple attempted to have another boy, but ultimately failed, leaving their eldest daughter Nang Jāadas as the heir apparent for the next nine years. However, following the birth in 1975 of the grandson (and sole male descendant) of King X̱uuyaa V's only brother Skaay-yaay, the grandson (X̱uuyaa V's great-nephew), born Skaay Tāan-gaay, became heir apparent. Following X̱uuyaa V's death in 1996, Skaay Tāan-gaay was crowned King of Haida Gwaii as Tāan II.