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 Patriot Towing the Hydrofoil HD-4, September 1921

In this photograph, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Patriot (centre) tows the Bell-Baldwin HD-4 hydrofoil (far left) across Bras D'Or Lake, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

In 1919, the cigar-like HD-4 had sped over the water at speeds of up to 114 kilometres per hour - a record that stood for a decade. In 1921, Alexander Graham Bell and his colleague Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin undertook further tests with the HD-4's engines removed. Patriot, as a fast destroyer, could tow the hydrofoil at high speeds. Despite the tests, Bell and Baldwin's offer of their hydrofoil as a towed naval gunnery target was declined.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19910109-190