At the onset of Confederation in 1867, political planners in Canada and Great Britain realized that Canada had substantial maritime interests to protect. Boasting the fourth largest Merchant Marine in the world, and deriving the majority of its foreign capital through maritime trading should have been enough to persuade the Canadian government of the strategic importance of the seas. Adding the fact that Canada was one of the great shipbuilding and ship-owning countries of the world, and it soon made the need for maritime protection obvious.[1]
For Britain's Royal Navy, the Canadian merchant fleet represented a ready supply of vessels that could have been converted to auxiliary warships, with some help to procure the necessary armament should a crisis arise. Soon enough, though, sail gave way to steam, and Canada's mercantile fleet became inadequate to complement the British Navy. In 1865, the British Parliament had passed the Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865, which enabled colonies to establish and maintain naval forces for foreign defence in the European theatre.[2] Canada's maritime interests needed to be safeguarded, and Britain wanted Canada to assume its fair share.
First tentative steps
In 1878, Governor General Lord Dufferin stated in a dispatch to the Colonial Secretary (likely Michael Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn) that the government of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald 'would not be adverse to instituting a ship for training purposes if the Imperial Government would provide the ship'.[3] Thus began the first attempt to start a Canadian Navy with the allocation of the old wooden steam-auxiliary corvetteHMSCharybdis in July 1881. This ship, acquired with the intent to train a Marine Militia provided for in the Militia Act of 1868,[1] achieved notoriety when she broke her moorings in Saint John harbour and caused severe damage to the merchant vessels anchored in proximity. Her poor condition was also responsible for the death of two civilians who drowned in the harbour after falling through her rotten gangway.
HMSCharybdis, commissioned by Marine and Fisheries in 1881, was Macdonald's attempt at the formation of a Canadian naval service.
As a result of the War of 1812 and the American War for Independence in 1775, the defensive focus in Canada was focused on the land forces and leaving the naval service to Britain. This made naval service less of a priority for the Dominion.[4]Charybdis was the product of a shift in domestic policy stemming from a host of grievances the young Dominion of Canada had towards the British Empire's handling of its foreign affairs. The United States still represented Canada's surest enemy in the late 19th century, but Britain's attitude became more frequently one of laissez-faire towards that fast emerging economic and military giant. Canada often felt cheated when, militarily still dependent on the Empire, it failed to see conflicts resolved to satisfaction. One example was the imperial government's unwillingness to apprehend and prosecute American poachers contravening the fisheries articles of the Anglo-American Treaty of Washington of 1871,[5] and risk a quarrel with the US on behalf of the Dominion.
Another event that led to the acquisition of the training vessel was the looming crisis between Britain and the Russian Empire over the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. That predicament, which caused Britain to re-distribute its naval assets, demonstrated the relative vulnerability of Canada's Atlantic seaboard. Although this crisis was soon averted with the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, Canada still held on to the idea of making preparations for naval defence.[6] Public opinion of Charybdis in the 1+1⁄2 years of her service to Canada labelled her a white elephant, with the population wondering what her purpose would be. The MP for Huron SouthMalcolm Colin Cameron made a motion in the House of Commons that she must be returned to the Royal Navy, an unfortunate solution that soon ensued. That this first attempt at building a Canadian Navy ended in a fiasco did not terribly bother the British one; the official position was that the Imperial Fleet should be as indivisible as the seas themselves.[7]
Birth of the Canadian Navy
Since the British conquest of Nouvelle-France in 1763 and the colonizing of the other colonies that would eventually form the Dominion of Canada, Britain and its taxpayers had assumed sole financial responsibility for the defence of the colonies. This was never debated since Canada and the other British colonies afforded Britain with secure supplies of natural resources and ready markets for finished products. The extent to which Britain was dependent on foreign trade for its survival is thus illustrated:[8]
...as late as the 1830s over 90% of the food consumed was also grown in Britain, but by 1913 55% of the grain and 40% of the meat consumed was imported. In raw materials the dependence was even more marked: seven-eighths of these came from abroad by 1913.
At the turn of the twentieth century, the rise of the Imperial German Navy under Kaiser Wilhelm II threatened to challenge Britain for supremacy of all maritime trade routes. Britain, feeling pressure to modernize and expand its already considerable fleet, asked that the former colonies assume a larger responsibility for the defence of the empire.[9] The preferred choice of the Imperial government for the protection of the empire was the maintenance of a common military system, sustained by direct financial contributions from the former colonies.[9] In return, the British Admiralty would be left responsible to defend Canada's coasts.
The Liberal cabinet of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier had other plans in mind. At the Imperial Conference of 1902, Laurier refused direct contributions to the maintenance of the British fleet, and instead pushed for the development of a local navy under the Department of Marine and Fisheries.[10] It was felt that Canadians providing the defence of their homeland was a more ambitious plan, and would directly contribute toward the collective security of the Empire. A strong sentiment of the day stated that Canada had no business sending soldiers for the Empire when it had no voice in imperial decisions.[11]
When the British government announced in 1904 its intentions to abandon the Halifax and Esquimalt Dockyards by 1906, Laurier saw another compelling reason for the formation of Canada's naval service. The Dominion had the opportunity to avail itself of an existing infrastructure towards the maintenance of its own fleet. Strong feelings of discontent towards Britain were also felt because of the resolution of the Alaska Boundary Dispute, which saw Britain's representative side with the United States in 1903.[12] A precedent was set in 1906 when Australia received grudging approval to raise its own navy, although Britain still viewed the burgeoning Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a local squadron of its own force.
Beginning
In order to assert Canadian territorial sovereignty and curb American illegal fishing in territorial waters, the government had reactivated the Fisheries Protection Service in 1886.[12] This was established under the auspices of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. The largest federal department by 1902, it was responsible for all affairs maritime from regulations to arctic sovereignty. The department had acquired since 1891 a force of eight armed cruisers, six icebreakers, and nearly twenty other vessels. The Fisheries Protection Service, were it militarised, would present a substantial start to a new national naval service. Raymond Préfontaine, the minister responsible, acted toward that end on orders from Laurier. Two ships were ordered for the Fisheries Protection Service in 1904 with the purpose of starting cadet training for the impending Canadian navy: Canadian Government Ships (CGS) Canada and Vigilant, for the east and west coasts respectively. CGS Canada was a 910-tonne steamship built to the naval specifications in 1903–1904.[13] The naval legislation drafted by Préfontaine stated that these ships would form the nucleus of training for the Naval Militia. In Laurier's government there was proposal to establish a naval militia in Canada. As a result, Britain encouraged the Dominion for contributions to the arms race in Europe.[14]
CGSCanada. Built by Vickers Sons and Maxim at Barrow-in-Furness in 1904, was 200 feet (61m) in length and could steam at 22 knots (41km/h; 25mph).
After the death of Préfontaine in 1905, Laurier appointed Louis-Philippe Brodeur as minister. Brodeur had the arduous task of re-organizing his department after a report by the Royal Commission on the Civil Service stated that its administration was characterized by "constant blundering and confusion", "with no visible sign of an intelligence purpose unless it be that of spending as much money as possible".[15] In order to investigate his department, Brodeur called for a Special Commission; on 1 April 1908 the Cassels Commission was formed.[16]
As a result of the Cassels Commission, Brodeur instilled key changes to his department. George S. Desbarats replaced François Gaudreau as deputy minister.[17] For Director of the Marine Service, Brodeur chose a Canadian who had served in the Royal Navy since 1869, Rear-Admiral (later Admiral Sir) Charles Kingsmill.[18] Kingsmill replaced former Lieutenant Osprey George Valentine Spain, an inept administrator who had left the British naval forces "under a cloud which still makes it impossible for him to go aboard a British man-of-war".[18]
CGSVigilant. Built by Polson's at Toronto in 1904. She may be regarded as the first "modern" warship to be built in Canada.
As director, Kingsmill commanded the Marine and Fisheries fleet from 1908 to 1910. He subsequently served as the Director of the Naval Service of Canada until his retirement in 1920. He received a knighthood in 1918.
After instilling these changes, Laurier believed he would get the unanimous support of parliament for his plans to militarise the Fisheries Protection Service into a navy proper. He especially hoped that the appointment of the francophones Brodeur and Desbarats as minister and deputy minister would appease the Canadiens in Quebec.
Laurier's two alternatives
The British government was advised that Britain was losing the naval arms race against Germany. This shocking revelation, made on 16 March 1909, spread panic throughout the empire and led to several offers of funds for the construction of dreadnoughts from New Zealand and several Australian states' governments. Pressure was exerted by the Canadian imperialists to follow suit. This crisis changed the Canadian Navy question from a local issue to one encompassing the naval defence of the whole empire. The ensuing resolution was presented to the House of Commons by the one-time minister of Marine and Fisheries conservative MP Sir George Foster from New Brunswick and stated: "That in the opinion of this House, in view of her great and varied resources, of her geographical position and natural environments, and of that spirit of self-help and self-respect which alone benefits a strong and growing people, Canada should no longer delay in assuming her proper share of the responsibility and financial burden incident to suitable protection of her exposed coastline and great seaports."[19]
The two options were the establishment of the Canadian Navy or continued financial support of the one in Britain. The former became the position generally supported in the House. As the debate ensued, it became clear that Laurier's scheme of militarizing the Fisheries Protection Service was inadequate and would not garner unanimous support. The amended proposal was that of a small navy, given that "The House will cordially approve of any necessary expenditure designed to promote the speedy organization of a Canadian naval service".[20]
At the Imperial Conference of July and August 1909, the Admiralty stated that to be effective in contributing to the defence of the imperial sea lanes, the Canadian Navy should comprise a minimum of three Bristol-class cruisers and four destroyers. A fleet of one Boadicea-class heavy cruiser, four Bristols, and six destroyers for an annual spending of £600,000[21] was considered much preferable. The Admiralty offered to loan two cruisers to Canada to begin training. This led to accusations from Laurier's opposition that what was really attempted was the creation of a unit of the Imperial Navy, not a Canadian Navy proper. The Naval Service Act, proposed to the House of Commons on 10 January 1910, called for a fleet of eleven warships: one Boadicea, four Bristol-class cruisers and five torpedo-boat destroyers. All ships were to have been built in Canada, at an annual cost of $2.5 million.[22]
Opposition
The opposition Conservative coalition, the imperialists under Sir Robert Borden and the Nationalistes led by Henri Bourassa, vehemently opposed Laurier's plans for a Canadian Navy, but for totally different reasons. Bourassa founded the daily newspaper Le Devoir,[9] with the express purpose of defeating the Naval Service Act through insinuations and allegations that conscription would soon follow. His camp claimed that the cruisers proposed were more than Canada needed for fisheries and sovereignty protection, but were sufficient to attract the attention of other navies. He further stated that Canadian squadrons, paid by and for Canada, put under the command of the Admiralty in times of war, meant an "automatic involvement on every imperial war."[9] This would put Canada in danger of being drawn into distant conflicts as a result of its ships operating under the White Ensign.
The Borden camp, on the other hand, charged that the Liberals were insufficiently loyal to the empire. They contended that the proposal was not enough to secure Canada's coasts or help Britain in its current arms race crisis against Germany and that the only viable option was to vote money for the construction of battleships to expand the navy in Britain.[23]
Canadian Navy
The Naval Service Act establishing the Canadian Navy became law 4 May 1909. In addition to a Regular Force, the Act included a Reserve and a Naval Volunteer Force, and a Naval College located in Halifax. The administrative and discipline regulations adopted were the same as those of the Royal Navy, the "King's Regulations and Admiralty Orders" (KR&AI), and the British Naval Discipline Act of 1866. These two key documents would remain in practice for the next forty years.[24] Training was to be conducted to standards that coincided with those of Britain; pay, promotions and service experience were to be transferable, and a common promotion list was adopted.[18]
The Admiralty proved reluctant to allow the Canadian government to exercise full control over its fleet.[25] This contentious issue of jurisdiction beyond the three-mile limit was resolved at the Imperial Conference of 1911, with the formation of the Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Stations, covering the waters North of 30°, and ranging from 40° to 160° West.[26] It was also decided that the new colonial navies, Canadian and Australian, although exclusively controlled by their respective governments, would act on behalf of the British Government on occasions when on foreign stations. If and when the Dominion ships were placed "at the disposal of the Imperial Government by the Dominion authorities" in times of war, they would form part of the British Royal Navy and remain under control of the Admiralty for the duration of the war. It was up to the Dominions themselves to decide what naval assets were placed at Britain's disposal, as Laurier had pledged.[18] When Britain brought its fleet back to the European theatre, they handed over the two bases in Halifax and Esquimalt. This left Canada with the responsibility for defending the longest coastline in the world.[27]
HMCSNiobe, with a displacement of 11,000 tons and a length of 450 feet (140m), was a substantial asset for the fledgeling RCN of 1910.
The first warships of the RCN were the cruisers HMCSNiobe and HMCSRainbow, acquired from Britain. Niobe, an 11,000-ton Diadem-classprotected cruiser, had been launched in 1897. Although relatively young, she had been deemed obsolete by the British because of her lack of side or deck armour; she did possess an armour belt over her vital installations amidships. She reached Halifax on 21 October 1910.[28]Rainbow, much smaller than Niobe at 3,600 tons, was herself an Apollo-class cruiser launched in 1891. She was dispatched from Britain bound for Canada two months before Niobe, but because the Panama Canal had yet to be completed, did not arrive in Esquimalt until 7 November.[29]
HMCSRainbow, the first RCN ship assigned to Esquimalt in 1910.
Newspapers of the day were quite critical of this embryonic service. A TorontoTory newspaper indicated Niobe was on her way to the scrap heap, while Bourassa's Le Devoir proclaimed her "canadienne en temps de paix, impériale en temps de guerre" (Canadian in peacetime, Imperial in wartime).[30] The Mail and Empire called Niobe a "cruiser which the Royal Navy has discarded." The Naval Service of Canada was eventually given Royal consent on 29 August 1911, and was from then on officially designated as the Royal Canadian Navy.[31] The first large warship that was purpose-built for the Royal Canadian Navy was HMCSSaguenay in 1931. This event initiated the shipbuilding industry for the navy in Canada. A tradition that still stands to this day.[32]
Fall of the Laurier Government
On 21 September 1911, Sir Robert Borden's Conservatives defeated the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The naval issue had ranked far behind that of trade reciprocity with the US in most of Canada during the election campaign, but Henri Bourassa made sure that it took centre stage in Quebec. It cost the Liberals eighteen seats in Quebec. Although Laurier's other losses in the rest of Canada were sufficient to ensure his defeat, the loss of the Quebec seats would set the tone for Borden's naval policy. This almost doomed the RCN to languish and suffer an apparently slow and unnoticed death over the years leading to World War I. With Robert Borden's government winning the election in the Fall of 1911, a priority was to accommodate French Canadian concerns by reducing the Royal Canadian Navy's budget.[33]
At the urging of the Admiralty's First Sea LordSir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister Borden agreed to finance the construction of three dreadnoughts for $35 million.[34] This plan was far more costly than Laurier's original plan of the Canadian-built fleet and would reap no benefits to Canadian industries whatsoever. On 5 December 1912, Borden introduced the Naval Aid Bill as a one-time contribution to Britain's navy. After bitter debate, the Bill passed third reading in Parliament the second week of May 1913 but was soundly defeated by the Liberal-majority Senate. Canada was left with the Naval Service Act on the books, but no naval policy.
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/nationality. In the modern environment, prefixes are cited inconsistently in civilian service, whereas in government service a vessel's prefix is seldom omitted due to government regulations dictating that a certain prefix be used. Today the common practice is to use a single prefix for all warships of a nation's navy, and other prefixes for auxiliaries and ships of allied services, such as coast guards. For example, the modern navy of Japan adopts the prefix "JS" – Japanese Ship. However, not all navies use prefixes. Among the blue-water navies, those of France, Brazil, China, Russia, Germany, and Spain do not use ship prefixes. NATO designations such as FS, FGS, and SPS can be used if needed.
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces. Over the course of its history, the RCN has played a role in the First World War, contributed significantly to the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, and was a part of NATO's force buildup during the Cold War. In 1968, the RCN was amalgamated with the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force to form what is today the unified Canadian Armed Forces. The naval force was known as Maritime Command until 2011, when the environmental command was renamed as the Royal Canadian Navy.
Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill, was a Canadian-born naval officer and the first director of the Department of the Naval Service of Canada. After retiring from a career in the Royal Navy, he played a prominent role in the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1910. Along with Rear-Admiral Walter Hose, he is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Navy.
HMS Uganda was a Second World War-era Fiji-class light cruiser launched in 1941. She served in the Royal Navy during 1943 and 1944, including operations in the Mediterranean, and was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Uganda in October 1944. She served in the Pacific theatre in 1945 and was put into reserve in 1947. When she was reactivated for the Korean War in 1952 she was renamed HMCS Quebec. She was decommissioned for the last time in 1956 and scrapped in Japan in 1961.
Louis-Philippe Brodeur, baptised Louis-Joseph-Alexandre Brodeur was a Canadian journalist, lawyer, politician, federal Cabinet minister, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
HMAS Australia was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1913. Australia was the only capital ship ever to serve in the RAN.
HMCS Rainbow was an Apollo-class protected cruiser built for Great Britain's Royal Navy as HMS Rainbow entering service in 1892. Rainbow saw time in Asian waters before being placed in reserve in 1909. In 1910 the cruiser was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy for service on the west coast. At the outbreak of the First World War, Rainbow was the only major Canadian or British warship on the western coast of North America. Due to age, the cruiser was taken out of service in 1917 and sold for scrap in 1920 and broken up.
HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser that saw service in World War I with the Royal Navy. During the war, the cruiser participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank and was a member of the Grand Fleet when the main fleet of the Imperial German Navy surrendered to it in 1918. Following the war, Aurora was placed in reserve and in 1920, the cruiser was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy. Her service with the Royal Canadian Navy was brief, being paid off in 1922. The cruiser was sold for scrap in 1927 and broken up.
CGS Canada was a patrol vessel, sometimes referred to as a cruiser, in the Fisheries Protection Service of Canada, an enforcement agency that was part of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Canada is considered to be the nucleus of the Royal Canadian Navy for her role in training Canadian naval officers and asserting Canadian sovereignty. Canada saw service in the First World War and was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Canada during that conflict. Following the war, the vessel was sold for commercial use and renamed MV Queen of Nassau. On the verge of being sold again, the ship sank in Straits of Florida on 2 July 1926.
Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray, CB, CBE was an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy who played a central role in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was the only Canadian to command an Allied theatre of operations during World War II.
Admiral Percy Walker Nelles, was a flag officer in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 January 1934 to 15 January 1944. He oversaw the massive wartime expansion of the RCN and the transformation of Canada into a major player in the Battle of the Atlantic. During his tenure U-boats raided the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canadian Northwest Atlantic command was created, and the RCN provided up to 40% of all escort forces in the North Atlantic. His handling of the RCN's war effort had its opponents however, and he was removed from his post as Chief of the Naval Staff in January 1944. He was sent to London as Overseas Naval Attaché, coordinating RCN operations for Operation Overlord. He retired in January 1945 as a full admiral.
The Naval Service Act was a statute of the Parliament of Canada, enacted in 1910. The Act was put forward by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier to establish a Canadian navy. Prior to the passage of the Act, Canada did not have a navy of its own, being dependent on the British Royal Navy for maritime defence. The Act intended to provide Canada with a separate naval force, but one that, if needed, could be placed under British control during a time of war. French-Canadian nationalists and British-Canadian imperialists both opposed the Act, although for different reasons. The controversy of the naval question eventually contributed to the defeat of Laurier's government in the federal election of 1911. The new Conservative government, led by Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden, instead proposed building three battleships or cruisers, to be put at the service of the British Navy.
HMS Niobe was a ship of the Diadem class of protected cruisers in the Royal Navy. She served in the Boer War and was then given to Canada as the second ship of the newly created Naval Service of Canada as HMCS Niobe. The Naval Service of Canada became the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1911. The ship was nearly lost when she went aground off Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia overnight 30–31 July 1911. Repairs were completed at the end of 1912 and the ship returned to service in late 1914. During the First World War, Niobe patrolled the approaches to the St. Lawrence River and then joined the Royal Navy's 4th Cruiser Squadron to patrol off New York City. The cruiser returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 July 1915 and never put to sea again. Niobe was paid off in September and served as a depot ship in Halifax. Damaged in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, she was sold for scrap and broken up in the 1920s.
The Royal Naval College of Canada (RNCC) was established by the Department of the Naval Service after the formation of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1910. The college was placed under the auspices of the Minister of Naval Service and controlled by the Director of the Naval Service, Rear-Admiral Charles Kingsmill. The initial goal was to train a new generation of Canadian naval officers for the RCN. The college existed from 1911 to 1922 and educated about 150 students until it was closed due to declining numbers and budget cuts by the government of Canada. As the RCN did not have large ships of its own other than HMCS Niobe and HMCS Rainbow, the cadets followed a course of study that would qualify them for eventual service on British warships. The graduated midshipmen were required to serve approximately one year of "big ship duty" as part of their training.
SMS Niobe was the second member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots. The ship had a long career, serving in all three German navies, along with the Yugoslav and Italian fleets over the span of more than forty years.
HMS Calypso was a corvette of the Royal Navy and the lead ship of its namesake class. Built for distant cruising in the heyday of the British Empire, the vessel served as a warship and training vessel until 1922, when it was sold.
The IJN North American Task Force was an Imperial Japanese Navy fleet. In accordance with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the fleet defended the West Coast of Canada as well as Allied shipping in the Pacific during World War I.
The convoy—a group of merchantmen or troopships traveling together with a naval escort—was revived during World War I (1914–18), after having been discarded at the start of the Age of Steam. Although convoys were used by the Royal Navy in 1914 to escort troopships from the Dominions, and in 1915 by both it and the French Navy to cover their own troop movements for overseas service, they were not systematically employed by any belligerent navy until 1916. The Royal Navy was the major user and developer of the modern convoy system, and regular transoceanic convoying began in June 1917. They made heavy use of aircraft for escorts, especially in coastal waters, an obvious departure from the convoy practices of the Age of Sail.
The Naval Aid Bill was a bill introduced in the House of Commons of Canada, by Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden on December 5, 1912. The bill proposed that the Canadian government spend $35,000,000 to build battleships or armoured cruisers, which Canada would make available to the British Royal Navy if needed for defence of the British Empire. Although the bill passed the Canadian House of Commons, where Borden had a majority government, it was defeated in the Senate, which had a Liberal majority.
Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference, though by that point they had been so designated for decades. Later historians have also given the title "imperial fortress" to St. Helena and Mauritius.
References
Appleton, T. E. (1969). Usque ad Mare: A History of the Canadian Coast Guard and Marine Services. Ottawa: Queen's Printer.
Cook, Ramsay (1997). Craig Brown (ed.). The illustrated History of Canada. Key Porter Books.
German, Tony (1990). The Sea is at our Gates—The History of the Canadian Navy. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Press.
Hadley, Michael L.; Sarty, Roger (1991). Tin-Pots and Pirate Ships: Canadian Naval Forces and German Sea Raiders 1880-1918. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.
McNeil, Daniel (2000–2001). "Technology, History and the Revolution in Military Affairs". Canadian Military Journal. 1 (4).
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