This section brings together the approximately 700 objects and photographs used in Canada's Naval History. Use this section to directly access objects and photographs grouped by type, as shown below, or use the search function above to search through them by title.

HMS Shearwater and HMCS Rainbow at Esquimalt, 7 November 1910

The British ship HMS Shearwater (left), dressed in signal flags, welcomes the newly arrived HMCS Rainbow (right).

Rainbow's arrival marked the beginning of a Canadian naval presence in British Columbia, but the Royal Navy continued to maintain a small force at Esquimalt. Shearwater, a remnant of Britain's once powerful Pacific Squadron, would be transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy during the First World War.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19890167-008