The Early Cold War
Rebuilding and Transformation

The Canadian navy's main Cold War mission was anti-submarine warfare, as it had been in the two world wars. It sought to build a force of ships, personnel, and facilities to fulfill this mission, as well as to pursue other national objectives like sovereignty protection.

HMCS Ontario in the Panama Canal

The Canadian cruiser HMCS Ontario passes through the locks of the Panama Canal, likely during a 1950s training cruise.

Ontario and other vessels helped train personnel for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the post-war expansion prompted by increasing Cold War tensions. Entering service with the RCN at the end of the Second World War, Ontario had arrived in the Pacific just as Japan surrendered. After refitting in Esquimalt, British Columbia, the cruiser spent much of its time as a training vessel until it was decommissioned in 1959.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19900076-996