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.

HMCS Patriot Towing the Hydrofoil HD-4, September 1921

In this photograph, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Patriot (centre) tows the Bell-Baldwin HD-4 hydrofoil (far left) across Bras D'Or Lake, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

In 1919, the cigar-like HD-4 had sped over the water at speeds of up to 114 kilometres per hour - a record that stood for a decade. In 1921, Alexander Graham Bell and his colleague Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin undertook further tests with the HD-4's engines removed. Patriot, as a fast destroyer, could tow the hydrofoil at high speeds. Despite the tests, Bell and Baldwin's offer of their hydrofoil as a towed naval gunnery target was declined.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19910109-190