Canada's Naval History

The Second World War
The Merchant Navy - The Merchant Navy

Between 1939 and 1945, Canadian and Allied merchant ships and their crews transported personnel, munitions, weapons, and food across the world's oceans as part of the Allied war effort. Enemy action sank some 70 Canadian and Newfoundland merchant vessels. Over 1,600 Canadians and Newfoundlanders, including eight women, were killed.

SS Victoria Park under Construction

Shipyard workers in Pictou, Nova Scotia assemble the frames that will shape and support the hull of the SS Victoria Park.

Individually numbered for identification, the frames provide attachment points for the ship's hull plates like the one at centre, as well as for equipment, fittings, and structures inside the hull. Canadian shipyards on both the east and west coasts, as well as on the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, built some 400 merchant ships for both Canadian and British service.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19930012-087