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 Chaudière - 1962 Fisheries Patrol

David Landry's painting depicts the Canadian destroyer HMCS Chaudière (foreground) and a Soviet trawler (background) during a 1962 fisheries patrol.

Landry, a self-taught artist who served in the Royal Canadian Navy, shows a Canadian warship engaging in one of the central functions of a navy - the assertion of national sovereignty. While the Canadian navy's central role during the Cold War was anti-submarine operations as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, its ships also helped assert Canadian sovereignty by enforcing Canadian laws and regulations within the country's territorial waters.

HMCS Chaudiere - 1962 Fisheries Patrol
Painted by David Landry
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19860128-001