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Charybdis would be accepted for Canadian service in December of 1880 however, the results of said survey would have her placed in dock for repairs for five months. She would eventually make her way across the Atlantic and arrive in Saint Johns, New Brunswick in June 1881 but or a little over a year, Charybdis and her experiences in Canada could be charitably described as “troublesome”. Even though upwards of $30,000 had been spent on bringing the ship back up to a usable state, many corners had apparently been cut and the ship still showed her years hard service. Local press outlets mentioned the arrival of the ship in passing, no fanfare or even extended comments on the ship itself was made. Her notoriety only increased when she would later brake loose from her moorings in a storm, causing havoc in the harbor as she was attempted to be corralled. Following a later incident where two citizens fell through a rotten gangplank and were drowned in the harbor, the local authorities were at the end of their rope.

Due to the crewing requirements and the lack of a setup stage for any naval militia, Charybdis sat completely unused and largely derelict for her entire Canadian service. Not once did she leave her moorings under Canadian control. The local press would quickly rally to label her as “Canada’s White Elephant”, commenting “the squandering of public funds in order to bring this rotten tub across the ocean without any idea of what is to be done with her is inexcusable.” In the House of Commons, members of the opposition assembled in great number to lampoon the poor ship, largely to no opposition from the reigning party. One member of the House would state, “I am not quite sure where the flash of genius originated that suggested the propriety of this acquisition of this terrible monster.”


Charybdis would be returned to the Royal Navy at Halifax however due to her condition, she was kept in Halifax until she was broken up in 1884. For years to come, any attempt at naval procurement by the young Dominion was always met by the cautious tale of Charybdis and the lack of planning surrounding her arrival. One of the issue had simply been traded for another as he Americans had again moved to make a fuss. With plans announced to again remove itself from previous fisheries treaty and with the Department of Marine and Fisheries largely busy with surveying of the recently gifted Arctic territories, the stage was set yet again for potential conflicts. The recently withering fishery economy of the Atlantic provinces had further emphasized the knock-on results that could come from American encroachment into Canadian waters. In response to this, the Fisheries Protection Service was officially established as a permanent enforcement fixture of Canadian waters.

Before the crash modernization project of 1886, an iron hulled replacement for the old schooner La Canadienne was the sole ship available for Atlantic patrols. This would soon change as the force rapidly rearmed itself with modern vessels for the planned aggressive interceptions of American fishermen. Although this force was clearly a non-military force with limited jurisdiction, care was taken to project an air of authority in their appearances. Under the new Department Minister George Eulas Foster, the Service was provided naval styled uniforms, followed a quasi-naval inspired command and featured heavily discipline. A great deal of effort was made to court retired Royal Navy officers both at home and abroad to lead these ships, further reinforcing the idea that this force may finally be the nucleus to a proper naval force. As always, these ships would fly the Canadian coat of arms accompanied by a commissioning pennant issued under special warrant by the Admiralty, distinguishing the ships as armed men of war. Ordered from Polson Iron Works in Ontario, these ships would be under construction while negotiations were underway. CGS Constance was launched in 1891, followed closely by her sisters CGS Curlew and CGS Petrel. These ships would carry a multitude of small arms, machine guns and eventually 12 pdr naval cannons, giving them the moniker of "screw ram-bowed gunboats" by the American government.


Canada’s last real attempt to appease the Americans was made in 1888 when an agreement was raised with Washington regarding a simple license would have to be purchased by American fishermen to grant them commercial access to Canadian ports and waters. Foster’s successor as Minister was Charles Hibbert Tupper who had been somewhat dejected as Ottawa had completely expected Washington to agree to what it thought was a more than fair agreement. His ships would be quickly sold off and his Department would be dissolved back into various other branches, although this would never come. The US Senate would formally reject this agreement which alongside a lack of enforcement assistance from Royal Navy assets, the Canadian put to work with their new ships. The fishermen of the American East Coast rather humorously seemed more open to following the agreement itself than the American government, causing the main focus of the Department to be pushed towards recreational fishing on the Great Lakes. Recent scientific findings had pointed to American recreational fishermen on Lake Erie and Lake Huron heavily damaging fish stocks due to illegal fishing out of season and major use of seines and gill nets in the areas.

CGS Petrel was ordered to patrol Lake Erie during the 1894 fishing season, explicitly to make examples out of any illegal American fishermen who had been prowling the lakes.