The Second World War
War in the Pacific and South East Asia  - The Royal Canadian Navy and the Pacific Coast

The Royal Canadian Navy was active in operations along the Pacific coast from 1939 to 1945, patrolling British Columbia waters and helping to support the Allied war effort. West coast shipyards built ships for the navy and the merchant navy.

HMCS Kokanee

HMCS Kokanee was one of many ships built in Canada's Pacific shipyards for both the Royal Canadian Navy and the merchant navy.

Built at Yarrows Ltd., Esquimalt, Kokanee was launched in November 1943, commissioned on 6 June 1944, and spent the rest of the war training and on escort duty in the Atlantic. Frigates had to be built on the ocean coast or along the St. Lawrence because, unlike the smaller Flower class corvettes, they were too large to fit through the canals linking the Great Lakes and its shipyards with the sea.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 20020045-2718