We have a rich tradition of fishing and maritime trade dating back to our earliest days, however it took more than 40 years after Confederation to form our own navy. Before that, as a member of the British Empire, Canada’s defence at sea was left almost entirely to the powerful Royal Navy. After much debate on how the member countries of the British Empire could best help defend themselves and each other, the formation of the new Canadian navy was finally authorized. On May 4, 1910, it officially came into being.
The Canadian Navy received its first warships that same year when HMCS Rainbow and Niobe were acquired from Britain. King George V granted the use of the word “Royal” in the navy’s name the following year. It was a modest beginning to what would prove to be a force that had an important role to play in the future.
History
Heroes Remember Interviews
Photo Gallery
"The Navy Wants Men" - a Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve recruitment campaign poster, circa 1914 - 1918. National Archives of Canada / C-095267
HMCS Niobe entering into the Halifax graving dock. National Defence / CN-6593
HMCS Rainbow in dry dock, Esquimalt, BC - date unknown. Department of National Defence / E-48205
Third Stoker's Watch - HMCS NIOBE - circa 1914 - 1915. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada / PA-139154
rawlers under construction for the Royal Canadian Navy at Polson Iron Works Limited - 9 April 1917 - Toronto, Ontario. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada / PA-125818
HMCS Niobe ship's company mustered to watch boxing match circa 1914 / 1915. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada / PA-139175
Personnel of the Womens' Royal Canadian Naval Service (W.R.C.N.S.) embarking for the United Kingdom. Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-108181
Roller-see-saw machine built at the Montreal Neurological Institute to create seasickness artificially under controlled conditions by research workers for experimental purposes - Royal Canadian Navy Medical Research Unit. Canada. Dept. of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada / PA-137048
Jetty 4 - Halifax Harbour during WWII. National Defence / Copy courtesy Thomas Lynch
WRNCS officers lined up in front of a ship under construction during the S.S. Fort Esperance launch ceremony at the United Shipyards Ltc. naval shipyard. National Film Board of Canada. Photo Library / Library and Archives Canada / e000761717
HMCS Assiniboine leaving Halifax on September 30 1940 to join convoy HX 77 as a local escort. HMCS Saguenay following astern. Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta / IKMD-03420
HMCS Brantford - showing a significant buildup of ice. Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta / MC-2141
Depth charges - HMCS Morden. Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta / MC-2666
The launch of HMCS Kamsack - 5 May 1941. Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta / MC-2463
HMCS Port Arthur during her commissioning 26 May 1942. Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta / MC-2798
HMCS Ottawa lands seriously wounded survivors of torpedoed convoy ships. Department of National Defence / N-286
The forecastle of HMCS Assiniboine showing "A" gun and the fog lookout closed up in the eyes of the ship. Ken Macpherson / Naval Museum of Alberta / NF-402
Anti-submarine net between Fort York Redoubt and McNabs Island, Halifax NS. May 1942. Department of National Defence / National Archives of Canada / PA-105924
The cross that marks the graves of HMCS Skenna's's dead in Fossaberg Cemetery - Fossaberg, Iceland - December 1945. Herb Nott / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-176659
HMCS Nootka conducting Naval Fire Support – Korea, 1951. Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-142437
Supplies being taken aboard HMCS Athabaskan at Sasebo, Japan during the Korean War. Photo courtesy of Fred Fowlow
U.S.S. Buck transferring four-inch ammunition to HMCS Haida during her patrol off the east coast of Korea. Allan F. Jones / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-138197
Ship Formation in the Gulf of Oman of the Canadian Navy. From right to left HMCS Algonquin, HMCS Protecteur, and HMCS St-Johns. The formation took place during a (RAS) Replenishment at sea, followed by maneuvers. MCpl Michel Durand / 54845
Members of HMCS Regina's naval boarding party make their way in a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), to a suspect vessel in the Gulf of Oman. Mcpl Frank Hudec / 55291
HMCS Corner Brook on arctic patrol during OP Nanook sails past an Iceberg. MCpl Blake Rodgers / 54871
A CH-124 Sea King helicopter hoists a person from Patrol Craft Training (PCT) Wolf off the coastal approaches to Vancouver Harbour Feb. 5. The "hoistex" was the first for the Orca-class, the Canadian Navy's newest class of ship. MS Derek Dawson / 54907
Master Seaman Rob Brabant, guides a belt of 20 mm Tungsten ammunition as it is fed into HMCS Ottawa's close in weapon system (CIWS). Cpl Charles Barber / 55253