At the onset of the Cold War, it became clear that the Arctic was of strategic significance. So, for a brief period, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) established a presence there. But this presence was sporadic and largely abandoned with the transfer of HMCS Labrador - the navy’s only icebreaker […]
Canadian Naval History
18 posts
Over the last 15 years, Canadian Naval Review has published over 170 book reviews. These books cover a variety of topics but they all relate to maritime matters, history, or security and defence at sea. This is an amazing resource. Go through the list of reviews, pick out a few […]
This week marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. This war was a genuine world war, involving as it did participants from around the world. For Canada and Europe, the war started in the fall of 1939. In Africa, Asia the start dates were […]
13 July 2018. David Dunlop. Don’t know if the Type 26 Frigate will win the bidding process after the 'curing' process on July 21, but if the LM/BAE Type 26 does, here are the class and ship names I believe would be appropriate for each coast. I believe the first ship […]
Reports on the engine failure in HMCS Athabaskan are missing some important aspects of the problems this ancient warship is facing. One of the two cruise turbines failed, leaving one other plus the two high-speed turbines. The ship should be able to function with that degree of redundancy and indeed […]
CNR, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2015) Abstract The growth of digital archives offers contemporary scholars a new source of original materials, and Demers uses these materials to examine an incident that occurred late in the First World War – the sinking of the Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle. This incident […]
[* Moderator’s note: This is a revised and expanded version of the same article published yesterday, 8 March.] Steel will be cut in a few months for the first of the Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS). The official date of the cutting will be an opportunity for […]
Canada will be recapitalizing much of the naval and coast guard surface fleets under its National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS). Much of this promised $38 billion is earmarked for 15 Canadian Surface Combatants (CSCs). These ships are expected to be the new workhorse of the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN), designed […]
Fraser McKee rightly takes me to task for not crediting the sinking of the Italian Marcello-class submarine, R.Smg. Commandante Faá di Bruno, Cdr. Aldo Enrici, CO, by HMCS Ottawa, Cdr. Edmond 'Rollo' Mainguy, CO, and HMS HARVESTER (H19), (ex-Brazilian JURUA), on 6 Nov 1940. I admit that I deliberately did not […]
Far be it from me to correct my betters in historical research, but I tend to note items in research papers and commentary that are in error. In your entirely correct article on the Byers and Webb article on the submarine problems (Having, even as a naval reservist, served in two submarines, […]