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

The Early Cold War
Rebuilding and Transformation

The Canadian navy's main Cold War mission was anti-submarine warfare, as it had been in the two world wars. It sought to build a force of ships, personnel, and facilities to fulfill this mission, as well as to pursue other national objectives like sovereignty protection.

HMCS Malahat Crew, 1957

The crew of HMCS Malahat, the naval reserve division in Victoria, British Columbia, pose for a photograph in 1957.

A number of them wear medals, a reminder that in the 1950s and 1960s, many members of Canada's navy were veterans of the Second World War. Among the crew are Wrens (front row, left; second row, third from left; back row), members of the women's service of the Royal Canadian Navy which had been established as part of the naval reserves in 1951.

VRP993.65.27
CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum

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