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Birth of the Navy (1910-1914)
Creating the Navy

Created in 1910, the Naval Service of Canada was renamed the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911. It was the product of an intense Canadian political debate driven by Great Britain's efforts to bolster its naval defences against the rapidly growing German navy.

Bell, CGS Canada
Bell, CGS Canada

This bell belonged to the CGS (Canadian Government Ship) Canada, one of the country's first two modern armed patrol vessels.

It bears the ship's name and "1904", the year it was launched. Ordered for the Fisheries Protection Service, Canada was assigned to patrols off the country's east coast. Canada later helped train the country's first group of naval cadets, and became part of the Royal Canadian Navy during the First World War.

Ship's Bell
CWM 19670081-001





Service Dress Jacket, Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir John Arbuthnot "Jackie" Fisher, around 1910
British Ships in Halifax, 1901
American Cruiser USS Olympia
HMS New Zealand (right) and HMAS Australia (left)
CGS Canada Model
Bell, CGS Canada
1 1/4 - Pounder Naval Gun
Royal Navy Warships in Esquimalt Harbour
HMCS Niobe, Stern View
HMCS Rainbow arrives at Esquimalt, British Columbia
Rear-Admiral Sir Charles E. Kingsmill
Bicorn Hat, Rear-Admiral Sir Charles E. Kingsmill
Arrival Ceremony, HMCS Rainbow, Esquimalt, British Columbia
Rifle, MK I* Lee-Enfield
Naval Service of Canada Recruiting Poster
First Naval Recruits, HMCS Niobe
Royal Naval College of Canada, Class Photo, 1911
Royal Naval College of Canada, Machine Shop
Cartoon, HMCS Niobe Coronation Contingent, 1911
Sailors Marching, Esquimalt