Canada's Naval History

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First World War (1914-1918)
War in the Pacific

At the outbreak of war in August 1914, only three obsolete ships and two recently-acquired submarines protected Canada's west coast. Canadians feared that German cruisers might attack merchant ships or bombard cities and towns. After these attacks failed to materialize, many vessels and personnel were transferred to the Atlantic to deal with the growing German submarine threat.

HMCS Galiano Ship's Company, 1918

This 1918 photograph shows HMCS Galiano's ship's company posing around their ship's main armament, a 6-pounder gun.

Originally ordered as a patrol ship for the Fisheries Protection Service, the Galiano operated in British Columbia waters before being requisitioned for service with the Royal Canadian Navy in September 1917. The ship, its entire crew, and one civilian passenger were lost in a heavy storm during the early hours of 30 October 1918, less than two weeks before the end of the First World War.

VR999.684.1
CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum