Heres a short little video I found about the Valencia, it was quite the disaster at the time apparently.
Heres a short little video I found about the Valencia, it was quite the disaster at the time apparently.
I’m pretty interested in this actually and looking forward to where it goes. As an aside... there was a few things going on at this time which could have an impact on a possible Canadian Navy. One of which happened in 1905. An rather interesting thing was that the RN was not pulling back from just Canada and Australia, but other colonies such as the West Indies. And in 1905, a British MP by the name of Ian Malcolm (I know, I know) had the interesting view that, perhaps, they should sound out Canada in regards to taking over the West Indies from Britain with them becoming part of Canada. Of course, such a thing would not make sense unless there was a Canadian Navy due to the distance. And in 1911, the Bahamas also got into talks with Canada about joining them. There was interest there right up until about a thousand African-Americans fled racial violence in Oklahoma and settled there.
Not to mention that in 1917 and after WWI, Borden raised the idea with Britain of taking them over as payment for Canadian efforts in the war. So there was some interest on both sides as well as in the area itself. You would need, at least, a Canadian Naval Militia stationed there...
“Sir, if I may?” The Lieutenant queried before the Captain nodded him along, “May I muster the Marine Band sir? I can spin the mustering as a surprise dance competition on the fore end of the deck. It should help alleviate some of the worry.”
Kingsmill cracked a slight smile, “Excellent idea Lieutenant, see to it at once!”
This one got me a bit haha, is that accurate or just a little added touch?
Historical reenactors dress as General Wolfe's soldiers and French-Canadian Militia at the event.
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The issue with Canada is that most of our population is inland. Yes ocean going ships sail by Montreal and Toronto daily but there is no RCN presence there save the Naval Reserve Divisions York (Toronto) and Donnacona (Montreal). Our Navy is located on the coasts in two small cities (Victoria and Halifax) which have little political influence. Canada is also a very insular place that despite its claims of being a big player in the UN it usually is focused on the goings on in the Excited States to the south. Finally Canada has the massive US military industrial complex to do all the heavy lifting when is comes to all things Naval (and Army/Air Force as well).This is really a fascinating TL, covering a fascinating segment of history I didn't even know about. I'm honestly surprised Canada would be so resistant to the idea of a navy, although having read through the thread I guess I can sort of understand their position. Plus it's interesting to see the difference in opinions between Canada and Australia when it comes to naval development.
Some great images here and amazing research. I’m more familiar with the CanadianArmy due to local enlistments but enjoying this so far.
Excellent historical photos!
This is really a fascinating TL, covering a fascinating segment of history I didn't even know about. I'm honestly surprised Canada would be so resistant to the idea of a navy, although having read through the thread I guess I can sort of understand their position. Plus it's interesting to see the difference in opinions between Canada and Australia when it comes to naval development.
The issue with Canada is that most of our population is inland. Yes ocean going ships sail by Montreal and Toronto daily but there is no RCN presence there save the Naval Reserve Divisions York (Toronto) and Donnacona (Montreal). Our Navy is located on the coasts in two small cities (Victoria and Halifax) which have little political influence. Canada is also a very insular place that despite its claims of being a big player in the UN it usually is focused on the goings on in the Excited States to the south. Finally Canada has the massive US military industrial complex to do all the heavy lifting when is comes to all things Naval (and Army/Air Force as well).
Oz on the other hand has a majority of its population on the coasts and is very far from its Anglosphere bases of support (US/UK and Canada). Therefore it sees the RAN all the time and its government officials have no time nor inclination to screw around with PC culture when it comes to the defence of the region.
One of the main issues was the perceived presence of the Royal Navy and it's ability to sweep any enemies away from the seas around Canada to keep it's dominion safe, obviously in our timeline this didn't exactly happen and this timeline, that falsehood will be laid especially bare.