During the Second World War a fierce and decisive battle was fought on the world’s oceans and seas. Collectively it has become known as the Battle Of Atlantic. Winning this battle would determine the outcome of the war. The momentous responsibility of winning or losing WWII fell on Canada. The Second World War would have […]
HMCS IROQUOIS Exploits After VE Day
Great detail has been recorded of the Royal Canadian Navy’s ships during the Second World War, including the Battle of the Atlantic, Operations in the Arctic, Mediterranean and many other ocean battlefronts. Sadly very little has been written about what happened to our ships after VE Day? Recently I have received a large collection of […]
Best of 2017 -An RCN Photo Collection
This past year has been very interesting. I have had several opportunities to visit and record our Canadian Sailors at work, on current taskings, preparing for deployment and building our future Navy. Below are some of my favourite photos from 2017, Canada’s 150th Anniversary! All the photos are available to view in my Flickr Album, 2017 […]
2017 The Year in Review
2017 has been a very busy year on my social media. In January I started a campaign of posting “On This Day in RCNHistory,” in addition to my “RCN Photo of the Day”. This has lead to a very active year on my Twitter and Facebook feeds with over 2 million hits on Twitter alone. […]
MV ASTERIX -Exterior Tour of RCN’s Interim AOR
MV ASTERIX is nearing completion and is now happily back in the water, undergoing trials by her builder, Davie Shipyards in Quebec, shortly this magnificent ship will began Royal Canadian Navy trials in preparations to turn her over to the Navy. Built as an Interim AOR by Davie and Federal Fleet Services as Project Resolve. […]
Throwing Away Canadian History, ex-HMCS ATHABASKAN to go to Breakers!
With a simple internet post, another piece of Canadian history is about to be thrown away and the legacy of an entire era will be relegated into oblivion. This week on 2 November 2017, the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada posted for tender, “Disposal of former ATHABASKAN (W8482-182411/A).” On the surface it […]
Ships For Victory -Can Canada Build Ships Today
This past week marked an incredible milestone in Canadian shipbuilding history. On 20 September 1943, twelve Canadian built ships were launched simultaneously from shipyards across the nation! During WWII, Canadian industry, mobilized to building for Victory. One of the largest and most important projects was a National Shipbuilding Program. Early in the war the enemy […]
USCGS EAGLE -Photo Series
Recently I had the good fortune to see the United States Coast Guard Ship EAGLE at the Tall Ships Rendezvous 2017 in Halifax, NS. During the course of the five days there were 45 Tall Ships in Halifax harbour. Â The rendezvous was part of the Canada 150 celebrations. I took many photos of the ships […]
MV Asterix -Why Not HMCS ASTERIX?
I have received several questions on social media, why is Asterix, MV and not HMCS or CNAV? First, lets look at what these abbreviations mean. MV stands for Motor Vessel and is a designation for any merchant ship owned by a civilian company with a motor/engine. Pretty simple. SS stands for Steam Ship and SV stands […]
Unveiling MV Asterix, Resolve Class AOR
On Thursday 20 July 2017, I had the privilege to attend the unveiling and christening ceremony of MV Asterix, Resolve class AOR, at the Shipyard of Chantier Davie Canada Inc. in Levis, Quebec. Asterix is owned by Federal Fleet Services of Ottawa and when complete, the ship will be leased to the Royal Canadian Navy as an […]