The Early Cold War
Anti-Submarine Warfare

The Canadian navy's main Cold War mission was anti-submarine warfare against the naval forces of the Soviet Union and its allies. Canada's navy operated within a framework of alliances, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), created in 1949.

HMCS Margaree

This photograph shows the Canadian destroyer HMCS Margaree in Halifax Harbour in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

The photograph shows the sleek lines of St. Laurent class destroyers like Margaree, and particularly the ship's two Limbo anti-submarine mortars in the open well near its stern (bottom centre). While a considerable improvement over Second World War anti-submarine weapons, the Limbo still required that anti-submarine vessels be within range of a submarine's torpedoes in order to attack it. A mid-1960s rebuild of Margaree allowed it to support a Sea King helicopter that could attack submarines much farther from the ship.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20020135-070_2