HMCS Canada, a government patrol vessel seen here in St. John's, Newfoundland, was pressed into Royal Canadian Navy service during the First World War.

Launched in 1904, CGS (Canadian Government Ship) Canada, flagship of the Fisheries Protection Service, subsequently became an important training ship for Canada's embryonic navy. The German naval threat during the First World War forced the Canadian navy to acquire almost every available Canadian government ship, as well as many civilian vessels. Canada was transferred to the navy in August 1914 and commissioned the next year as HMCS Canada, conducting patrols off the east coast.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20080041-025