Canada's Naval History

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Birth Of the Navy

First World War

Between the Wars

Second World War

Early Cold War

Later Cold War
- - From RCN to Maritime Command
  - A Changing Fleet

Navy Today
- - The Gulf War
  - Continuing Commitments

First World War (1914-1918)
The Home Front

The war at sea affected Canadians in a variety of ways. While extensive recruiting efforts at home sought men to become sailors in the Canadian and British navies, Canadian shipyards built warships and merchant ships to expand Allied navies and to replace vessels lost to submarine attack.

SS War Camp at Sea

The SS War Camp was one of nine merchant ships built by J. Coughlan & Sons in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Seen here after its completion in September 1918, the War Camp was an example of the largest size of steel ships built in Canada for the Imperial Munitions Board (IMB). These and other IMB vessels carried the standard prefix "War." After the Armistice, the War Camp sailed for another 40 years under various names before finally being scrapped in Osaka, Japan, in 1958.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20070035-011