Interwar Years
The 1920s: A Navy Struggling to Survive

Following the end of the First World War, the Royal Canadian Navy faced significant threats to its continued existence. In the face of significant cutbacks, the navy focused on maintaining a small force to train sailors and to protect the country's coasts against enemy ships.

HMCS Vancouver

HMCS Vancouver, seen here, and sister ship HMCS Champlain were British "S" class destroyers transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1928.

Replacements for the aging HMCS Patriot and HMCS Patrician, Vancouver and Champlain were the first British ships to be given Canadian names when commissioned into the RCN. On the west coast, Vancouver continued Patrician's role as a training ship for small nucleus crews of RCN and Volunteer Reserve personnel on local patrols and summer cruises. Along with HMCS Skeena, Vancouver was involved in efforts to protect British interests during a 1932 agrarian uprising in El Salvador.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19710214-012