History of the Royal Canadian Navy
From 1910 Canada had an independent Navy called the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). In 1968 it became part of the Canadian armed forces as a maritime weapon . From 1968 to 2011 this was called the Canadian Forces Maritime Command (CFMC) and has been called the Royal Canadian Navy again since 2011, but is still part of the integrated armed forces.
history
The Militia Act 1868 provided for the creation of a Marine Militia . However, only one Naval Brigade was actually set up in Halifax . In 1880 the Royal Navy lent the wooden Charbydis steamer , built in 1859 with 20 8-inch cannons, to Canada for training purposes . On the crossing, the outdated steam engine finally broke down, the ship had to be towed into the port of Halifax and was returned to the Royal Navy in August 1882, which sold it there in 1884.
At the beginning of the 20th century, discussions arose in the Dominions of the British Empire about what role they should play in foreign and defense policy . Canada had the option to build its own navy or to continue to rely on the British Royal Navy .
The first, but unsuccessful, application in the parliament of Canada for its own Canadian Naval Service was made on March 29, 1909 by the Canadian parliamentarian George Forster . In January 1910, the government of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier incorporated Forster's proposals into the Naval Service Bill , which was approved by royal order on May 4, 1910. Thus the Naval Service of Canada was founded and subordinated to the Ministry of Navy and Fisheries. The first minister was Vice Admiral Charles Kingsmill of the British Royal Navy .
The law required:
- the formation of naval units
- the formation of permanent reserve units
- the formation of voluntary reserve units
- the construction of a naval school
The first ship to receive the new Navy was the British cruiser HMCS Rainbow , which was delivered on August 4, 1910 in Portsmouth , England . He reached Esquimault on November 7, 1910.
The second ship taken over was the HMCS Niobe , which reached Halifax on October 21, 1910 .
On January 30, 1911, the name was changed from the Naval Service of Canada to the Canadian Navy and, on August 29, 1911, after confirmation by King George V , to the Royal Canadian Navy .
The Canadian Navy quickly came under pressure from the arms race leading up to World War I. Two submarines , actually built for the Chilean Navy, were bought by the USA when business with Chile fell through. They were incorporated into the Navy as CC-1 and CC-2 .
First World War
In May 1914 the establishment of the Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR) (voluntary reserve of the Royal Canadian Navy) with 1,400 men was completed. They took on tasks in the districts (1) Atlantic , (2) Pacific and (3) Lake Districts .
After the outbreak of World War I , plans were made in London and Ottawa to expand the RCN. This failed, however, as most of the Canadian volunteers did not report to the RCN, but to the British Royal Navy.
The Rainbow initially patrolled the west coast of North America until it was ordered to the Falkland Islands in December 1914 to fight the German East Asia Squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee .
The Niobe was stationed on the coast of New York City until July 1915 when it was withdrawn from active service. As a depot ship , she was badly damaged and scrapped in an explosion in Halifax in 1917.
The two submarines C1 and C2 patrolled the Pacific until 1917, but were then so badly damaged that in October 1917 they, together with their tender HMCS Shearwater, were the first ship through the Panama Canal back to the east coast, where they were scrapped in 1920.
On September 5, 1918, the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service (RCNAS) ( naval aviators of the Royal Canadian Navy) was founded with the help of the United States Navy . Their task was to conduct patrol flights against German submarines in the coastal area. The RCNAS was dissolved again on November 1st.
Only one cruiser and two destroyers were built for the Navy during the war . So the Canadians could hardly intervene in the war events in the Atlantic.
Between the wars
After the war, the RCN found it difficult to define its goals. In the 1920s, the Navy took over responsibility for the Department of Transportation's naval activities. This led to the Navy taking on more and more civilian tasks.
The Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve was renamed the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve and trained 1,000 reserve soldiers from fifteen different cities from around January 1923 .
On May 31, 1931, the first new destroyers HMCS Saguenay and HMCS Skeena were commissioned after the First World War at a shipyard in Portsmouth.
Canada joined the fleet conferences of London, Paris and Washington . Nevertheless, under the pressure of the new buildings of the Kriegsmarine and the Imperial Japanese Navy, a new building program had to be started. Until the outbreak of war in September 1939, only six destroyers and a few smaller ships were ready to fight.
Second World War
In the course of the Second World War , the RCN was able to expand its armed forces intensively and was meanwhile considered the third largest navy after the US Navy and the British Royal Navy . The new units included escort ships such as destroyers, frigates and a large number of auxiliary ships . During the submarine war , the Canadian Navy took on security duties in the Great Lakes and in the Atlantic. The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service (RCNAS) was also re-established and patrolled the East and West coasts with its Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft to track down German submarines.
After Germany surrendered, many RCN ships were sent into the Pacific War . The reconstruction of the fleet began, as it had specialized in anti-submarine defense , but this would not make sense in the event of a planned invasion of Japan . It was also planned to surrender many ships of the British Royal Navy to the Commonwealth states, because London could no longer afford such a large navy on its own. The RCN took over the cruisers HMS Uganda and HMS Ontario , the aircraft carriers HMS Magnificent and HMS Warrior as well as numerous destroyers and frigates.
With the end of the war after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , these plans became obsolete, and the RCN was quickly downsized.
Cold War
After the Cold War began to emerge and NATO was founded, the RCN had to adapt to the new situation. Many of the older WWII ships took part in the Korean War. In the 1950s, the threat posed by Soviet submarines increased. Seven new St. Laurent- class destroyers were built to counter this threat.
This was followed by the destroyers of the Restigouche class and the Mackenzie class with seven and four ships. In the 1960s, the destroyer were St. Laurent class with U-hunting helicopter of the type Sikorsky S-61 equipped. The RCN was the first marine to be equipped with such helicopters. In addition, the RCN was a pioneer in the development of sonar , which led to the Navy taking a pioneering role in NATO's anti-submarine defense.
Most World War II ships were decommissioned in the mid-1950s. The aircraft carrier Magnificent , which intervened in the Suez Crisis on its last mission in 1956 , and Warrior were replaced by the new HMCS Bonaventure carrier.
Ships
Since 1910, all Canadian warships have had HMCS as part of their name ( ship prefix ) , which means Her (or His) Majesty's Canadian Ship . This tradition continues to this day.
On March 3, 1911, the RCN received approval to wear the White Ensign , which was to be the RCN's main flag for nearly 54 years. As Jack the one blue flag was set with the Union Jack in the upper left corner and the coat of arms of Canada . This flag was only set when the ship was in port. The White Ensign was actually the flag of the British Royal Navy, so it was a tradition to paint a green maple leaf on the chimney to show that it was a Canadian ship. From 1961 the Canadian Red Ensign was also worn in the top mast . On February 15, 1965, all flags were replaced by the new flag of Canada .
Web links
- Interactive history of the Canadian Navy (history, English.)
- Ensigns of the Royal Canadian Navy 1910-1965 (flags)
Individual evidence
- ^ Hawthornwaite, Philip; The Colonial Wars Sourcebook; London 1995; ISBN 1-85409-196-4 , p. 267.
