The Canadian Military Heritage Project

WW2

The Canadian Navy

By Brian Lee Massey

At the outbreak of World War II the Canadian Navy was in a sorry state of affars; its entire strength consisting of a mere 13 ships and some 3500 personnel including reserves. After initiating a rapid expansion program the Navy by the end of the war would be the third largest in the world with over 900 ships. The majority of the Canadian Navy was to be engaged in what has become known as the battle of the Atlantic, Fighting off German U-boats to protect the convoys of ships which were so vital to the survival of Britian. The role of the Canadian Navy in World War II was of the utmost importance and its significance in the achievement of victory for the allies can not be exaggerated. The cost of victory was however to be a high one with 24 ships lost and the deaths of 2024 Canadian sailors.

The following is a partial list of ships witch served in the Canadian Navy in World War II.

Aircraft Carriers	Corvettes	Destroyers
Nabob	Agassiz	Saguenay
Puncher	Alberni	Fraser
	Algoma	Skeena
Frigates	Amherst	Ottawa
Beacon Hill	Arnprior	Gatineau
Cap de la Madeleine	Arrowhead	Assiniboine
Cape Breton	Arvida	Annapolis
Charlottetown 2nd	Asbestos	Athabaskan
Chebogue	Atholl	Algonquin
Dunver	Baddek	Chaudiere
Eastview	Barrie	Columbia
Grou	Battleford	Margaree
Joliette	Beauharnois	Iroquois
Jonquiere	Belleville	St. Laurent
Kirkland Lake	Bittersweet	St. Clair
Kokanee	Bowmanville	St. Croix
La Hulloise	Brandon	St. Francis
Longueuil	Brantford	Sioux
Magog	Buctouche	Restigouche
Matane	Calgary	Hamilton
Montreal	Camrose	Haida
New Glasgow	Chambly	Huron
New Waterford	Charlottetown	Kootenay
Orkney	Chicoutimi	Ottawa 2nd
Outremont	Chilliwack	Niagara
Port Colborne	Cobalt	Buxton
Prince Rupert	Cobourg	Qu Appelle
St. Catharines	Collingwood	Saskatachewan
St. John	Copper Cliff
Springhill	Dauphin	Minesweepers
Stettler	Dawson	Alder Lake
Stormont	Drumheller	Ash Lake
Swansea	Dundas	Bayfield
Thetford Mines	Dunvegan	Beech Lake
Valleyfield	Edmundston	Bellechasse
Waskesiu	Eyebright	Birch Lake
Wentworth	Fennel	Blairmore
Antigonish	Fergus	Border Cities
Buckinham	Forest Hill	Brockville
Capalano	Fredericton	Burlington
Carlplace	Frontenac	Canso
Coaticook	Galt	Caraquet
Fort Erie	Giffard	Cedar Lake
Glace Bay	Guelph	Chedabucto
Hallowell	Halifax	Cherry Lake
Inch Arran	Hawkesbury	Chignecto
Lanark	Hepatica	Clayoquot
Lasalle	Hespeler	Coquitlam
Lauson	Humberstone	Courtenay
Levis 2nd	Huntsville	Cowichan
Penetang	Kamloops	Cranbrook
Poundmaker	Kamsack	Daerwood
Prestonian	Kenogami	Digby
Royalmount	Kincardine	Drummondville
Runnymede	Kitchener	Elm Lake
St. Pierre	Lachute	Esquimalt
St. Stephen	La Malbaie	Fir Lake
Ste. Therese	Leaside	Fort Frances
Sea Cliff	Lethbridge	Fort William
Stone Town	Levis	Gananoque
Strathadam	Lindsay	Georgian
Sussexvale	Long Branch	Geysborough
Toronto	Louisburg	Goderich
Victoriaville	Louisburg 2nd	Granby
Annan	Lunenburg	Grandmere
Ettrick	Matapedia	Hickory Lake
Meon	Mayflower	Ingonish
Monnow	Merrittonia	Kalamalka
Nene	Midland	Kapuskasing
Ribble	Mimico	Kelowna
Teme	Moncton	Kenora
Loch Achanalt	Moose Jaw	Kentville
Loch Alive	Morden	Lachine
Loch Morlich	Nanaimo	Larch Lake
	Napanee	Lavallee
Anti-submarine Trawlers	New Westminster	Llewellyn
	Norsyd	Lloyd George
	North Bay	Lockeport
Anticosti	Oakville	Mahone
Baffin	Orangeville	Malpeque
Cailiff	Orillia	Maple Lake
Ironbound	Owen Sound	Medicine Hat
Liscomb	Parry Sound	Melville
Magdalen	Peterborough	Middlesex
Manitoulin	Petrolia	Milltown
Miscou	Port Arthur	Minas
	Pictou	Miramichi
Armed Merchant Cruisers	Prescott	Mulgrave
	Quesnel	New Liskeard
	Regina	Noranda
Prince Robert	Rimouski	Nipigon
Prince David	Riviere du Loup	Oak Lake
Prince Henry	Rosthern	Oshawa
	Sackville	Outarde
Cruisers	Saskatoon	Pine Lake
Uganda	Shawinigan	Poplar Lake
Ontario	Shediac	Portage
	Sherbrooke	Port Hope
	Smiths Falls	Quatsino
	Snowberry	Quinte
	Sorel	Red Deer
	Spikenard	Revelstoke
	Stellarton	Rockcliffe
	St. Lambert	Rossland
	St. Thomas	Sarnia
	Strathroy	Sault Ste. Marie
	Sudbury	Spruce Lake
	Summerside	St. Boniface
	The Pas	St. Joseph
	Thorlock	Stratford
	Tillsonburg	Swift Current
	Timmins	Thunder
	Trail	Transcona
	Trentonian	Trois-Rivieres
	Trillium	Truro
	Vancouver	Ungava
	Ville de Quebec	Wallaceburg
	West York	Vegreville
	Wetaskiwin	Westmount
	Weyburn	Wasaga
	Whitby	Willow Lake
	Windflower	Winnipeg
	Woodstock

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Ancestry.com Databases
1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia
1901 Census of Canada
1906 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta
The Naval Service of Canada: Its Official History
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Rebellion of 1837, Upper Canada
War of 1812: Miscellaneous Canadian Records
Smith's Canadian gazetteer
The Canadian biographical dictionary
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Soldiers of the First World War (CEF) searchable database
Courts-martial of the First World War
War Diaries of the First World War
Soldiers of the South African War, 1899 - 1902
Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead
Soldiers of the South African War, 1899 - 1902
Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead

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