Interwar Years
Imperial Adventure: HMCS Thiepval

In 1924, one of the few ships in the post-First World War Royal Canadian Navy, the Battle-class trawler HMCS Thiepval, became the first Canadian warship to visit the Soviet Union and Japan when it provided support for a British attempt to fly around the world.

Bruno the Brown Bear, HMCS Thiepval

While in Hakodate, HMCS Thiepval's crew adopted the small brown bear seen here and named him Bruno.

Also known as "Haca-Daddy" (a play on "Hakodate"), Bruno shows up in a number of other photographs taken during Thiepval's trip. Brought back to Canada, Bruno spent years living at HMCS Naden, the Royal Canadian Navy's base at Esquimalt. Bruno subsequently developed a dependency on alcohol and came to a tragic end when he died of poisoning after ingesting dockyard supplies.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19710050-001_70