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.

Torpedo Lecture Room, Halifax

This photograph from Leonard W. Murray's album shows torpedo components and technical diagrams arranged in the torpedo lecture room in Halifax.

Torpedoes, an important weapons system for the interwar RCN, were extraordinarily complex, requiring well-trained personnel to maintain and use them. HMCS Patriot, HMCS Patrician, and the destroyers that succeeded them were all designed to conduct hit-and-run torpedo attacks on larger warships. The "Vernon" mentioned in the caption is the Royal Navy's much larger torpedo training establishment in Portsmouth, England, which Canadians attended during the interwar years to receive more advanced instruction.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19750559-009_p22