Birth of the Navy (1910-1914)
Creating the Navy

Created in 1910, the Naval Service of Canada was renamed the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911. It was the product of an intense Canadian political debate driven by Great Britain's efforts to bolster its naval defences against the rapidly growing German navy.

American Cruiser USS Olympia

This photograph shows the American cruiser USS Olympia, Admiral George Dewey's flagship at the battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines.

Under Dewey's command, the Olympia and a squadron of American ships defeated a squadron of Spanish ships on 1 May 1898. This American victory in the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War catapulted Dewey to national prominence in the United States, and signalled America's rapid development as a world power in the late nineteenth century. The growth of the United States Navy and other nations' fleets challenged Britain's status as the world's foremost naval power. The two images on this card create the illusion of a three-dimensional image when seen through a special viewer called a stereoscope.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19840506-019