home
Explore History

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.

CGS Canada Model
CGS Canada Model

Built in the United Kingdom, the CGS (Canadian Government Ship) Canada was a modern, high-speed ship intended for east coast patrols.

Entering service before the creation of a Canadian navy, Canada was initially part of the Fisheries Protection Service, which helped protect against illegal fishing by American ships. Canada carried four rapid-firing guns and had a steel hull with a pointed ram bow that could be used to attack other vessels if necessary. Made by Vickers, Sons & Maxim, in the United Kingdom, the company that built the Canada, this model shows the ship as it appeared when first built.

Model Ship, Patrol Vessel
CWM 19880001-598

Main image



Additional views





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