The Grilse was a converted yacht (the Winchester), outfitted with two 12-pounder guns and one 14-inch torpedo tube. She was 61.5 metres long and could make 32 knots (59 kilometres an hour) at full speed. Canada had a weak navy at the start of the war, but after German U-Boats began to sink civilian ships on the Atlantic, the government scrambled to build new vessels. It also asked civilians to donate their own ships.
His Majesty's Canadian Ship Grilse on Convoy Duty
Print by Arthur Lismer
Beaverbrook Collection of War Art
CWM 19710261-0357
Canada and the First World War
