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HMCS Labrador
HMCS Labrador

HMCS Labrador, seen here against the backdrop of an iceberg, was the Royal Canadian Navy's only icebreaker.

Built in Canada and based on an American icebreaker design, Labrador was the result of studies and plans that started in the late 1940s. Design features included a flight deck (left) and hangar (centre left) for helicopters to transport personnel and examine ice conditions, and a small launch called Pogo for surveying shallow, poorly charted waters. Labrador was tangible evidence of the increasing military importance of the Canadian Arctic and of the Canadian government's interest in asserting national sovereignty.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19920085-1004



Master-at-Arms Ron Crawford, HMCS Cornwallis, 1953
HMCS Malahat Crew, 1957
Naval Fire Fighting Training
Cadets in Summer Training
Radio Room, HMCS Margaree
Brooke Claxton Laying Cornerstone, October 1953
HMCS Labrador
Canadian Sailors Rescue a Horse
Soviet Submarine Crew
HMCS Swansea, July 1959
Limbo Anti-Submarine Mortar, HMCS Kootenay
HMCS Margaree
Sikorsky H04S Helicopter
Plotting Room, Halifax
Grumman Tracker Launch
United Nations Warships off Korea, 1950-1953
HMCS Cayuga at Sea
HMCS Cayuga Firing on Enemy Shore Battery
RCN Tribal B Gun, Korea
North Korean Caves
Track of HMCS Crusader, 1952-1953
HMCS Warrior
HMCS Magnificent
HMCS Bonaventure