Canada's Naval History

The Second World War
The Merchant Navy - The Merchant Navy

Between 1939 and 1945, Canadian and Allied merchant ships and their crews transported personnel, munitions, weapons, and food across the world's oceans as part of the Allied war effort. Enemy action sank some 70 Canadian and Newfoundland merchant vessels. Over 1,600 Canadians and Newfoundlanders, including eight women, were killed.

Artifact Record

Examination Officer Boarding Merchant Ship

In this painting, an officer of the Royal Canadian Navy's examination service (right, climbing ladder) boards a merchant ship to verify its documents and inspect its cargo.

Traffic control and ship inspection were critical duties at busy wartime ports crowded with merchant ships. After the devastating Halifax Explosion of December 1917, involving the collision of a heavily-loaded munitions ship with another vessel, examination officers paid particular attention to explosives.

Examination Officer Boarding Merchant Ship
Painted by Donald C. Mackay
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-4218