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

Airing Out Tanks

Rowley Murphy's 1943 drawing shows the Imperial Oil tanker SS Albertolite airing out its tanks at Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Tube-shaped windsails rising up from the ship's deck ventilate the tanks to remove explosive fumes that remain after the unloading of the petroleum cargo. Also visible are two box-like life rafts, mounted on angled rails for rapid launching (centre and centre right) and a gun forming part of the ship's defences (left). In 1943, Albertolite was engaged in operations along the west coast of North America, carrying petroleum to Canada from California oil fields.

Airing Out Tanks
Drawn by Rowley Murphy in 1943
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-2378