Birth of the Navy (1910-1914)
HMCS Niobe

HMCS Niobe, one of the Naval Service of Canada's first two ships, was intended in part to train Canadian sailors. A large, obsolescent cruiser, Niobe required many crew and was expensive to operate. Lengthy repairs after it ran aground in 1911, and subsequent budget cutbacks, limited the ship's activities.

Gun Deck, HMCS Niobe

This below-decks view of HMCS Niobe shows part of the ship's secondary armament of a dozen 12-pounder cannons (left).

Diadem class cruisers like Niobe were designed to blanket a target with fire from their numerous 6-inch and 12-pounder guns. Within a few years, many warships carried guns that could strike from still greater distances and had armour too thick for Niobe's guns to defeat. The placement of Niobe's 12-pounders, along with the wooden deck, is strongly reminiscent of the wooden sailing warships of an earlier era.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20030174-035