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Interwar Years
Imperial Adventure: HMCS Thiepval

In 1924, one of the few ships in the post-First World War Royal Canadian Navy, the Battle-class trawler HMCS Thiepval, became the first Canadian warship to visit the Soviet Union and Japan when it provided support for a British attempt to fly around the world.

HMCS Thiepval Crew Members

This photograph shows four of HMCS Thiepval's crew, probably in Hakodate, Japan.

For the long journey across the north Pacific, far from Canadian ports, Thiepval was assigned more crew than usual. The ship also carried a motion picture photographer and government ornithologist Hamilton Laing to help document its trip. Here, two petty officers (rear) and two sailors (front) pose at Thiepval's rail, with one of the ship's boats visible above them. One sailor (left front) still wears a cap tally for HMCS Patrician, indicating service in Canada's lone destroyer on the west coast.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19710050-001_84