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The Royal Canadian Navy
Canada has a vigorous sea-going tradition stemming from the days of
wooden ships, when the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia forests were the
basis of a prosperous ship-building industry. Canadians built the first ship
to cross the Atlantic under steam — the Royal William, which made its
maiden voyage in 1833. Today Canada’s relationship to the sea is better
expressed in terms of her dependence on international trade.
While the great wave of settlement swept across the Canadian prairies in
the first decade of this century, the protection afforded the world’s trade routes
by the British Navy was being jeopardized by the growth of European navies.
Prairie wheat gave Canadians a vital interest in keeping these trade routes
clear—and the threat to British sea-power inspired in Canada the first real
desire to have her own navy. For generations Canada had sheltered behind
the Royal Navy, and it was felt that a growing nation should defend its own
shores.
By the First World War the Royal Canadian Navy had weathered a suc-
cession of political storms and was able to play a small but worth-while role
protecting coastal shipping. It was a ‘“‘small-ship navy’’, manned by sea-
soned deep-sea fishermen and Great Lakes sailors. In the Second World War
the RCN expanded rapidly and assumed a major share of responsibility for
the arduous tasks of convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare. In the North
Atlantic alone the RCN brought to safe harbour over 25,000 merchant ship
voyages carrying more than 180,000,000 tons of cargo. The achievement of
HMCS Portage, an Algerine Class
minesweeper of the RCN.
Le dragueur de mines Portage de la
marine royale canadienne.
A Fairmile Class motor launch of the Royal
Canadian Navy.
Vedette Fairmile de la marine royale canadienne.
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