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Birth of the Navy (1910-1914)
Creating the Navy

Created in 1910, the Naval Service of Canada was renamed the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911. It was the product of an intense Canadian political debate driven by Great Britain's efforts to bolster its naval defences against the rapidly growing German navy.

Royal Naval College of Canada, Class Photo, 1911
Royal Naval College of Canada, Class Photo, 1911

Established in 1910, the Royal Naval College of Canada produced a small group of officers who would occupy important positions in subsequent decades.

This 1911 class photograph includes L.W. Murray (second from left, second row) who, as Commander-in-Chief, Canadian Northwest Atlantic, became the only Canadian to command an Allied theatre of operations during the Second World War. The college had spaces for up to 45 officer cadets, aged 14 to 16, who would study for two years before spending a year with the Royal Navy in a large warship.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19910238-267





Service Dress Jacket, Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir John Arbuthnot "Jackie" Fisher, around 1910
British Ships in Halifax, 1901
American Cruiser USS Olympia
HMS New Zealand (right) and HMAS Australia (left)
CGS Canada Model
Bell, CGS Canada
1 1/4 - Pounder Naval Gun
Royal Navy Warships in Esquimalt Harbour
HMCS Niobe, Stern View
HMCS Rainbow arrives at Esquimalt, British Columbia
Rear-Admiral Sir Charles E. Kingsmill
Bicorn Hat, Rear-Admiral Sir Charles E. Kingsmill
Arrival Ceremony, HMCS Rainbow, Esquimalt, British Columbia
Rifle, MK I* Lee-Enfield
Naval Service of Canada Recruiting Poster
First Naval Recruits, HMCS Niobe
Royal Naval College of Canada, Class Photo, 1911
Royal Naval College of Canada, Machine Shop
Cartoon, HMCS Niobe Coronation Contingent, 1911
Sailors Marching, Esquimalt