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.

Royal Canadian Navy Barracks, Halifax

This 1920s photograph shows how the history and traditions of Britain's Royal Navy continued to shape its Canadian counterpart in the early part of the twentieth century.

Although the barracks is located in a building on land, barrels on the deck and tables suspended from overhead mimic the mess decks of wooden sailing warships where sailors ate, lived, and slept. The radiators under the windows and the enclosure for the outside door (left) were both concessions to Halifax winters.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19750559-009_p20