Nazan Bay was one of HMCS Thiepval's last stops before the diminutive trawler crossed the north Pacific on the way to the Soviet Union and Japan.

This hand-coloured photograph gives an idea of the barren shores Thiepval would visit during this 1924 journey. A secret component of the mission involved examining Alaskan and northern Japanese ports to determine whether the United States or Japan was contravening the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty by fortifying these areas. Reports by Thiepval's commander, W.R.J. Beech, detailed resources, the presence of military or government officials, and the state of communications in several northern ports.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19710050-001_16