Canada's Naval History

Home > Explore History > First World War (1914-1918) > The Merchant Navy

Birth Of the Navy

First World War

Between the Wars

Second World War

Early Cold War

Later Cold War
- - From RCN to Maritime Command
  - A Changing Fleet

Navy Today
- - The Gulf War
  - Continuing Commitments

First World War (1914-1918)
The Merchant Navy

From 1914 to 1918, Canadian and Allied merchant ships and mariners transported personnel, munitions, weapons, and food to Great Britain and Europe as part of the Allied war effort. German U-Boats (submarines) and mines claimed tens of thousands of Allied lives and thousands of ships.

Artifact Record

Merchant Navy Cap Badge, Thomas Moore

This First World War cap badge was worn by Thomas Moore, who served with the British Merchant Navy.

The intertwined letters P and S indicate the civilian shipping company, P. Samuel & Co. Ltd., which Moore joined as an apprentice in 1914. The merchant navies of Britain and other Allied countries were an essential part of the war effort, maintaining the flow of people and supplies from North America and elsewhere to Great Britain and Europe.

Cap Badge, Merchant Navy
CWM 19810448-005