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HMCS CANADA
Auxiliary
Patrol Ship
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HMCS CANADA
Click on the above photo to view a larger
image
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Launched: 1904
Commissioned: 25
Jan 1915
Paid off: Nov 1919
Fate: Sank
02 Jul 1926
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Displacement:
411 tons
Length:
200 feet
Beam: 25
fett
Draught:
10.5 feet
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Built by Vicker's Sons &
Maxin, Barrow-in-Furness in 1904, HMCS CANADA was originally a
Canadian Government Ship that served as a patrol ship in the
Fisheries Protection Service of Canada, an enforcement agency that
was part of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. She was an armed
3rd class cruiser, twin screw. She is
considered to the nucleus of the Royal Canadian Navy for her role in
training Canadian naval officers and asserting Canadian
sovereignty.
After the First World War broke out in Aug 1914, the CGS CANADA was officially transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). She
underwent a refit to become a naval patrol ship which saw her
forecastle raised and the Maxim guns for fisheries patrol use were
replaced with two 12-pounder and two 3-pounder naval guns. She was
commissioned as HMCS CANADA in 1915 and served on the Atlantic
coast.
HMCS CANADA was paid off from the RCN in Nov 1919 and she
resumed her former civilian fisheries patrol duties as CGS CANADA before being retired from government service in 1920. After being laid up in Halifax for four years she was sold and
renamed "MV Queen of Nassau", and pressed into service
shuttling passengers between Miami, Florida and Nassau, Bahamas.
Later, she was resold to Mexican interests, however when she was
being delivered, on 02 Jul 1926, she sank in 35 fathoms (64 m) of
water off Islamorada. The wreck was located in 2001. Archeologists
are working toward designating the wreck a U.S. National Historic
Site because of the significance it holds in the evolution of
Canada's military.
Photos
and Documents Ship's
company photos Queen of Nassau - Wreck
Commanding Officers
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Lt
Charles Joseph Stuart, RN - 1916
LCdr
Wilfred Walker, RCN - 11 Dec 1917 - 16 Jan 1918
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Lt Herbert Henry De Lally Wood, RNCVR - 17 Jan
1918 - unk
Lt Herbert Henry De Lally Wood, RNCVR -
01 May 1918 - unk
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In memory of those who have crossed the bar 
They shall not be
forgotten
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Agnew, Ronald I.
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Bannatyne,
Ninian
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Bond, James
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Dooley,
David Vincent
Appointed to Canada on 08 May
1917 and on 01 May 1918 as W. Op 2nd Cl, RNCVR
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Field,
William Robert
Appointed to Canada on 01 May 1918 as
A/Gnr, RCN
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Fleming, Leo
J.
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Gagnon,
Amedee
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German,
Phillip B.
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Horton,
Isaiah W.
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Julian,
Charles Otis
Appointed to Canada on 01 May 1918 as
Lt, RNCVR |
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Matthews,
James Gerrie
Appointed to Canada on 01 May
1918 as W. Op 4th Cl, RNCVR
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Nelles, Percy W.
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O'Leary,
Michael Daniel
appointed to Canada on 01 May
1918 as A/Art (E), RCN |
Pellett,
Herbert
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Rankin, Arthur Glen Ernest
Appointed to Canada on 01 May 1918
as Slt, RNCVR |
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Ross,
Alfred Inkerman
Appointed to Canada on 01 May 1918
as Ch/Art, RCN
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Stuart,
Charles J.
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Vatcher,
Louis W.
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Walker, Wilfred Tyrrel
Appointed CO 11 Dec 1917
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Wood,
Herbert H.D.L.
Appointed as C.O. on 01 Jan
1918 and 01 May 1918 |
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Ship's Mascot |
Ship's Mascot |
Ship's Mascot |
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Photos and
Documents
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CGS Canada, Aug 1905
1000 tons, 22 knots, 4 light guns, crew of 75
Photographer: C. Smith |
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CGS Canada - 1905 |
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The crew of HMCS Canada in 1905
performing militia drills on their winter cruise to Bermuda
Source: Nation's Navy: In Quest of
Canadian Naval Identity - Google Books
Webmaster's
note: the caption for the photo shows her as HMCS Canada in
1905, however, the RCN did not come into existence till 1910 as the
Naval Service of Canada then RCN in 1911, to this photo was likely
taken after 1911. |
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Group of naval cadets serving
in Canadian Government Ship (CGS) Canada. Back Row (L. to R.) Charles
T. Beard, P. Barry German, Victor G. Brodeur, Wright; Centre Row
(L. to R.) Fisheries officers Fortier, Stewart, Woods; Front Row (L.
to R.) Henry T. Bate, Percy W. Nelles, John A. Barron. |
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HMCS Canada during the First
World War
Source: Maritime Command Museum, CFB Halifax,
NS
Courtesy of Colin Darlington, RUSI(NS) |
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HMCS Canada, WW I
From the collection of William Herbert Rose and Marmaduke
Rose
Courtesy of Bud (Donald) Rose |
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Canadian Fisheries Cruiser Canada
Source: Maritime Command Museum, CFB Halifax,
NS
Courtesy of Colin Darlington, RUSI(NS) |
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Queen of Nassau Ready For Miami Run
Miami Herald, 16 Nov 1924
From the collection of Joseph Barr Champion, RNCVR, RAN(R)
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A Fish Yarn
Miami Daily News, 02 Dec 1924
News paper article on the voyage of the former HMCS Canada to
Florida and the sighting of a Sea Serpent by the crew
From the collection of Joseph Barr Champion, RNCVR, RAN(R)
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Report on the grounding of the Queen of Nassau
on 25 Jan 1925 off Miami Harbor, Florida
From the collection of Joseph Barr Champion,
RNCVR, RAN(R)
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TSS Queen of Nassau, Miami Florida
From the collection of Joseph Barr Champion,
RNCVR, RAN(R)
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