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.

Royal Canadian Navy Recruiting Advertisement

This 1956 recruiting advertisement for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) uses an image of the recently commissioned destroyer HMCS St. Laurent.

The advertisement promotes the RCN as a modern, "forward-looking" organization, pointing to the sleek lines and modern technology of the St. Laurent. The first major warships to be designed and built in Canada, the St. Laurent and the six other ships in its class were the product of decisions in the late 1940s to design and build modern, high-speed, anti-submarine vessels.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19760601-003

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