The Second World War
The Merchant Navy  - The Merchant Navy

Between 1939 and 1945, Canadian and Allied merchant ships and their crews transported personnel, munitions, weapons, and food across the world's oceans as part of the Allied war effort. Enemy action sank some 70 Canadian and Newfoundland merchant vessels. Over 1,600 Canadians and Newfoundlanders, including eight women, were killed.

Convoy at Sea

In this photograph taken from the Canadian corvette HMCS Midland, Allied merchant ships travel in a convoy from St. John's Newfoundland, to New York.

Merchant ships, seeking to transport safely food, supplies, weapons and personnel, often travelled in groups called convoys, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite protective efforts by Allied forces, German and Axis submarines and other forces sank thousands of Allied merchant ships. Canadian sailor John Peterson, who took the photograph, noted that this was a "fast" convoy, travelling at 9.5 knots (17.5 km/hour). Many merchant ships could not maintain this speed, and travelled in even slower convoys.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20000224-027_2