Remember the Rainbow Redux: An Alternate Royal Canadian Navy

[RelativeGalaxy7]

August 11, 2014

Bell of WWI Cruiser HMCS Rainbow recovered from the bottom of the Pacific.

Craig Leroy for the Vancouver Sun.

This year marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMCS Rainbow at The Battle of the Farallon Islands, Canada's first naval engagement during the First World War. The battle was commemorated today by a coordinated effort over 20 years in the making.

Crew of HMCS Rainbow posing for a photo around the aft 6" gun.
​

Left as the only warship to protect the Canadian West Coast from the German warships, Rainbow was little more than an outdated ship originally purchased for training but as was common with the neglected Canadian military, servicemen had to make do. Commander Walter Hose, who had transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy with Rainbow just a few years earlier, set his ship to sea with only 122 men under his command. Rainbow would eventually meet the cruiser SMS Leipzig off the Farallon Islands where she valiantly fought to the last however, she eventually foundered and took 109 young men down with her.

Since the original discovery of Rainbow’s wreck in 1995 and its subsequent classification as a National Historic Site of Canada, no major expeditions have been undertaken since a plaque laying in 2004. Working closely with the HMCS Rainbow Association, the Royal Canadian Navy has released photos this morning confirming they have recovered the bell of HMCS Rainbow. Following the ceremonial laying of wreaths by HMCS Cormorant, HMCS St Laurent and USS Russell, the bell will be returned to CFB Esquimalt for restoration. The bell is planned to be housed at the Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum following an exhibition at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Bell of HMCS Rainbow being retrieved from an ROV on the seafloor.​

The tragedy of Rainbow is commonly viewed by Canadian historians as the turning point of the Canadian Navy, public support and fierce lobbying had finally given the “ugly duckling” of the Canadian Military it’s legs in an uncertain world. The rallying cry of “Remember the Rainbow!” remains one of the most memorable Canadian quotes of the early 20th century.

Hello everybody, I'd like to welcome you to my new and hopefully much improved timeline regarding the Royal Canadian Navy! This timeline originally was started June of 2019 however, due to miscellaneous issues with myself and another currently ongoing timeline on a similar topic, I decided to put my timeline on hold for the time being. That changes today though, I'm coming back onto the scene in hopefully a big way with a revamped timeline and a lot more relevant resources on the topic. As of right now, the previous timeline present here is going to be decommissioned and redirected to this thread, this solution seems a lot simpler than editing all of the posts on another thread and trying again. I plan to have this timeline follow the idea of a Canadian Navy from the founding of the nation itself to the present day (2020 at the time of writing) with the style of writing currently being a rotation from authoritative narratives to vignettes with potentially reoccurring characters and photo galleries. I currently plan on a minimum of two updates randomly per week until I settle into a structure however, this may increase depending on my overall activity.


That all being said, I'm looking forward to finally being back in the saddle and getting this timeline flowing properly this time! I hope you all enjoy.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

With the establishment of the British North America Act on July 1st, 1867, the freshly minted Canadian Federal Parliament was handed the responsibility of defense from their colonial mother. The three provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada (Ontario and Quebec) had previously all held some modicum of responsibility for their own defense through their colonial administration however, all of these tasks now had to be compiled into an already rapidly expanding list of responsibilities. Defensive considerations were some of the major topics in the talks leading to Confederation especially considering the American Civil War raging over the border to the South and most importantly, the Fenian raids had been encroaching into Canada for some time.

A reproduction of the famous painting "Fathers of Confederation", showing the founding politicians and figures behind the pivotal event.​

Named for the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish Republican organization which was originally based from within the United States, these raids were a series of armed conflicts between these Militants and various local Militias present in the colonies that would eventually make up Canada. The Fenian invasion of Campobello Island, New Brunswick in April 1866 would be a unique event as it caused enough of a panic that the commanding British officer in Halifax dispatched a force of over 700 British soldiers by sea to face the raiders, eventually causing them to flee. While indeed helpful, this situation were the exception rather than the rule and Canadians were usually left to mainly fend for themselves against the raiders. Around this same time period ironically, the current British government had become rather incredulous of the value of assigning any major naval force to North American stations. While not explicitly advocating for full abdication of the North American stations, Britain wished for Canada to attempt to assist them more in various locations, mainly in reinforcing the Great Lakes and their surrounding areas with additional fortifications and troop emplacements. Westminster had put forward legislation in 1865 which allowed colonies the ability to create their own naval organizations with the authority to man “a vessel or vessels of war". This also extended to raising/maintaining a number of seamen and volunteers at the expense of the colony itself. This agreement ended with a stipulation stating that any of these volunteers had “entered on the terms of being bound to general service in the Royal Navy in an emergency.”

Some cities had operated naval militias under a separate act put into place in 1862, mainly consisting of several sixty strong companies based at Kingston, Hamilton, Garden Island, Oakville, Toronto, Port Stanley and Dunville. These had originally been formed to help ward off potential incursions across the border during the American Civil War but largely due to inadequate supplies of clothing and equipment, these forces had done little besides occasional spring and summer training exercises. Nova Scotia would also raise ten various companies of Naval Militias resulting in a 500-man strong force. These units were finally put to use at the Battle of Fort Erie in June of 1866 when the Dunville Company pursued fleeing Fenian forces across the Niagara River with the steam tug W.T. Robb while the Toronto Company would rent the steam vessels Magnet and Rescue for potential future action. While these rudimentary “naval” units were successful in their assigned roles, problems of almost non-existent training and lackluster overall ship specification showed a clear need for future investments.

An illustration of the steam tug W.T. Robb in her pre or post gunboat configuration.​

In spite of the fact that these raids eventually failed in their original task of pressuring Britain to remove itself from Ireland, it solidified one of the major advantages of Confederation as a whole. Pooled defensive resources against any kind of internal or external threat would make any attacks on a singular territory much less likely to succeed or be considered entirely. While the majority of battles were fought on land by the Militias, the Naval Companies began to falter slightly especially once the United States had began interfering with Fenian operations across the border itself. As with many issues upon the founding of Canada, one of these was the permanent operation of Great Lakes gunboats and the naval militias that would crew them. The two gunboats Rescue and Michigan eventually were fully purchased by the Canadian government which made them the first naval vessels operated by the Canadian government. The British would later directly pay for the armaments, wages and crews of these vessels until 1868 when the British colonial secretary believed the major Fenian incursion had ended and Canada should take over upkeep for these ships. London would later echo this sentiment the very next year when they stated that Canada needed to rapidly decide the composition of its military strength, especially around the Great Lakes. London asserted that this must be done at the expense of the Dominion however, Ottawa refused and shot back that their admittance into the British Empire had put them under the protection of Britain. The pair of ships would be laid up and the Militias, now void of purpose, equipment or guidance, scattered to the wind or were folded into the newly forming land-based militias.

The foundation which these Militias were built was rather uncreatively named the Militia Bill. This bill was put into order by the Minister of Militia and Defense George-Étienne Cartier in 1868 and as such provided Canada with a 40,000-man active militia and the provision to call up a reserve militia consisting of every able-bodied man in the age bracket of sixteen to sixty. This was hoped to provide a suitable force for internal matters while also allowing for a defensive force to be brought up in the event of a land war being declared. Expectedly, the need or even drive to create some naval organization was not present within the Canadian Government of the period. To cap the entire situation, the Militia that was propped up by the Government was reportedly poorly funded, this leading to early talks about curtailing numbers to a point where equipment could be more readily provided or to raise funding. The establishment of two vital ministries, namely Militia and Defense alongside the Marine and Fisheries clearly established the fact that the government was content to lay the responsibility of naval defense at the feet of the Royal Navy. With the original three “Canadian” founding provinces located on the North Atlantic coast and relatively close to British home stationed sea assets, no major issues was generated in their continued protection. In fact, the Eastern provinces were viewed as some of the most secure to attack from the sea of any colony under British rule, even with the recent Fenian raid in memory. As a result, Canadian defensive budgets were excessively low and allocated government funds were largely funneled into the building of the nation as a whole and the potential for lucrative transcontinental developments with other nations.

The Fenian raids would continue sporadically until 1871 but in a somewhat strange turn of events, it did not cause military spending to increase or raise popular interest in the potential for a major military force. Setting the precedent for the centuries to come, Canadians as a whole were not particularly interested in the establishment of any professional armed force, let alone a large standing army. Mainly reinforced by the fact that defensive natured responsibilities and military funding as a whole were rather vaguely placed under both British and Canadians governments, especially with Britain retaining sole control of practically all foreign policy. This early arrangement brought the Canadian government to the conclusion that British land and naval forces could be called upon during times of need, only requiring the Canadians to have a citizen militia in place to hold the line against localized attacks of a foreign power or possible civil unrest.

A Welcome address held for returning Militiamen of the Fenian Raids held at Champ de Mars, Montreal, 1866.​

As events would soon show however, this reliance on British naval power could have potentially dire implications whenever the interests of Britain would clash with that of her newest Dominion.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

Even while Canada was putting themselves up against the Fenian’s, their neighbors across the border had thrown them into somewhat of an unpleasant situation. In 1866, the Americans had come to the decision to preemptively end the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. The treaty itself was extremely valuable due to the fact that it classified a large section of Canadian raw agricultural and material exports for the United States as duty free, side stepping the previous American tariff on natural resource imports into the country. The Americans in return received fishing rights off the East Coast of Canada alongside joint navigation rights to the interior waterways of Canada. Even once America pulled out of this treaty however, her fishing fleets continued their normal routes along the inshore waters of the Maritime Provinces and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Ottawa was furious with the United States for circumventing their treaty and continuing to allow their fishermen to roam freely on Canadian territory yet, even more ire was directed towards Britain.

London of late had been preoccupied in maintaining a sound and friendly relationship with the United States, British Officials were squarely unwilling to adopt any measures which would protect the local Canadian fishermen’s rights and livelihoods in their own home waters. A half-hearted measure of a licensing system was put into place, but it was nowhere near adequately enforced on either Canada or Britain’s part. The dissatisfaction within the Canadian Government came to a head when the Royal Navy officially informed Canada that it would be decreasing its overall presence in the North American station after 1869, meaning there would be a large decrease in the amount of naval ships to help enforce fishing disputes. The Minister of Marine and Fisheries of the time, Peter Mitchell, set about announcing that the Canadian government would commission six armed schooners manned by what he termed “Marine Police”. These officers would hold authority backed by the Canadian Government by relation, hopefully that of the Royal Navy itself. In his own words, “All national rights of fishery on our own coasts are threatened and the time has arrived when we must either abandon this authoritative right or assert to maintain it.”

These schooners proved to be a sound investment in 1870 alone, twelve American vessels were seized after being caught illegally fishing by the schooners La Canadienne, Daring and Lady Head. The United States soon settled these differences alongside many more under the 1871 Treaty of Washington. Alongside the implementation of the treaty, the nation bore witness to a large trimming of the United States Navy in the wake of the American Civil War, so the need for the Marine Police themselves was also disbanded in 1873. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald would comment about the situation, “There is not the slightest chance of a row between the United States and England so with that, Canada ought to take advantage of this to keep down our militia estimates.”

The Marine Police Schooner La Canadienne, note the commission pendant which was worn at the main masthead to signify armed vessels on enforcement duties.​

Sir John A. Macdonald himself would not be long for the Canadian political system and was succeeded by Alexander Mackenzie’s Liberal government in 1873. A new figurehead of the nation was followed by the same tired requests from Britain, this time regarding the reinforcement of artillery-based defenses in Quebec, Montreal and Kingston. The Royal Navy argued that over the last twelve years in Halifax alone, they had invested substantial time and funding into the upkeep and gradual upgrading of the garrison and coastal defenses. Ottawa shot back with what was rapidly becoming their favorite response, they would be more than willing to supplement or replace British troops garrisoned in Canadian ports during wartime but nothing more. Ottawa’s main concern was to avoid any kind of commitment to Britain that could potentially lead the Admiralty to cut down the North Atlantic Squadron even further.

The British had recently begun construction in Esquimalt on the West Coast in order to establish a significant naval station in the Pacific, partially under the rare influence of Ottawa. When British Columbia was admitted into Canada in 1871, part of the agreement with Ottawa was the establishment and maintenance of a significant naval base within the province. This was seen as a double edged sword by various Canadian politicians as investment by the Royal Navy in Canada and their associated protection for the other coast was indeed rather agreeable however, some figures put forward that this “Pacific Station” could eventually see the Royal Navy weaken their Atlantic standing to spread their defensive obligations across two coasts. Projected telegraph lines and the future trans-Canada railway made the potential usefulness of Esquimalt to the Royal Navy steadily increase. Similarly to the pledge made on the East Coast, Ottawa would provide militiamen for coastal defenses and garrisons but as ever, they did not seek to overstep their bounds and fund anything considered “naval” in character.

Various Royal Navy warships in Esquimalt Harbor, date unknown.​

The next major jolt to the Canadians was the Russo-Turkish War (1877 – 1878) and the following breakdown of Anglo-Russian relations. Panic erupted among citizens of British Columbia who worried about the potential for a Russian attack on the West Coast. The Mackenzie government would respond to these cries by issuing a request to London for the stationing of “fast cruisers” in Pacific waters. London would provide nothing but sharp rebuke, affirming that they alone would decide the stationing of Royal Navy warships in a crisis. Although the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 would put an tamper to the panic somewhat, the brief scare caused the Royal Navy to again request financial investment of Canada into their own defense. Besides the ever-present issue of coastal defense batteries, the Admiralty recommended that Canada consider arming merchant ships in order to potentially push off enemy raiders alongside an investment in naval mines. Naval mines were not well regarded by Canadian officials due to the perceived damage and interference they would cause in the civilian maritime trade. Sharper individuals within both parties would counter with the fact that raiders would also interfere with civilian trade yet predictably, the issue was quietly pushed aside.

Prime Minister Mackenzie would state “Canada is above shirking her duty in providing the defense of her own coast.” All parties who heard this decree knew it was little more but a bold-faced lie. Small improvements were implemented in Esquimalt such as a garrison of troops and gun batteries borrowed from the Royal Navy, but this was nowhere near a suitable commitment. Control of the Canadian government would again return to John A. Macdonald and yet, Canada’s approach to the issue of naval defense would stay rather flat footed and noncommittal at first. The Prime Minister would later begin to take a slightly more positive outlook on the topic of naval defense. He confirmed that Canada could arm “swift ships of commercial nature” at her own expense to protect her many shores but most importantly, he proposed the idea of Britain recruiting personnel in Canada, if of course Britain was ready to foot the bill for doing so. This all came with the caveat that regardless of anything proposed, “London should not expect Canadian commitments during times of peace and furthermore, Ottawa’s support of any naval spending must address Canadian needs”.

Militiamen attending to one of the RML 64-pounder 71 cwt guns present at Finlayson Point or Victoria Point, 1885.​

Ironically, a call for action was put fourth by the Leader of the Canadian land-based Militia, Major General Edward Selby-Smyth. His persistent cautioning of the fact that Canada’s various ports were “for all extents and purposes, defenseless” helped push his idea that a naval branch of the Militia would be a key improvement. This proposed naval branch was as he described, “not for adding to the naval strength and supremacy of the empire beyond the purposes contemplated in the Colonial Defense Act.” Some speculate this amendment to the former statement came as a result from threats to his position from upon high in Ottawa. As one could expect, the politicians were not particularly willing to further increase militia spending in a period of peace and did not want to establish another set of naval militias. Somewhat miraculously though, they seemed finally willing to make something approaching a commitment. The Admiralty in London was informed that Canada was willing to host a warship for training in home waters if it was supplied by the Admiralty. This offer was stipulated with the clause that acceptance of a vessel would not imply an explicit obligation that Canada would form any kind of naval militia in the immediate future.

With this encouraging potential start, the Department of Marine and Fisheries dispatched a representative to Britain to inspect the warship offered by the Admiralty, a steam corvette named HMS Charybdis.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

December 2, 1880. Portsmouth, UK.

OTTAWA SENDS CONFIRMATION OF CHARYBDIS ACCEPTANCE, SEND INSPECTION REPORT AT EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.

Peter Astle Scott let out a long sigh as he placed the paper onto the table in front of him. It had indeed been fourteen long years since he had retired from the Royal Navy however, he found it hard to believe a ship like this could possibly exist outside of the reserve fleet. When he was contacted by the Canadian government requesting his services in the inspection of a Royal Navy ship, his enthusiasm about potentially getting back into the saddle was almost palpable. Retirement wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, fishing and hunting expeditions could only tamper his boredom to a point. The call back to action as the Captain of warship, even one of a Dominion, was something he couldn’t turn down. Of course, the handsome payment upon her arrival in Canada was just dessert.

Although if this old ship could make the journey across the Atlantic remained to be seen. Scott had been absolutely floored when he came aboard Charybdis, especially considering the ship itself had just returned from the China station in November. Scott had seen and served aboard his fair share of old ships, chief of most being HMS Terror before her ill-fated Arctic expedition under Sir John Franklin. She had been 26 years old when Scott had been aboard her and over the 4 years he served as her mate, she had been nothing like what he saw before him. He had arrived at Charybdis herself in late November and had been entombed in the ship ever since, evaluating every inch of her leaking, rotting corpse. It had been no wonder the Royal Navy had offered this ship as a gift; he would have spit in the face of any person trying to offer this as a seagoing command!

With the assistance of an overeager young Engineer from the Department of Marine and Fisheries, the pair had rapidly discovered the ship was a somehow still floating nightmare. A split bowsprit, barely functional boilers, funnel sheeting that closely resembled paper, a cracked 68 pdr gun barrel, completely fouled bottom, wood rot, fissured beams and to top it all off, paint resembling a long abandoned English farmhouse. How a Captain of the Royal Navy had allowed a ship under their command to fall into such disrepair was beyond Scott, although he wouldn’t have minded asking her previous Captain in person. His concerns to the Canadian delegate in London had fallen on deaf ears, he had insisted the ship needed to make the journey and Canada was willing to pay any expenditures to make that happen.

He would need to speak with one of the Dockyard managers ashore, the Canadians would want a time-frame and price tag for bringing this scow back up to a respectable state. As he stood and made his way towards the decks above, he could help but think, if Charybdis was indeed named for a mythical sea monster, she was the most pitiful monster he had ever had the displeasure to see.

HMS Charybdis, date and location unknown. ​

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

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.”

HMS Charybdis undergoing repairs while still in Royal Navy service, Esquimalt, 1870.​

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.

CGS Constance in two separate liveries over her career, her prominent false ram bow and ornate decorations making her rather striking. ​

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.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

Previous excursions against American poachers on the lakes had proven one thing, the lawbreakers intended to run free regardless of if they had to open fire on enforcement officials. Due to this fact, it was unadvised to employ only steam launches in these enforcement deployments. With a length of 116 ft, a beam of 22 ft and a draught of 11 ft, Petrel was larger than most vessels the Fisheries Patrol and with a top speed of roughly 10 knots, she was fairly maneuverable against some of the older steam tugs on the lake. Although her Nordenfeld quick-firing machine guns would not be mounted for some years, her armory included an extensive number of Spencer repeating rifles, Colt revolvers and naval cutlasses for protection and intimidation. This was partially assisted by the Fisheries Enforcement regulations of all seaborne officers equipped with naval style uniforms.

The typical uniform worn by Fisheries Enforcement Officers on the Lakes. ​

With an experienced Captain at her helm and a crew of roughly 30 men, Petrel arrived for the 1894 fishing season with something to prove and prove she did. On May 8, 1894, lookouts aboard Petrel spotted two ships in Canadian waters with many small boats scattered nearby. With that seemed to be a mass illegal harvest of Canadian fish, the Canadians moved in for an inspection. As they did, both ships began to raise steam, prompting a chase. As the Petrel pulled up alongside the two mother-ships, officers armed to the teeth with cutlasses and revolvers with crew lining Petrel’s decks with rifles, the officers found themselves pointing their arms at 50 wealthy American fishermen of the Dayton Peele Fishing Club. The raising of steam had been the galleys of both ships being operated in order to serve lunch to their patrons and each small boat consisted of two or three people fishing by hook and line. With understandably less vigor, licensing checks were conducted, and every single fisherman was found to be fishing illegally.

All involved were arrested by the crew of the Petrel who took all parties involved and their ships into the town of Amherstburg for detention. The fishermen and their hired captains were only held in custody for a few hours and were thereby released however, the yachts Visitor and Leroy Brooks were impounded until fines could be issued. The president of the Peele Fishing Club penned an extensive letter to the Canadian Minister of Marine explaining the situation and subsequently, the Department declined to press individual charges as they were convinced there was no explicit intent to break the law. Although due to the fact that an organized Club accepting membership fees should have informed their patrons of required licensing, a $40 fee was charged per ship alongside the required fees connected with the overall seizure.

Leroy Brooks in her early yacht appearance, this vessel is said to be still sailing today however the information is unsubstantiated.​

The overall incident was rather minor and resolved rather quickly however, parties within the United States blew the situation out of proportion. A group of advocates lobbied the state government to step in and retaliate with seizures of their own yet the state fully supported the Canadian actions. A clear violation of Canadian law in Canadian waters did not justify hotheaded action. Accusations of heavy handedness were also raised but conveniently did not include why such measures were put into place. Perhaps the most timeless example that surfaced from the entire situation was the front-page print present in the Detroit News. Depicting the “Battle of Lake Erie” was an exaggerated cartoon showcasing a multitude of Petrel’s arm crew threatening fishermen in rowboats with swords, cannons and Gatling guns. Reflecting the previous Battle of Lake Erie, the main caption read as “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” The accompanying poem and general tone of the article that followed reinforced the opinions of the general public with their distaste of the wealthy class in depression times and their support of Canadian actions.

`Rah for the gallant Petrel; 'Rah for the Petrel's men;

Here's to their red hot visit; Here's may they come again!

It's rather a butt-end visit; but who in hades cares.

Since the big guns frowned from the portholes on bunch of millionaires!

Go for 'em Johnny Crapaud; go for 'em Bob Canuck;

Truss 'em up Johnny Thompson, swinge' em just for luck."

Besides this event, the 1894 enforcement season had been an outstanding success. Petrel and her accompanying steam launch Dolphin had impounded a total of five ships and confiscated over 200 nets of differing sizes. The Canadians presence on the lakes during this and the following seasons had made its impression and even as Petrel and her kin were slowly outran by faster American ships in the following years. The conspicuous nature of Petrel's white clad paint and distinctive ram bow did nothing but draw attention, intimidating as many people as she alerted to her presence. Even with that said, the arms race between the American poachers and Canadian enforcement officers would continue even until the modern day.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

The late 1800’s was generally seen as a sort of dark age regarding naval progress within or even regarding Canada. Ministers, Officers and politicians came and went, many words were uttered and no real action was undertaken. The specter of Charybdis hung low over any attempt at development and quickly was loaded into a metaphorical cannon and fired in the general direction of any pro-Navy figure. One of the few silver linings was the fact that due to its connection to the rest of North America through the Trans-Canada Railway, the Esquimalt naval base and the surrounding areas was reinforced with additional shore batteries. The main contribution from Canada in this time period was paying a 25% subsidy to the Canada Pacific Railway upon their commission of the three Empress class ocean liners. This was to ensure that the Empress of China, Empress of Japan and Empress of India were specially fitted with areas able to take gun platforms and alongside Admiralty stocks of 4.7” guns at Hong Kong and Vancouver, the trio could be quickly armed to counter Russian raiding cruisers.

RMS Empress of Japan passing through the First Narrows of Vancouver Harbor, June 1893.​

While the Australian colonies were hard at work operating warships and planning defensive measures, Canadian politicians were generally seen to be doing what they pleased and what they pleased had little to do with allocating funds towards naval developments. The next up and coming personality Lieutenant Andrew R. Gordon, acting Commander of the Fisheries Protection Service. Yet another former Royal Navy officer who had retired to Canada, Gordon’s plan was relatively simple in comparison to others that had came before. Looking to the recent HMS Rattlesnake, Gordon wished for a pair of similar ships to be purchased and given to the Fisheries Protection Service. Unlike many of the proposals before, Gordan had provided an extensive 35-page report lacking all fluff and moving directly from point to point. In Gordon's opinion, the main threat to Canada was Russian or French armed mail steamers carrying significant amounts of weaponry. With the Admiralty unable to promise force deployments to protect Canada during wartime, such ships would be a huge value.

This pair of ships would serve as fisheries protection ships in peacetime and warships in a time of conflict against enemy cruisers. High speed and fair range allowed the ships to effectively enforce fisheries laws while also remaining effective as seagoing combat vessels. The 4” armament, torpedoes and quick firing smaller guns would be at an obvious disadvantage against a 6” armed merchant cruisers however such an enemy would be averse to risk damage so far away from friendly bases. Torpedoes especially had recently seized naval professionals across the globe in an iron grip of psychological warfare, even if their actual effectiveness was rather limited. The combination of range, high speed, good armament and low cost factored into their suitability alongside their compact dimensions which would allow them to travel through the Welland and St Lawrence Canals, serving the lakes as well as the coast.

The scheme itself was well received internally and eventually made its way up the chain to Prime Minister Macdonald. Although it was cleverly disguised as a fisheries protection plan, Macdonald saw directly through the ruses true purpose to set up the nucleus of a naval force. With the caveat of purchasing the ships themselves first under the guise of unarmed survey or fishery vessels and arming them at a later date. Gordon’s status as a lowly Lieutenant forced him to pitch his idea to the Admiralty through the Canadian high commissioner, a man largely clueless to any specifics of naval matters. In a series of blunders, the commissioner did not actually include Gordon's lengthy report to the Admiralty and only passingly mentioned about purchasing similar vessels to Rattlesnake for use as Fisheries patrol ships. The Admiralty dismissed the ‘proposal’ out of hand and recommended the Pheasant class of gunboats. Such ships were heavily armed, yet slow, old and featured high masts alongside not being able to move from the Lakes to the open ocean. These ships were used previously by the Admiralty on fisheries protection duties and were seen as perfectly adequate, something Gordon rejected wholeheartedly.

Pygmy class gunboat HMS Partridge circa 1893, her dated features are quite apparent in comparison to HMS Rattlesnake above.​

Gordon’s attempts were likely to never succeed even if the Admiralty had received his entire paper. What they saw as a lowly lieutenant proposing a non-traditional role for a relatively new type of ship was seen as a kind of heresy by the Admiralty. Torpedo gunboats were designed for the specific purpose of screening battle line units from enemy torpedo assaults, there was no room for deviation in the Admiralty's eyes. With respect to Gordon, his ideas about the more general usage possibilities for torpedo gunboats was rather prophetic given what the type would eventually transition into but as was common, he was ahead of his time. Gordon would attempt to see modified versions of his scheme come to fruition in the future but his premature death in 1893 spelled an end to this particular endeavor. His death would again leave a vacuum within the Department of Marine and Fishers and the Department of Militia and Defense that would not be filled for quite some time.

Although with a certain American naval officer unleashing his theories of sea power upon the world, the public perception of the necessities for a national navy were about redefined.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

While some parties throughout history have played down the importance of 'The Influence of Sea Power Upon History' and indeed it being portrayed as the sudden gospel for naval power on the world is not particularly true, it’s value cannot be overstated to both the general public and governmental bodies. Mahan’s way of words describing the various strengths and weaknesses of both maritime and land locked nations played up to the social Darwinism commonly found within this time period. As the various other powers of the world were ideologically reinforced to build their navies up along the lines of Britain, the influence on the civilian population was arguably just as significant.

As January 1895 rolled around, a new civilian organization was formed in Britain referred to as the ‘Navy League’. Their purpose was clearly outlined as “spreading information showing the vital importance to the British Empire of the naval supremacy upon which depends it’s trade, empire and national existence.” Many of the patrons of the league extended from the British aristocrats down to the common hobbyist, the thread of imperialist pride held the organization together. While the league itself grew, it eventually hit a puzzling contradiction. The organization pushed for the improvement of port facilities in the Dominions and the establishment of naval reserves in the colonies however at the same time, their ingrained support of the Admiralty caused issues. Admiralty ideals of a centrally controlled Royal Navy with colonial monetary contributions clashed with the growing sentiment aboard for locally controlled squadrons, leaving the Navy League uncomfortably sitting on their hands.

Badge of the Navy League, clearly drawing inspiration from Royal Navy ship and land based badges.​

The flowing ideals of imperial and nationalist pride were felt throughout the dominions although surprisingly, the first non-Britain based branch of the Navy League was set up in Toronto in 1895 with many more following in the years to come. At this point though, the League mainly pushed a straight naval equivalent to the land-based militia, not so much a national naval force. With Prime Minister Laurier and his Liberal government coming to power in 1896, the Navy League doubled their efforts in hopefully bringing a new Prime Minister into their corner. Yet again though, Laurier like Macdonald before him was a rather uninformed spectator of naval matters. Following a lengthy memo forwarded to Ottawa by the Colonial Defense Committee, Laurier was swept up and hurried to the Colonial Conference. A meeting about naval matters before the formal proceedings found Laurier far over his head in an embarrassing state. After a proposal from himself for a general fund for empire defense, he was quickly rebuffed by the premier of New South Wales regarding the fact that while his area had been financially supporting their local naval squadron, Canada was essentially sitting back and doing nothing.

Laurier’s frankly laughable statements regarding the fact that “Canada was in no need of naval protection” and therefore should not have to pay any donations forward to the general needs of the Empire made him the fool of the meeting. After this initial embarrassment, Laurier had realized two things. His limited experience in the matter meant he would need experienced opinions for any actions to be taken, opinions that the Admiralty thus far had been unhelpful in providing alongside the fact that any promises would have to both please the Admiralty and his own Liberal base, something about as likely as the sky falling down around his shoulders. Therefore, when naval matters were thus brought back to light within the conference itself, Laurier had taken the stance of silence. When it was offered that Laurier be given a private audience with one of the Admiralty’s Sea Lords for guidance, Laurier shocked all in attendance when he announced there was nothing to discuss. He followed closely with a statement closely reading as such, “The naval question does not have the same importance to Canada as it does for many of the other colonies, due to the fact that war with the United States is not a serious possibility. Any differences between the two nations is simply family troubles.”

Laurier's usually roaring and thunderous speeches did not translate well against other members of state, especially within naval matters.​

The issue was settled for Canada and Laurier had escaped financially unscathed for the moment. While Australia and New Zealand both reinforced naval commitments to Britain, Canada was noted as to have no made such an offer by the leading figures of the Conference. Ironically after this meeting, Laurier was practically forced into looking into matters of defending Canada from a potential US invasion after the 1895 Venezuela Crisis had shown how unready Canadian defenses truly were. A memorandum titled “Naval Control on the Great Lakes” found its way to both the leader of the Militia and the Fisheries Protection Service. It outlined arming small vessels with stocks of British purchased Lee Enfield rifles and Maxim machine guns and detailed plans for equipping the three previously built Fisheries protection ships with 6 and 12 pounder weapons. The Petrel, Curlew and Acadia had been designed to take these weapons but not expressly fitted as to not invalidate the Rush-Bagot Agreement and spark a naval arms race on the Lakes. To help rapidly fit out in a crisis, these weapons and their related materials were to be transferred from the Militia to the Fisheries Service.

Following another commission organized by Laurier to help place Canada’s military footing somewhat securely, Major General Edward Leech had made a surprising recommendation. The main pillar of this report would be alongside the armament fitting on various ships, Canada would require a naval orientated militia. The related excerpt from the publicly released section of the report reads as follows.

“As a most important element in the defense of Canada, I cannot impress the necessity of the naval defense of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The Militia Act of 1886 contemplated the formation of a naval brigade, and I strongly recommend that, steps should be taken with that same intention. Training ships with instructional staff might be obtained from the Admiralty. I feel sure that the formation of such a force would be productive of most valuable results, not only as a strong and most important element of defense, but as a means of educating the seafaring population, and of improving the shipping interests in the inland waters of Canada.”

The size of such a naval brigade was hoped to be 2,000 strong with 1,500 being trained sailors for combat purposes and 500 as firemen for various ashore facilities. Two-armed training ships able to also be used in a wartime situation were also proposed alongside more combat orientated refits to Fisheries craft and training for existing personnel. Large stocks of quick firing guns of various calibers were also requested to be stored in secure warehouses alongside major lake bound cities for use in emergency conversions of local ships into warships. These measures were further reinforced as the United States boldly put forward a change to the Rush-Bagot Agreement in 1898. Since the onset of the Spanish-American war, the Americans had been keen to utilize their naval industries on the lakes and more so forced a change stating that if they could build warships on the Lakes for uses outside of the Lakes, the Canadians and British could operate two unarmored but armed vessels under 1,000t for “naval instruction and training” alongside 6 police, revenue and fisheries cutters. After further stipulating that only one warship could be built on the Lakes at a time and would have to completely vacate the Lakes before another could be started, the Canadians and British relented, not wishing for the Americans to throw away the treaty and fill the Lakes with warships.

A warship in a similar vein to USS Michigan/USS Wolverine would have likely served Canada's needs well as a training ship, almost 80 years of service is hard to beat.​

In the end, all of the Commission findings bar the transfer of guns to the Fisheries service would slowly fade following the joint Canada-UK commission to resolve the Alaska boundary dispute. Even with the plucky prodding of Vice Admiral Jackie Fisher from his basing in Halifax being pushed away by a busy and frustrated Laurier, the naval issue was once again left to simmer. Even with yet another set back though, Laurier and his government had finally validated the idea of Canadian naval elements with serious consideration and members of both political parties had taken notice. Ears were raised, queries were placed and the rumor mill within Ottawa had more material than usual.

The world stage had made matters of naval defense an issue not particularly able to be hidden away from. Modern naval issues and warships could be perused in copies of Brassey or Janes and the newly finished Spanish-American war especially had alarmed nations all over the world. Commodore Dewey’s bold assault into Manilla Bay and the subsequent destruction of the Spanish fleet alongside its shore defences was troubling. Gobbling up Spanish possessions in the area, Canada especially was provided with a front row seat regarding what their neighbor was truly capable of. The Toronto Navy League worked tirelessly to underline the fact that “a Canadian naval reserve or drilled militia with the most modern weapons and realistic training able to be provided is absolutely essential to a sound national defense.” This general concept was widely circulated, reaching Canadian politicians all across the nation, even making its way to the Governor General and Laurier himself. While the proposed use of Royal Navy reserve ships for training did conjure the ghost of HMS Charybdis from it’s recently dug grave, the sentiment was further sweetened by League estimates that a force of 5,000 men could be potentially kept at a ready status for a yearly expenditure of only $250,000.

While all of this was occurring on the mainland, Vice-Admiral Fisher was eager to find a pet project to satisfy his boredom within the dreary Halifax station. With Ottawa not particularly willing to bite, a naval reserve setup from the relatively untapped colony of Newfoundland would have to do.

"Hello Newfoundland!"​

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

In typical Fisherian fashion, Vice-Admiral Fisher had elected to directly query the governor of Newfoundland before speaking to any of the necessary organizations usually involved with the oversight of colonial militia establishments. Rumors had previously been circulating within Royal Navy circles that Newfoundland was rapidly coming around to the idea of potentially hosting a branch of the Royal Naval Reserves, mainly since the events of the Colonial Conference of 1897. At the Conference, Newfoundland was directly singled out by the other members in attendance for being the only one of the self-governing colonies to have completely ignored the call from Britain for aid in defense of the Empire. Between the humiliation in front of their peers, the press bringing the issue to the headlines of newspapers and a discussion between the Premier of Newfoundland and the Colonial Secretary. At the meeting, it was confirmed that both the British and Newfoundland desired the establishment of a naval reserve force in Newfoundland.

Once established, the naval reserves became a key part of the Newfoundland identity and their duty to the Empire as a whole, the naval elements within the above sheet music booklet for the 1902 'Ode to Newfoundland' provincial anthem is rather telling in this aspect.​

To Fishers surprise, the government of Newfoundland had responded with much more vigor and receptiveness than their contemporaries in Ottawa or any of the Canadian provinces. While they could not offer comment on Fishers requests for specifics regarding the quantity of men expected, location of training areas and so on, the Admiral was reassured that the proper parties were being amassed to convoy the idea to the public. That same winter, posters detailing recruiting and the reserves in general were placed in all of the incoming and outgoing ports throughout Newfoundland. A large enrollment of fishermen was anticipated during their annual period of usual unemployment from June to October however, the issue of wages were pointed out. A Royal Navy reservist pay would indeed be an attractive proposal during the off season however, the seasonally outflow of fishermen over into Canada for their fisheries would be an issue. Newfoundland’s general wages were similar to Britain’s at the time however, the higher wages generally present within Canada could negatively affect the potential of the Newfoundland Reserve.

The initial testing of this idea proved to be a remarkable success. The newly elected governor of Newfoundland embarked on a tour of coastal cities at the end of the 1899 fishing season alongside the local RN Commodore G.A. Giffard, both of them boarding HMS Comus and HMS Columbine. This initial effort produced 300 interested individuals of which 50 would later embark on the following 1900 fall training voyage. This six month long inaugural trip was conducted aboard HMS Charybdis (ironic but not the naval equivalent to Canadian’s ghost of Christmas past, the next of name completed in 1896) and according to Giffard, the results were more than satisfactory. Giffard stated in a report to the Admiralty, “we all consider them to be now a useful and efficient body of men who would be a formidable addition to our stocks of personnel.” 44 of the original 50 men received promotions and the overall success of the operation reinforced the need for a reserve within the colony. Following this, Newfoundland agreed to setup a Reserve and purchase a hulk for training purposes. Although Newfoundland was relatively impoverished and during the setup processed had faced tough realities about funding the projects, monetary contributions from the Admiralty and Britain kept the project afloat to its conclusion.

Newfoundland's quality of personnel and willingness to serve quickly made them fairly well known to the people who relied upon them, this is reflected in the above British propaganda illustration.​

With annual contingents of reservists being present aboard Charybdis, the men of Newfoundland quickly cemented their reputation amidst the ranks Royal Navy. The populations of men joining usually came from hard working fishing families who were well at home at sea with monotonous and strenuous work. Their impoverished upbringings caused them to be relatively resourceful problem solvers with their experience of working multiple odd jobs wherever was necessary to make ends meet. Newfoundlander's are quoted by Winston Churchill as "the best small boat men in the world", likely due to their common dory usage in the Atlantic Cod fishery. These men were no strangers to combat either, the 1902-1903 cruise found the Newfoundland reservists blockading Venezuela, shelling coastal emplacements and participating in various shore actions. Throughout these events, the Captain of Charybdis described the men as performing rather credibly, something rare for reservists and especially colonial reservists from a so-called backwater. During this cruise, the Newfoundland reservists were under the tutelage of a certain Gunnery Lieutenant named Walter Hose who ended up forming a great admiration for the people of Newfoundland. So much so it seemed that in his time serving he would marry a young woman from Newfoundland who he had met ashore.

In September of 1902, the screw corvette HMS Calypso was chosen as the training hulk and sailed across the Atlantic to Newfoundland. The placement of this hulk and therefore the reservists home port was something of a contentious topic within Newfoundland. The port town of Argentia was originally considered due to the fact that there was major concerns about placing a stationed 'warship' full of debaucherous sailors within alongside hoping to protect the reservists, of which many were married, from the supposed temptations of alcohol and women found within St. Johns. While there was indeed women and liquor aplenty within St. Johns, these peoples fragile sensibilities seemed to have clouded the fact that St. Johns was a major port and was year long filled with sailors, business as usual for the city. Another supposed reason for the placement in Argentia was it's proximity to the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a common area of territorial and fishing disputes. In the end, the convenience and accessibility of placing the organization within St. Johns was realized and Calypso would arrive for conversion and training ship duties in October of the same year.

HMS Calypso under sail.​

While Laurier was no doubt very aware of the recent success within Newfoundland, the question of any Canadian naval commitments would yet again be set in it’s accustomed place on the back burner when the very government Canada stood upon was stretched to it’s breaking point by the recently started Boer War.

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

https://imgur.com/a/00vG4d9

Gallery has been updated to hopefully fall in line with site rules, if there is any issues please let me know.​

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

The Second Boer war (usually simply referred to as The Boer war within Canadian circles) was seen as the first “Imperial war” where Canadians as a nation were directly involved. This conflict served to highlight the divisive nature of Canadian politics as a whole and was valuable foreshadowing to any potential Canadian naval developments. The Liberal government consisted of two main support bases, French Canadians based in Quebec and English imperialists based largely in Ontario but also spread throughout the country. "Quebeckers" generally wanted nothing to do with anything supporting the overall British Empire and would quite reliably cry out when even an inkling of Imperial sentiment was showed. Yet on the other side, the English Canadians generally pushed for increased assistance in the name of the Empire and decried inaction. Laurier’s status as both a prominent Quebec politician alongside some of his clumsily timed and poorly thought-out Imperialist statements early in his career had put him in an awkward situation, one where he was almost always forced into compromise. With the vehement support and opposition for sending support for the war in South Africa, naval matters fell by the wayside rather quickly, at least for Laurier.

Canada’s first contingent going off to join the Boer War, the Royal Canadian Regiment going aboard HMS Sardinian in Quebec City, 1899.​

Ironically, the next push for naval development would come from Laurier’s soon to be mortal enemy, A Halifax born Lawyer named Robert Liard Borden. Borden succeeded Sir Charles Tupper as leader of the Conservative Party in 1901 and strangely as one of his first movements in such a position was “a resolution in favor of the formation of a Royal Navy reserve amongst our sea faring men”. This was broadly accepted across party boundaries at the meeting of the British Empire League in 1901, one Liberal MP going so far as to add that Canada would soon need to make a choice about operating a large fleet of vessels to stop unlicensed American pillaging of fisheries on the West Coast. The Navy League secretary was quick to confirm their complete support with even the French members in attendance endorsed the idea, stopping before direct support though. French MP Frederick Debartzch Monk would state “French Canadians would not stand aloof in the studying of naval proposals and in the potential formation of a navy league, Quebeckers would give a good account of themselves.” A branch of the navy league would not be formed in Quebec for many years though, largely being seen as an Imperialistic sham however, Canada wise support for naval endeavors was slowly mounting.

One detail which was largely unknown to Laurier and the major Canadian politicians was the difference in the nationwide branches of the Navy League. The various branches would regularly have conflicting goals and ideas, greatly contrasting with the view from Ottawa that the League as a whole was completely homogeneous and only worked to spread the good work of naval affairs. Details could never be agreed upon if the methods to come to those details never matched. As this was going on, it appeared that the stars were beginning to align for naval developments in Canada. The hard-line view of “one sea, one navy” from London and the Admiralty had begun to thaw somewhat. London had asked the Admiralty of any changes to Canada’s strategic situation within the last few years and if the earlier recommendations and ability to create a naval reserve was still present. The Admiralty responded that no change had been made strategically however, they stated “as it is believed to be essential to the efficiency of a naval force that it should be administered by a separate department, my lords are of the opinion that any naval force which may be raised should be under the Canadian minister of the Marine and Fisheries and should be closely affiliated with the Royal Navy.” This specific statement both secured the fact that the Admiralty had no major objections to a local Canadian naval force and also stated that they believed the Marine and Fisheries should control it, not the Department of Militia and Defense.

The Spanish cruiser Almirante Oquendo, set afire and run aground in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in the Spanish-American War. After this show of American naval might, the Royal Navy became rather apprehensive about their ability to effectively project power from their overseas 'backwater' bases. ​

Barely a week later, more support came from within the Admiralty itself. At the inaugural meeting of the Victoria Branch of the Navy League, Rear Admiral A.K. Bickford, the Pacific Station commander, expressed his support for a Canadian naval reserve with a short speech. He would later draw the Admiralty's attention to the “dangerously weak state of the Pacific Squadron” however, this largely fell on deaf ears. The British were more than aware of the status of their pacific based units and its poor state was mostly on purpose. The expansion of the US pacific based units within the area had made it impractical to station enough modern warships in pacific waters to stand up to such a force, not even taking into account the fact that such a move would be a clear diplomatic shot over the bow of the US. London was in no position to push the United States into any negative views given their recent embarrassments within South Africa, the United States was one of the few remaining nations without any ill feelings towards the Empire. With America being excluded from the famous “two power standard” measure of the Royal Navy alongside the Admiralty effectively allowing the Americans full reign to create the Panama Canal, the British view was largely to allow America to have the Pacific in regards to North America.

As the soldiers trickled back from South Africa, they carried very different sentiments as they did when they had departed. Respect and admiration for their British comrades was replaced by open doubts and contempt for the British officers under which they served. A mixture of elitism towards colonial servicemen and incompetence within some of the gutless political appointee British officers had shaken Canadian confidence in their British counterparts. Widely held belief was that that their own units were every bit as competent or even more so than their British brothers, deserving to be commanded by fellow Canadians. The Militia did not want to mindlessly adhere to British military doctrine any longer and inevitably of the decline of both the Atlantic and Pacific squadrons, this new mindset eventually trickled itself into the naval minded figures within Canada. In fact, this era within Canada militarily was largely defined by a decrease in both Britain’s presence and confidence in their competency from a military point of view. The demand for increased professionalism and independence from their British counterparts was rapidly surfacing.

Veterans of the Boer War return to Canadian soil as they march up King Street, Toronto.​

With the adoption of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance alongside the fears of a three-pointed Russian, German and French naval advances, the Admiralty had rapidly began decommissioning and removing active combatants from their far-flung colonies, concentrating them home in Britain for some decisive Mahanian engagement. As the Admiralty moved to enact this new overarching plan, the drawing down of Royal Navy assets across the Empire brought up countless red flags. The Navy League of Victoria had been talking about such an issue happening for years, Canadian Maritime interests without Royal Navy protection would have nothing whatsoever. A complete withdraw would have been disastrous for Canada, the public outcry and lack of protection would be something that Canada would be unable to rectify by herself without spending astronomical amounts of money. At the 1902 Imperial Conference in London, Laurier reaffirmed Canada’s distaste for direct contributions and said the following, “The Dominion of Canada highly values the measure of local independence which has been granted to it from time to time by Imperial authorities and considering that Canadian expenditures for defense services are confined to the military side, if the protection of Canadian shores could not be guaranteed by the Royal Navy, then Canada’s government would be prepared to consider naval defense as well.” This dual-purpose ploy and statement from Laurier alongside a statement resolving to create a naval reserve quite soon placed Laurier’s skill as a politician front and center.

The Admiralty did not want to convey the fact that they could not meet their responsibilities in protecting Canada and the other colonies but it also did not want to force action on a subject that was previously discussed with disdain in Canada, the fact that Laurier had even entertained the idea was major progress in the eyes of the Admiralty. Before the Conference ended, the First Lord tried to reinforce the idea of one united British fleet, able to move wherever needed at a moment notice to protect itself. In the view of the Admiralty, an allotment of ships to a certain area would only serve as cannon fodder to a properly prepared and organized opposing naval force. These messages of removing colonial protection did not sit well with the colonial governments and affected them for quite a time to come. Even with all of this going on in Europe though, Laurier was desperately needed back within Canada. His current Minister of Public Works had become almost militantly opposed to Laurier due to his actions in South Africa and was actively stirring up a rather large fuss within Canada, finally being resolved when Laurier removed him in a massive cabinet shift later that year. The newly appointed Minister of the Department of Marine and Fisheries was the former Montreal mayor, Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine and his overall impact on the formation of a Canadian Navy would be rather sizable in the future.

Mr. Préfontaine sometime before 1905. ​

 

[RelativeGalaxy7]

If anything, the choice to place Joseph Raymond Fournier Préfontaine into one of the largest and most important departments within the Dominion was initially a somewhat questionable decision, albeit a rather expected one. Préfontaine’s successor had been similarly lambasted as a “layman” when it came to the inklings of the marine environment and Prefontaine with his meagre experience on the Montreal Harbor commission was not much different. Although behind the scenes, Préfontaine’s appointment can be viewed as mainly that of a convenient political favor. Préfontaine was a powerhouse on the level of municipal politics and his cutthroat dealings and reforms had resulted in a sizable political machine backing him from his local areas, Montreal largely. As the previous major of one of the largest cities in Canada, he had been a close supporter of Laurier and help drum up many volunteers to go to fight the Boers, something Laurier likely kept in mind given the snake pit Ottawa had quickly morphed into during the entire debacle. It was doubly helpful for Laurier to line his appointees with French men who shared his views, the temperamental people of Quebec tended to be fairly less so when they had one of their own within the stands one could say. The Department of Marine and Fishers would need all of the help it could get in the future politically as well.

Even with the obvious personal preferences put aside, the former Montreal mayor had quite the personality. He was known to be incredibly hard working, prideful and single minded when it came to his responsibilities, for the better of for the worse. A man of his caliber was needed in the wake of the cabinet shakeup, Canada was changing rapidly. The responsibilities of the Department would be stressed even more with the various tasks that needed seeing to, updates to the marine transport infrastructure, jump starting the non-existent civilian shipbuilding industry, development of various ports throughout Canada, new shipping channels, etc. During this overall shuffle, the Department of Marine and Fisheries essentially took over the majority of the responsibilities and jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works, to great applause from Préfontaine, who’s aggressive and seemingly boundless energy gobbled up additional responsibilities like a bottomless pit. Overall, the Marine and Fisheries took over roles regarding hydrographic work, construction projects within the St Lawrence channel, harbor repair, control over harbor commissioners and even supervision of new Marconi wireless stations on the East Coast. All of the related funding was also taken in by the Department which alongside the already bloated budget for the department, caused Ottawa based politicians to worry somewhat. Préfontaine was now in charge of the Department with the largest budget within the nation as a whole and his newly acquired power only pushed him to try and acquire more.

While Préfontaine was cementing his control over his newly expanded Department, the public awareness for naval ventures within Canada received another jump start. Following the 1902 Colonial Conference, the Navy League of Great Britain sent a representative across all of the colonies in order to help raise support for various naval initiatives. The first stop in this trip was Canada where he helped found branches of the league in large cities such as Halifax, Charlottetown, Sydney, Saint Johns, Ottawa, Kingston, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Montreal. This high-profile British appointee attracted local Canadian politicians into the League to use it as a speaking platform, honorary positions were given to Mr. Borden and Mr. Préfontaine to only name a few. While the British envoy expressed his views of a united Imperial fleet, more Canadian focused members simply nodded along. As the founding of the Montreal branch coincided rather well with Préfontaine entrance as the Minister, he used one of the founding banquets to announce a surprising proclamation.

“I hope the time will come soon when Canada would organize at least the nucleus of a navy and I truly believe that if parliament took such a step, it would be met with the endorsation of all Canadians.”

Borden would later parrot something similar at an Ottawa league branch meeting, “The government of Canada should fully recognize the duty of it’s country to be in the position to bear it’s fair share of imperial defense. The difficulty lay in the question of control, we are ready to do everything that will assist in the forming of the nucleus of a navy in this country.”

These two proclamations by the Minister of Marine and Fisheries and the Minister of Militia and Defense respectively however, likely contributed more discussion towards a Canadian naval force than anything to come before. People realized that these politicians must have been authorized to say such things from their leader, Laurier, and therefore took it as Laurier himself endorsing the setup of a national navy. Strangely enough though, the statements had not attracted any measurable negative attention, not even from the anti-Imperialist Quebec politicians. The Navy League representative took these two endorsements as meaning generally, the navy spoken of would consist of armed steamers provided by Canada to train their own naval militia. Whether this was correct or not remained to be seen yet it painted perhaps a somewhat different picture within the minds of the British Navy League compared to their Canadian counterparts.

With such statements alongside military training being provided on a semi-regular basis to the Fishery Protection Service, this buzzing of seemingly naval activity finally caught the eye of the skeptical Quebec based politicians like Henri Bourassa. With his suspicious almost confirmed, he asked the House of Commons to provide copies of all correspondence exchanged between Canada and Britain regarding the organization of naval reserves, training ships or even educational organizations. Frustrated when nothing came of this, he doubled down and leveled a further house inquiry, which again, returned nothing. There was nothing to hide largely due to the fact that none of the recent origins for any talks existed on paper, only word of mouth between politicians. This entire debacle was not assisted by the newspaper Globe’s most recent article speculating about a Canadian scheme similar to Newfoundland for establishing a naval reserve, only this time with a total of three fully operational ‘third class cruisers’ provided by Great Britain for training purposes.

The Globe itself was widely seen as a Liberal party vessel for bringing leaked information to the public, leading Laurier himself to be pressed about the authenticity of the information in a session of the House. While Laurier labeled the article as “premature and unauthorized”, Préfontaine was put under scrutiny even harder than Laurier, eventually buckling and releasing a statement to the fellow house members.

“The matter of the naval reserve is under consideration. It is being studied, just as the question of the militia reserve is being studied. I do not think that anything practical will be done in reference to this matter before next year. The two projects require a good deal of study as to the cost involved and how the whole scheme is to be carried out. Se, we have not considered yet whether we should buy old vessels or construct new ones. That is a question upon which information must be gathered, that we may establish the military service upon the best and most advantageous conditions.”

The most telling thing to come from Préfontaine’s statement was the fact that not once did he deny the initial claims put forward by the Globe. If the details remained to be worked out, the issue itself must have been already advanced to a point in which they would be ready to do so. The following report was made to the British War Office by Lord Dundonald, the commanding officer of the Canadian Militia.

“The militia department cannot get even the money needed for bare military requirements, and there is no prospect of it being able to get any more for naval purposes. There is no means in the department for dealing adequately with the question. Minister Borden both and I felt strongly that the authority which controlled the estuary of the St Lawrence (the Department of Marine and Fisheries) should also control the whole floating defense. The Militia department has, therefore, given up the idea of attempting to organize any kind of naval force. The new Minister of the Marine and Fisheries, Mr. Préfontaine is a powerful man, who is naturally bent on increasing the activity and influence of his department. He announced immediately after his appointment, when he sketched his intended policy that he proposed to take up the question of naval development. A small appropriation has apparently already been made to his department for such a developmental purpose, something along the lines of 25,000 pounds. I understand from the Commander of the Fisheries Enforcement Squadron that the Marine Department expects the Admiralty to be willing, when asked, to present them with a suitable training ship as a gift. Should a naval school be started here, I believe it to be important that the Admiralty should have some voice in its control. Overall, I also recommend that the officer commanding a potential Canadian naval force shall be an imperial officer appointed by the governor-general with the advisory of the Admiralty. “

The ending of the Alaska dispute in October of 1903 helped push Laurier and his party on the right course of action as well. With any Canadian claims being shot down and the Americans being awarded full control of Alaska and its panhandle, the Prime Minister had finally realized that Canada was on its own. The only possible answer to the lack of British help was increased autonomy. Canada had to quickly tighten its grip over any area in which the Americans could threaten, especially areas where the British were not keen on helping due to conflicting interests or lack of incentive. One of the most important places to do such a thing was the Fisheries protection service. After an Arctic expedition by the North-West Mounted Police in order to help cement Canadian holdings there, Laurier had finally come to the point where new fisheries cruisers would be needed. The last batch of cruisers including Petrel had become rather anemic as of late with civilian vessels, poachers and smugglers easily being able to outrun the old vessels at this point. With the decision announced by the Minister, Petrel and Acadia would be replaced as soon as possible and at least one of these two ships would be procured domestically. With the purchase underway, these ships would serve as much a functional role as they would a political statement towards the United States. Named Canada and Vigilant, this pair of ships would form a vital contingent later used to directly form this seemingly mystical “nucleus” of the Canadian Navy.

CGS Neptune is shown in winter quarters, Cape Fullerton, Hudson Bay, 1903 to 1904.​

 

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After some deliberation, it was decided that the pair of contracts for the new fisheries patrol ships would be awarded to Vickers, Sons & Maxim in the UK and Polson Iron Works Limited in Toronto. It was decided to source two separate designs as Vigilant being smaller would be more fitting for the inferior Canadian yard while playing to the operational theaters of both ships. Canada herself was envisioned as the open ocean-going Atlantic patrol ship, therefore needing to be more heavily armed, larger and faster than her generally lake dwelling sister ship. Both ships had the basic requirements of requiring a ram bow, steel construction, fairly high speed and a mixture of 3 pdr and automatic weapons for their main armament. As the 'fleet flagship', Canada was to be fitted with a top of the line Marconi wireless set, something incredibly uncommon for such a small ship. While the fact that Canada and Vigilant were built as much for the fisheries service as they were for a future naval force is rather evident with hindsight, commentators of the time were generally unaware of this secondary purpose. Both ships were generally classified as third-rate cruisers, largely stemming from the tradition of Royal Navy third rate cruisers to be used in overseas and local fisheries enforcement duties from time to time.

Supposed plans for CGS Vigilant, often credited as the first modern vessel of war built in Canada.
​

While the ships would not be completed for some time, the announcement of their procurement kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest. The British Submarine Boat Company almost immediately extended an offer to the Canadian government for an order of submarines. Laurier’s refusal of this offer was unfortunate but rather understandable, jumping the gun with military procurement before a navy was even established was too much of a risk. The reinforcement of the fact that these ships would be mainly uses for enforcement duties was something vital for the moment, largely not to spook the more French aspects of the Canadian government. The major hurdle coming up was largely the establishment of the Naval Militia which required basically all attention available. Discussion had fluidly swirled around the various establishments in Ottawa, largely stating their want for any training for reservists to be taught in both English and French and such training and general structure should be based off similar Royal Navy programs.

Ever the slow and cautious type, Laurier held off seriously bringing up any naval matters within the Senate or Parliament for the foreseeable future. While he was somewhat sure the support for the Militia was there, the polls for the coming election would be held soon and now would be the worst time for a blemish of any kind upon his image. This seemed to be a particularly wise decision as whenever reference was brought to the ‘naval project’ within the House of Commons over the various 1904 sessions, there was often disagreements about the spread of relevant information. On many separate occasions, both the opposition and Laurier’s party itself voiced their tentative support of naval action if they could be provided with additional details, something Laurier and Prefontaine were not ready to disclose. Members of the House pointed out that Laurier and his officials had spoke for a Canadian Navy/Naval Militia as far back as 1902 and at this point, they should have details to share. Backed into a corner, Prefontaine would eventually budget aside a fairly substantial sum of money from the Departmental treasury to help organize the militia however, members of the House would not allow him to spend such money without an official bill being passed.

CGS Canada shortly after commissioning into the Fisheries Protection Service, her similarities to other Victorian era warships is apparent.​

Prefontaine and Laurier were contempt with ignoring any other attempts at questioning at this point until one of the members of the opposition threatened to launch an official inquiry into the proposed naval militia. Recent scandals within other departments of the Canadian government had just finally been settled and further potential inquiries was the last thing Prefontaine or Laurier wanted at this point. With the election quickly approaching and the new pair of Fisheries cruisers still waiting final funding approval, Laurier finally ordered his ministers and fellow Liberals to drop the issue altogether. A public reaction to a naval militia bill could potentially be seen as a challenge to the authority of the Royal Navy, something Laurier wanted to mitigate in the upcoming election. Anything resembling defense turned out to be a nonissue during the 1904 election and Laurier happily returned to power with even more influence over his previous position. Prefontaine was similarly enthusiastic, having retained his position at his Department and having the funding for his pair of new patrol ships successfully pushed through Parliament.

1904 and 1905 would quickly develop into key periods for the Canadian government with the promotion of Jackie Fisher as the Royal Navy’s First Sea Lord. As far back as December of 1903, there was talks between the Admiralty and the Militia Minister during the Committee of Imperial Defense regarding the Canadian governments take over of the Esquimalt and Halifax Royal Navy dockyards. The Royal Navy had been recently working to minimize their “unnecessary” overseas bases in order to help consolidate resources in more vital areas and save money, Esquimalt was one of the bases that had been slowly been whittled down while Halifax was still somewhat busy. The Minister of the Militia had expressed that Canada would likely be interested in these bases if the Admiralty did not need them, a gamble he took without Laurier’s express approval. Fishers ruthless culling of older second and third line warships that almost exclusively inhabited Canadian waters meant that the Canadian bases would not serve a valuable purpose to the Royal Navy any longer, especially in the chance of a conflict with the US. Fisher mainly wanted to concentrate assets around important worldwide choke points such as the Straits of Dover, the Suez Canal, Cape of Good Hope, Gibraltar and Singapore.

First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher alongside other important figures at the 1907 Naval Review.​

Official talks between the Admiralty and Canada were ongoing as of November 1904 and seeing this as a way to appease people and lay some foundation for potential naval development, Laurier jumped at the idea. It was confirmed in February 1905 that the Royal Navy commanding officer of Esquimalt would be retiring without replacement and the base itself would be vacated in March, also coming with that was the disbanding of the Pacific Squadron as a whole. As news of the closures and winding down of Royal Navy protection of both coasts begun circulating, the public was quite close to being outraged. Calls ranged from asking for Admiralty protection once again to defiantly pushing for a homegrown Canadian Navy, largely falling upon deaf ears. Luckily though by February of 1905, Canada had agreed to take over operation and upkeep of both bases as of July 1st, 1905. The fortifications of both areas would be manned by the Militia while the bases themselves would fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Agreements were met in which while Canada would assume full control of both bases and all of its infrastructure, the Royal Navy could still operate out of and use these bases within reason. While this deal was somewhat bittersweet, the opportunity to have two relative modern and well positioned bases with intact infrastructure was quite valuable. Surprisingly as well, the personnel required for the manning of the shore based defenses and garrisons was rather quickly found as the Militia received a flood of new volunteers and people wishing to transfer stations, although the financial strain on the Militia itself was later identified as a problem.

As both Canada and Vigilant came off the slips in June and September of 1904 and began their various sea trials, it seemed like Canada’s naval affairs was finally beginning to be successfully worked out. With talks of Canada embarking on a trial winter cruise in order to gauge interest in a naval militia, expectations throughout the various parties of the Government was rather high.

CGS Canada fitting out alongside HMS Sentinel, the true size of the miniature cruiser being evident even against it's rather tame brethren.​

 

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CGS Canada would arrive in Gaspé, Quebec on September 14, 1904 where she would undergo a rigorous period of inspections and testing by Commander Spain, the professional head of the Fisheries Protection Service. During a two week stay, Spain put Canada through her paces with various sea trials, firing exercises and maneuvers off the coast. Generally satisfied with his most modern ship, Canada attended an official ceremony in Quebec City on September 29 to celebrate her arrival in Canada. Minister Prefontaine would be present and in typical fashion, enjoyed himself quite a bit through the whole pomp of the ceremony. Such frivolous occasions would not last forever and while Canada was being fitted with her top of the line Marconi wireless set in Halifax, the Department began an experiment.

CGS Canada with flags dressed in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1906.​

As was seen with the Newfoundland naval reserves, the Winter season was generally the most lucrative period to try and acquire valuable personnel. With fishermen generally being unemployed and looking for work, the call of an escape to the West Indies and reliable pay for even a short period was quite an appealing prospect. Spain, Laurier and Prefontaine looked to capitalize on this fact and throughout the fall months of 1904, an extensive media campaign was conducted to try to drum up volunteers and gauge interest for yearly winter maneuvers and the general thoughts of the average men about being naval reservists.

This endeavor would prove to be an initial success at least when in January of 1905, Canada departed Halifax with a full crew of recruits, reaching Bermuda sometime later. The cruise was almost immediately off to a rocky start given the fact that both the West Indies and North American squadrons were undergoing major changes, meaning they had little direction on the composition of their own fleets, let alone working a foreign ship into the fray. It work turn out that Canada would sadly never actually operate with the Royal Navy squadrons present in the area, largely due to Royal Navy officers being unable to legally control the Canadians and the fact that their untrained nature made them a potential liability during fleet maneuvers. While this was off-putting initially to all hands, the Commander of Canada took this situation and turned it into a learning experience. Canada shadowed her larger and more experienced Royal Navy counterparts from a safe distance, observing and attempting to gleam valuable information from their day to day operations. Even with their lack of direct experience with strictly naval matters, the largely fishermen-based volunteers showed fairly good seamanship as to be expected and adapted quickly to life on the ship.

Crew members of CGS Canada undergoing rifle drills on deck, note the tropical white naval style uniforms.​

Discipline was somewhat stricter than they were used to as almost naval levels of discipline were upheld alongside mandatory uniforms however, some of the perks for these people clearly outweighed the cons. Being able to escape the cold North Atlantic in the dead of winter while being able to ‘play’ with some of the most modern weaponry and technology was eye opening to a large amount of the sailors and general interest was very high. Canada spent three months total in the West Indies, making her way around the area and making ports of call. As semi-official Canadian ambassadors, Canada participated in many deliveries of salutes to other warships and foreign dignitaries. Canada met with both a Dutch and Italian gunboat present in the area alongside various British warships, each time paying compliments to each other and exchanging crews briefly for tours. This is one of the first instances in history that Canada as a nation had conducted itself on the international stage alongside it’s seniors in a naval sense. As for the training itself, there was little that was not addressed. Drills on deck with cutlasses, live fire small arms training, communication using the new Marconi wireless set, semaphore drills, naval signal flag exercises and the general favorite among the crew, live fire drills with the 1 pdr automatic cannons against various targets. These live fire drills were singled out multiple times as being extremely successful, the sailors showing very high proficiency with the platform.

Crew of CGS Canada prepare for a 1 pdr live fire drill. ​

As Canada returned from her short stint in more tropical waters, the attitudes among the volunteers was very positive and quite receptive. Many expressed enjoyments and pressed for future trips in a similar vein, something not lost on the powers that be. Commander Spain would later say on the matter;

“According to the minister’s idea, this was proposed to be the beginning of naval militia. On the return from her instructional cruise, the men who had already been sufficiently trained were distributed among the other ships, fresh men were taken on and further instruction would continue. The material that we have in the Canadian naval militia is probably the best in the world.”

While as an experiment the cruise itself was a complete success all things considered and the overall conditions surrounding the rapidly growing ideas for a naval militia were fairly well received, Prefontaine himself would be at its center. As the transfers of both Halifax and Esquimalt bases were ongoing, Prefontaine himself had became slightly enraptured with what he saw as ‘his’ fleet. His ego was incredibly swelled by his initial tour aboard Canada herself after her West Indies sail, being received aboard by an honor guard and sent off with a full salute of the ships armament as he left. His comments about the state of the ship and her crew were quite positive. While the opposition within the House would attempt to disparage him and his efforts by referring to the Fisheries Protection Fleet as “Prefontaine’s Navy”, this seemed to only harden the ministers resolve. Canada’s winter cruise was exhaustively well addressed within the 1905 Departmental annual report and Prefontaine himself would go out on a limb and even state that “few, if any, of the works undertaken by the present administration of the dominion promise to be of greater national importance than the organization of the naval militia.”

While CGS Canada herself seems somewhat camera shy, the size of her crew members on the bow helps show how diminutive she truly was.​

As both Laurier and Prefontaine himself planned for his late winter of 1905 trip to the United Kingdom, this would unknowingly toss multiple wrenches into Canadian naval planning for some time to come. Prefontaine always has had a tendency to make slips of the tongue in non-opportune times due to his pride and boastful nature however, Laurier was prepared to pay special attention to try and address this before letting the Minister free on Europe.

 

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As Prefontaine’s planned trip to Europe quickly approached, Laurier was overtaken by incredible bouts of anxiety. Prefontaine was a man who very often got results but on the other hand, his gung-ho nature tended to shoot a bit above his pay grade so to speak. Laurier was well aware of the damage that could occur with attempting changes without caution and Prefontaine did not have an ounce of caution in his body. The trip itself was equal parts private matters and government negotiations, causing Laurier to sink his ever-cautious feelers into the exact subject matter of any kind of discussions with the Admiralty. Laurier was well aware that this excursion could potentially have immensely far reaching effects on the fate of not only the planned Naval Militia and hopeful dream of a national Navy, but also the inner workings of the Fisheries Department itself. When Prefontaine was presented with Laurier’s list of approved topics, his heart sunk in his chest. While the list did include a probe about setting up a naval academy, the remainder of the subject matter consisted of relatively mundane Fisheries matters.

If Laurier had expressed to Prefontaine to proceed with care, the media within Canada seemed to be working overtime to undo such efforts. The Canadian Military Gazette (largely viewed as the official voice of the Militia) would publish a statement reading, “Prefontaine is the most active and progressive minister who has the goal of gathering information to aid him in establishing a germ which will hopefully grow into a Canadian Navy. Those who know him intimately are authority for the statement that he is very much in earnest with his naval militia scheme.” Prefontaine himself added further fuel to the fire when he addressed the Canadian press prior to his trip with the following,

“The object of my visit is primarily to make a study of the best mode to be adopted for the organization of our marine department as a nucleus for a naval reserve. The dominion government to-day owns about forty vessels employed in harbor and channel improvement service and in fishery protection duties. Two of these, the Vigilant and the Canada, might be described as third-class cruisers, and one of them, the Canada, carries a cannon. We are now face to face with a serious difficulty, the scarcity of proper officers and sailors. The dominion government employs about 1,000 officers and men. Some of the former have been in the British Navy. We hope to adopt some system of naval training on the lines of the military school at Kingston. It might be possible to add to the college curriculum some courses on marine subjects, thus enabling cadets there to make a choice between a naval and a military career.”

Prefontaine earlier in his political career and with a bit more hair to his name, his signature mustache readily apparent.​

The Winnipeg Free Press decided to stop stoking the controversy and poured fuel oil directly onto the fire. Their editor was somehow approved to write a sprawling headline along the lines of “This trip to Britain will herald a new stage in the constitutional development of the dominion as a whole. Canada is taking over the entire responsibility of her own defense; in modernizing her militia system; in making a start in the establishment of a Canadian Navy, makes it very clear that she intends to be a factor in the future in the world politics in alliance with the mother-land. But it will be an alliance, not a merger.”

These press reports had succeeded in both bolstering Prefontaine and shaking the rest of the Canadian political system. The recently promoted Governor General of Canada, Albert Grey, went as far to query Laurier personally regarding the legitimacy of these reports. While Laurier was truthful in the fact that these reports were unsubstantiated, his comments that Prefontaine was only going to Europe for ‘private matters’ was purely a lie. Laurier was well aware that Prefontaine was not departing simply for private matters however between his lack of accompaniment from relevant figures within the Canadian naval movement for support and constant prodding from Laurier to stay his hand, Laurier prayed that nothing would come of this trip. Any notion of such things vanished as soon as Prefontaine arrived in Britain.

Political caricature of Minister Prefontaine later in his career. ​

His first cable to Laurier asked if Commander Spain of the Fisheries Service could be chartered to Britain as soon as possible, as Prefontaine required his presence to ‘secure information relating to a naval reserve organization’. Laurier was mortified, rapidly returning the cable with a message explaining his situation. Commander Spain was acting as Ottawa’s main wreck commissioner alongside his many other duties, meaning he could not leave the country. Laurier was blunt in his message, “No arrangement should be undertaken with the Admiralty unless previous consultation with us here.” Prefontaine himself seemed to have ignored Laurier and had went directly to the Admiralty. At a dinner party in London, Prefontaine explained the following to the Admiralty staff in attendance:

“As regards the navy we are as yet in our infancy, we are just beginning the task and I happen to be in London as your guest tonight because my government has thought that we should establish in Canada a naval reserve or some kind of organization. Little by little we will come to form a part of a great British navy and be a power in defending the empire wherever and whenever the occasion may arise. It is gratifying to me, as a Canadian, to be able to say that, when I am called upon in Canada, as minister of marine to present a report upon my mission in London. I shall be able to acknowledge how nicely, how loyally and how splendidly, I have been received at the Admiralty by the authorities of the late government, and how well disposed are the representatives of the new government towards Canada. If the arrangements are carried out as they are proposed, there can be no question as to the result and I can tell my fellow citizens of all the other colonies that, as regards a naval reserve and the organization of the navy, Canada will do it’s duty to the Empire.”

Once news of Prefontaine’s actions had reached Laurier, he immediately began firing off cables as fast as possible to try and slow his rogue minister. Warning his minister that negotiations without approval from Ottawa will likely remain open and lead to nothing but hurt feelings and disappointment. Prefontaine was confused by Laurier’s attitude on this situation, in his mind, Prefontaine had thought he was doing vital and ground-breaking work. Canada’s ongoing acquisition of both Esquimalt and Halifax alongside the Admiralty's willingness to provide information and assistance in the organization of a naval militia had steeled Prefontaine’s resolve. The Minister would cable Laurier stating, “There is no reason to fear complications through the good work that has been done by Strathcona and myself.”

Laurier never would hear from Prefontaine again as on Christmas Day of 1905, he suffered a serious angina and would pass suddenly in his sleep while visiting acquaintances in Paris. While it can be argued either way what Prefontaine’s trip did and could have achieved for the best or for the worst, Canada was suddenly robbed of arguably it’s most important and hard-working advocate for naval development. His death would not the end of the idea for a naval militia or a Canadian Navy however, his forward thinking and passion for action was one of the best dichotomies to Laurier and his over-cautiousness at times. Prefontaine’s successor while somewhat swiftly appointed, would eventually bring the fallen ministers dream into a reality.

Montreal funeral procession for Minister Prefontaine (right) and funeral service, attended to by both sailors and soldiers (left), January 25, 1906. Citizens of Montreal idolized their former major as throughout his time in the position, he had heavily modernized and improved almost all avenues of the inhabitants lives.​

 

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https://imgur.com/a/pCNlNum

Please enjoy the gallery!​

 

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From the very beginning, Laurier had always desired to have a reliable French politician as his Fisheries Minister. Among many other things, this would allow him to have a much more palatable and respected figure to place in front of the average French citizen, especially once heavily contested bills would be placed up to bat. Prefontaine’s successor did not have any relevant maritime experience however, his political pedigree was rather extensive. Louis-Phillipe Brodeur had served as a successful lawyer in Montreal before becoming a representative within the House of Commons since 1891. He had served as a staff member with three Liberal leaning French newspapers before being promoted to the Deputy Speaker of the House, an official member of the Crowns legal council before finally becoming the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons. This was all accentuated by his firm and consistent support of Laurier and his family roots, tracing back to service in the Lower Canadian Rebellion and heavy involvement in early French politics.

A painting of Louis-Phillipe Brodeur in 1901.
​

Laurier had a great deal of respect for Brodeur, apparently giving him the nickname of ‘mon sage’. Unlike many of the political appointees of old, Brodeur was not simply seen as filling a position, he spent his life furthering a career and this was yet another one of his steps towards the top. After Prefontaine especially, the amount of power and influence that was associated with the position was not lost on Brodeur, although unlike his predecessor, his ego was almost non-existent. His promotion was announced in the 1906 Canadian Annual Review to much applause from both his fellow politicians and the general public. Brodeur’s seat as the Minister of Inland Revenue was made empty and quickly filled by William Templeman, one of the founding members of the Victoria Navy League. Stacking of the political deck aside, Brodeur would soon realize the absolute mess left in the wake of the previous Minister.

On January 22, 1906, the 77m long passenger steamer SS Valencia found herself off the treacherous coast of British Columbia in both low visibility and high wind conditions. The rapidly worsening weather pushed the ship further and further towards the rocky shores and without proper visibility, her dead reckoning brought her directly onto a reef. While her Captain had succeeded in a second attempt to beach to ship, she was stuck roughly 100m offshore with horrid weather and incredibly dangerous reefs surrounding her. After the generally mismanaged escape from the ship, only 37 of the 173 original crew and passengers survived. Due to the high loss of life of an American ship in Canadian waters, both nations launched high profile inquiries into the incident. It was eventually decided by the Canadian inquiry that Marconi wireless stations and additional lighthouses could have prevented the issue, something members of the Conservative opposition latched onto. According to them, Prefontaine’s personal bias towards Quebec and the East Coast had deprived other areas within the country of valuable nautical safety infrastructure. This was only exaggerated by recent issues brought up regarding spending on the 1904/1905 Arctic expedition undertaken by Joseph Bernier. While this journey to the Arctic had demonstrated ‘Canadian sovereignty’ over the area, a political mud slinging match soon came to light over how the ships stores were “not sourced in a competitive and fair manner.”

Survivors of Valencia coming aboard City of Topeka (left) and the wreck of Valencia barely visibly over the waves, note the white caps around the shore and rocks (right).​

With a full plate for much of his beginning as the Minister, Brodeur was held away from any potential naval matters that could have came through at this time. As this was going on behind the scenes, Laurier himself continued his working towards the future naval service, regardless of if he was aware of his actions or not. As is customary when a prominent member of state passes away overseas, Prefontaine’s body was returned to his country of origin via warship. Even though he passed in France, the Royal Navy took up the duty of returning the body with the assignment of HMS Dominion. Not content with assigning the most recent battleship named after Canada, her commanding officer was Captain Charles Edmund Kingsmill. Born east of Kitchener Ontario, Kingsmill was a rare breed within the Royal Navy, a Canadian born and educated officer with significant experience under his belt. Upon the arrival of Dominion and Kingsmill in January of 1906, Laurier surprised all around him with his actions. The Prime Minister had always been cold and somewhat distant towards military officers however, he seemed to be completely different with Kingsmill.

Kingsmill and his wife (a Canadian resident) met with Laurier and immediately started a friendly relationship. After Laurier loaned Kingsmill various valuable photographs for his personal collection, the Prime Minister was invited to dine with Kingsmill and his officers aboard Dominion. Laurier happily accepted the chance to “dine upon his fair vessel of war” and a friendship was born. It is not known if this was a friendship of political motivations or one of genuine emotions however upon closer examination, either could be true. Kingsmill was a relatively high-ranking Royal Navy officer with a stellar career, seeming to also lack a large amount of the stuffiness and upper-class British ‘sensibilities’ that often caused them to look down upon mere colonials. It also transpired that Kingsmill’s uncle was a loyal Liberal and an executive member of the local Navy League. More importantly though, he was a prominent Toronto lawyer who seems to have had personal business dealings with Laurier in the past. If the time came for a future officer to lead any Canadian naval initiatives, Kingsmill was definitely high on the list.

Battleship HMS Dominion being hit by some waves and spray, 1909. ​

In August of 1906, Dominion had been assigned to patrol around the North Atlantic Station to increase goodwill with Canada when they received a message from Quebec City. The Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire had prepared a gift of a silverware set for the wardroom of the Dominion and invited the officers of the ship to Quebec City to accept the gift. The events which would conspire in this short time would change the course of Canadian naval development forever.

 

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August 16, 1906. Chaleur Bay, Canada.

As the gently undulating surf lapped against the hull beneath his feet, Captain Charles Kingsmill stifled a deep yawn. Over 36 years of service had hardened him against early mornings but even so, a day starting at 4 am tends to drag on and on. At her helm, he had sailed Dominion up through the Restigouche River and anchored off Dalhousie around 10am, attending to various duties throughout the day. With the sun now hanging low in the sky, Kingsmill squinted his eyes slightly to make out the orange silhouetted view of steamers and pleasure craft, scuttling about in preparation for the oncoming dusk. Maneuvering from the upper superstructure to the chart room, Kingsmill found his navigating officer standing over the chart table.

Lieutenant Basil Noake's familiar face looked up at him, “Good evening Captain, preparing the charts now.”

“I would prefer we get underway with due haste Lieutenant." Kingsmill stated as he strolled around the opposite side of the table, "I take it you are aware of how rare this clear weather is along the St. Lawrence?”

“Quite.” He answered, “With the inflow and the tide coming into the bay tonight, it would be advisable to proceed at a fairly high speed to both make fair time and successfully cut the tide.”

“Agreed.” Kingsmill said, running a finger around his mustache, “Say we plot a course at 15 knots, using the Belledune Light, Souris Point light and Paspebiac Light for markers. What is our estimated time of clearing the bay?”

Lieutenant Noake hunched over somewhat as he worked his slides across the charts, muttering to himself for a few choice moments, “Plotted roughly 3 miles southwest of Souris Point, we should arrive in the area off the point at approximately 9 pm. At such a point, we should be clear of most potential obstacles and ready to proceed to Quebec City.”

“Excellent, finalize the course and I will return shortly.” Kingsmill straightened his cap and walked back out on deck. As he stepped foot on the bridge, the officer of the watch turned to face him.

“Weigh anchor Lieutenant, bring us around and inform the engine room I want 72 revolutions. Course is to follow. Once the course is relayed, I want 90 revolutions.”

With a curt “Aye sir”, Lieutenant Clarkson went about his duty. While the ship sprung to life, Kingsmill remained on the bridge, intermittently watching the bridge chronometer slowly tick along. After some time had passed and with the steady vibration of her massive engines beneath him, Kingsmill returned to the chart room.

“Sir, the current course consists of S.59 E. deviation 0, for a position 3 miles S.31 W. of Souris Point Light. I have checked the course using the cross bearings of Heron Island and Carlton Light to clear Heron Shoal, no deviation from the course being observed. Weather is keeping clear at this moment, is this satisfactory Captain?”

Kingsmill took a moment to examine the course in his head, he was no navigational genius however, experience allowed one to reliably pick out mistakes quite easily. Everything seemed correct and the Lieutenant had shown excellent navigational skills in the past.

“Very good Lieutenant, please relay the course to Lieutenant Clarkson and take your place on the bridge.” With a bustling bridge and the ship seemingly making good time, Kingsmill made his way towards the somewhat empty section of the upper bridge, stopping on the way to inspect the impeccably spotless uniform of a passing midshipmen. With the steady humming beneath his feet and a spectacular display of stars from above, the Captain took in relative silence. To think, his long career had finally brought him back to his homeland, captaining the vessel named after his Dominion since her commissioning, it was truly a fitting time. As time ebbed away, the Captain checked his pocket watch. Reading 7:40 pm, he descended the bridge to make final checks before attending his increasingly appealing dinner.

Lieutenant Clarkson was present on the main bridge, alternating his view sporadically from the ships compass to her current heading. Satisfied with the officers attentiveness, Kingsmill headed below. The prospect of relaxing even slightly was every bit as appealing as it sounded, especially as his bones creaked, lowering him into his chair. The steward served a meal of freshly cooked trout, roast beef, potatoes and brussel sprouts. As always, the perks of being a Captain shined through, especially in range of fresh port-side food stocks. Although he was interrupted periodically by the attentive midshipman of the watch reporting on heading updates, the meal was excellent and their course seemed steady. Much was made to enjoy it to the fullest possible extent, however by the end it was clear that the time to return to the bridge was rapidly approaching.

Beginning to reach for his overcoat, the Captain felt an unmistakable change in the ship itself, one that brought his heart into his throat. The sudden jar followed by a lurch to port signified not only a course change but an aggressive one, hard over, likely full rudder with engines in reverse. Scrambling to his feet and bolting up out of the cabin, the silver wear bouncing along the cabin floor punctuated his exit. Halfway up the aft bridge with cap still in hand, a trio of shudders echoed through the entire ship, threatening to throw the Captain to his feet. Time slowed to a crawl as he forced his way upwards, every step punctuating the long career rapidly flashing before his eyes.

Kingsmill called out “Status report!” almost as soon as he crested the opening to the bridge, coming face to face with Lieutenant Clarkson.

“Captain.” Clarkson stammered, “It appears we have put been put aground. Lieutenant Noake and his assistant have set out in boats to attain soundings. Watertight doors were closed almost immediately however, we are waiting on a damage report.”

Kingsmill swallowed hard, “Thank you Lieutenant, keep me posted.”

The mind of the Captain was racing back and forth, he knew the dreaded Board on Enquiry would get involved and would want their pound of flesh for a brand-new ship being grounded. Would this be the end of his career? All of the years of hard work, left to rot on a goddamn rock? No, he could not give into these thoughts, he had to act.

“Damage report is in sir, the grounding caused extensive damage to the double bottom, some of the stokehold plates are buckled and pushed upwards. Engineering reports slight gradual flooding within the double bottom however, it is completely manageable. Engineering spaces are otherwise fully workable.”

Letting out an inaudible sigh of relief, the Captain launched into action, “Let out the boats present on the booms to remove some weight, I want as much as the ships company mustered to the bow as possible, inform them to bring any easily transported belongings. Organize this personally, I will stay on the bridge.”

“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!”

Soon the band was set up forward of the ship, the crew began to funnel out on deck. Arranged in a loose congregation around the bow as directed, rumor did spread about the true point of the exercise, however that did little to tamper the spirit of the enlisted men as the band started their instruments. One of the traits that likely played into their grounding turned around to be a god send as between repeated reversing, shifting weight forward and the coming tide, Dominion was slowly eased off the shallow seabed at roughly 11 pm that night.

Luckily, the area were the ship grounded came back as being almost completely a soft bottom of gravel, sand and seashells, largely doing minor damage over a large area. It had been a stressful night for Kingsmill and the crew. As Dominion was safely anchored within a local inlet, Captain Kingsmill watched from the upper bridge as the crew below trounced back and forth across the deck, the raring composition of the band punctuating their joyful celebration. A wave of guilt took hold over the old salt, for those precious few seconds, he had thought of nothing besides his own career being at stake. As he watched these young men from above though, he remembered why he was a Captain. His responsibility was to this ship and its crew, all nearly 800 of these men. If the Admiralty wanted his head, so be it…..but these…….men…..his men would be spared a silver platter.

As the festivities began to die out, Kingsmill left the bridge. He would deal with this in the morning, there was many things that he could be described as but a young man was not one of them.

Charlies Kingsmill as a Commander, sometime between 1891 and 1898 (Left) and the Launch of HMS Dominion, August 25 1903 (Right).​

 

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Although Dominion had been grounded and damaged, it was decided to keep this issue hidden and continue to her destination in Quebec. After the gift of silver plates and associated dinner ware was handed over to Captain Kingsmill, Dominion would remain in Quebec for a period of two weeks to allow various visitations by Canadian citizens alongside many different presentations and events, hoping to spread some good will regarding naval elements. Kingsmill would again meet with Laurier and the Governor General Grey, no doubt speaking privately about a variety of issues. Surely, Laurier’s public speech at the event spoke for itself, “It was Canada's mission to develop her own resources and strength as an integral position of the Empire, instead of wasting them in the unnecessary preparations for war; though should occasion call for it, I am sure that Canada would do her duty to the Empire.”

During this time, extended work was undertaken to improve the below decks damage and document the cause, Captain Kingsmill often would stay aboard his ship for days, attempting to finalize the narrative of the incident. Sailing to Bermuda, Dominion was trapped at sea in a hurricane. Even with her damage, Kingsmill expertly maneuvered her through the storm with minimal problem and arrived in Bermuda on September 10. After returning to Britain, Dominion was placed in Chatham Dockyard for repairs to her bottom. Originally, only Kingsmill and Lieutenant Noake were to be tried however upon the interjection of First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher, the Officer of the Watch was to be tried alongside them as well for the charge of “grave neglect of duty”.

Map showing the intended and actual routes undertaken by Dominion and the exact location of the grounding.​

During the Court Martial itself, Commodore Frederick G. Stopford delivered the summarized events of the incident:

“I have the honour to report the circumstances attending the stranding of H.M.S. Dominion off Souris Point, Chaleur Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the 16th August 1906, with a view to the trial by Court Martial of Captain Charles Edmund Kingsmill, Lieutenant (N) Basil Stratford Noake, and, Lieutenant Frederic William Clarkson, of that ship. H.M.S. Dominion left Dalhousie, Chaleur Bay, at 6.5 p.m. on Thursday 16th August 1906, course as requisite for leaving harbour, engines at 72 revolutions. After clearing the harbour, course was shaped S.59 E., Deviation 0, for a position 3 miles S.31 W, of Souris Point Light; at 6.55 p.m., the position of the ship was fixed by cross bearings. At 8.20 p.m., the Navigating Officer (Lieutenant Basil Stratford Noake) observed a light on the Port Bow which he assumed to be Souris Point Light, whereas in reality it was a brush fire. At 8.30 p.m., the bearing of the light was N.E. by E. At 8.40 a cast of the lead was taken, and 16 fathoms obtained, and instructions were given to sound continuously till further orders. At about the same time a fixed white light was observed on a bearing S.85 E, which was taken for Paspebiac Light and at the same time the supposed Souris Point Light bore N.31 E, which corresponded with the soundings taken. The Navigating Officer, after checking his supposed position, went to the Upper Bridge and observed a fixed white light which was being passed very rapidly. This he mistook for a Steamer’s Masthead Light, whereas it was actually Souris Point Light which had already been mistaken for Paspebiac Light. The Navigating Officer not having a second cast of the lead reported to him, then went down to the Starboard Sounding Machine and noticed the bottom had been obtained with 3.5 fathoms of wire out. He immediately, with the Officer of the Watch, Lieutenant Frederic William Clarkson, gave the order hard-a-port, stopped and reversed both engines. A few seconds later the ship was felt to strike. It would appear the no allowance was made for the in-draught into Cascapediac Bay in laying down the course to pass three miles South of Souris Point Light, whereas as Article 9 Page 14 of “Notes bearing on the Navigation of R.N. Ships” clearly states that:- “In navigating coasts where the tidal range is considerable, caution is always necessary. It should be remembered that there are in-draughts to all bays and bights, although the general run of the stream may be parallel to the shore”. This in-draught took the ship so much off her course as to cause her to strike as detailed above. It also appears that although the ship was in such close proximity to the land both the Captain and the Navigating Officer were off deck during a great portion of the time between 7 p.m. and 8.55 p.m. when the ship took the ground.”

While all of these events were indeed correct and were not argued by Kingsmill or his Lieutenants, the justification and conduct of the officer themselves was presented differently. Captain Kingsmill would present the following points personally:

• That all the usual precautions for safe navigation in the vicinity of land were observed.
  
• That when the position was fixed off Heron Island, the course, (S.59.E), to pass 3 miles south of Souris Point, was shaped after careful consideration of all the circumstances, and the distance off the Point was considered a safe one.
  
• That the forest fire, mistaken for Souris Point Light, and the smoke from it which blew over the real Souris Light, dimming the brilliancy of the light, masking the land, and completely obscuring Paspebiac Light were the immediate causes of the grounding.
  
• (a). That the Navigating Officer took cross bearings of the lights, supposing them to be Souris and Paspebiac, sounding at the same time to verify, and that the results confirmed his conviction that the ship was approaching S P on her lain as laid on the Chart.
  
• (b). That the stream of smoke was purely local, being blown by a light N.W.ly breeze across the light and the land in its vicinity.
  
• (c.). That had the wind been in any other direction the smoke would either have been clear of the lights, under which circumstances the accident could not have occurred, or the ship would have run into the smoke, in which case steps would have been taken to meet the altered conditions.
  
• (d). 15 knots was the speed ordered because it was desirable to take advantage of the clear weather, as the St. Lawrence is much subject to fog. Under the favourable conditions of weather this speed was not excessive for a ship of the “Dominion” class, moreover the higher the speed of the ship the less the effect of any set of current across the course.

After raising these general points, Kingsmill delivered his defense. Firstly, he raised the point that the course laid out by the navigating officer was a safe one under the prevailing conditions at hand. Secondly, he argued that contrary to the claim of the prosecuting party that no allowance had been made for the tides, the course put into motion gave the ship an effective clearance of over two nautical miles while the provided charts and relevant information available reinforced the safety of their chosen route. Although a minor point, Kingsmill disagreed with the definition of the waters in question as a 'bight' and therefore argued that the “Notes on Navigation” relating to this point had no bearing on the situation, therefore were not relevant as evidence to be raised against him. At this point, Captain Kingsmill took time to list various steps of caution taken by the bridge crew and attempted to argue that the cause of the grounding was due to the smoke of the onshore fire that denied them the key navigation elements. Details were also provided relating to the professional conduct and performance of the crew during and after the grounding. The ship under his command had managed to bring itself off the shoal rather quickly and with minimal damage, impeccable performance in a stressful situation. One of the most important points though, Kingsmill defending his absence from the bridge. As he explained, he possessed the upmost confidence in both of his Lieutenants before he left alongside the fact that he had been awake since 4 am and had not eaten yet that evening. Even then, he was only absent from the bridge for roughly 25 minutes and was in the process of returning to the bridge when the event occurred.

Commemorative coin for the launch of HMS Dominion.
​

Following this, Kingsmill submitted his recollection of the events:

“I propose to swear to the truth of the statement I read, and I have got here an epitome of my evidence. On the 16th August 1906, I weighed from Port Daniel at 4.45 a.m. and proceeded up the Restigouche to Dalhousie, where I anchored at about 9.50 a.m. I remained there until 6.5 p.m. and left there after consulting the Navigating Officer as to whether we should proceed out of the Bay that night. We came to the conclusion that we should do so on account of the very fine weather which was prevailing and taking into consideration the liability to fog in the St. Lawrence, we proceeded. I gave orders to proceed to 72 revolutions as soon as the ship was turned and told them in the engine room to work up to 90 revolutions. At about 6.30 p.m. we shaped our course, the ship then going 90 revolutions. They reported 90 revolutions almost immediately after that from the engine room. The course was laid down in my presence by the Navigating Officer, and we discussed what indraught we were likely to get, or what tide we were likely to get against us, and a course was laid to pass three miles S. and something W. of Souris Point light. I remained on the bridge, I think on the upper bridge, until after 7 p.m. when I went down with the Navigator to the charthouse and there looked over the chart again with his last fix, which was taken at 6.55 p.m. I remained in the charthouse looking over the sailing direction then for some time – how long I do not know, but I know that I remained on the bridge or in the charthouse until 7.45 p.m. with the exception of perhaps five minutes when I went below to change a coat. I personally noticed the officer of the watch, and found that he was paying strict attention to his course, and I know the officer of the watch as being an officer who done nothing else particularly on the bridge except pay attention to his course. He has not been brought up in our service, but had a Royal Naval Reserve bringing up, and he paid strict attention to his course, and I thought at the time that that was all right. At 7.45 I had a final look round and went down to my dinner. At 8 o’clock the midshipman of the watch came down and gave me the Navigating Officer’s 8 o’clock position and reported 8 o’clock. I was then at my dinner. I told him I wished to know as soon as Souris Light was sighted, and at 8.30 Mr. Spurgin, midshipman of the watch came down and reported Souris light bearing N.E. by E. At about 8.45 Mr. Spurgin came down again and reported Paspebiac light bearing S.85 E. which appeared to me about right. I just finished my dinner and was getting ready to go on deck, but I had not really left the table when I felt the jar which I always feel when the ship is in shoal water and the helm goes over. I rushed on deck and felt the ship ground as I was on the fore and aft bridge. When I arrived on the bridge the ship had stopped, and I found her enveloped in a dense fog.”

The court would eventually come to the finding that Captain Kingsmill and Lieutenant Noake were both guilty of negligence and were sentenced to a “severe reprimand”. Somewhat confusingly, the Officer of the Watch was found innocent of all charges and released. Although Kingsmill was convinced, it seems that everything possible was done to spare his career and finances from ruin. The court did not dismiss either person from Dominion while a large amount of the blame was placed on the shoulders of Lieutenant Noake. Kingsmill and Noake were not cross examined by the Prosecutor, forcing the court to undertake it. Kingsmill was allowed to remain in command of Dominion as she was repaired, being transferred to the older battleship HMS Repulse once she came out of drydock. This meant he was not placed on half pay and dodged a financial bullet. It should be noted though that the Sea Lords of the Admiralty seemed to have some kind of personal crusade to further punish the Captain.

While the Board confirmed their sentences, the Fourth Sea Lord Admiral Winsloe was very critical of the sentence itself and believed both officers should be dismissed from Dominion. Second Sea Lord Admiral Drury and First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher both agreed with this however, this action was not particularly warranted under regulations and would have turned this event into a witch hunt, so additional charges were dropped. Even with this all taken into consideration, it was clear that Kingsmill’s career within the Royal Navy was essentially stonewalled. He would likely be promoted to Rear Admiral upon retirement and that would be that. Taking a short leave absence, Kingsmill would request to have an interview with Prime Minister Laurier while he was in Britain for the 1907 Colonial Conference. With his previously favorable relationship with Laurier, it seems Kingsmill wanted to ensure Laurier that his professional ability and standing with the Admiralty was not tarnished. Laurier would invite Kingsmill and his wife to a dinner and while it is not known what was discussed, it was obvious that Kingsmill retained a high amount of confidence from Laurier.

Royal Navy Battleships Royal Sovereign, Empress of India, Repulse and Resolution sailing in a line formation, date unknown.​

Roughly one year later in the beginning of May 1908, the Canadian Governor General Earl Grey would inform First Lord of the Admiralty Tweedmouth, that Ottawa requested Captain Kingsmill in order to have an experienced naval officer to take over command of the Canadian Marine Service. Only two weeks the newly promoted Rear Admiral would leave HMS Repulse, retire from the Royal Navy and make his way to Canada to hopefully reinvigorate his career. Minister Brodeur would write a letter to Kingsmill during this period, welcoming him into their ‘fold’.

“For a long time I have cherished the hope of seeing a Canadian, possessing the necessary qualifications, acquired in the English Navy, take the command of our little Canadian fleet. I had naturally cast my eye on you in Quebec two years ago. Mrs Kingsmill, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at my house, one day gave me to understand that you would probably return to Canada, but I thought that was only the natural hope of a wife separated from her husband most of the time, and anxious to see him return home. I am authorized by Governor in Council to offer you command of Canadian Marine Service.”

Note, the above labeled map and text excerpts were obtained from "A Most Fortunate Court Martial: The Trial of Captain Charles Kingsmill, 1907" by Robert L. Davison and many thanks are given to him and his extremely helpful resource.

 

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Once Minister Brodeur had finished essentially cleaning up the mess of his predecessor, he could finally move towards a naval solution or more accurately to start with, a general status report. With the Halifax and Esquimalt transfer still simmering and the 1907 Conference quickly approaching, the politicians needed something to discuss once they arrived in Britain. Besides some questionable useful talks with local naval leagues once again, Brodeur spent a large portion of his time trawling through government records in order to find any reference to previously accomplished works. To his surprise though, there was little recorded besides Commander Spain’s very detailed exploits of CGS Canada alongside some comments regarding the previously proposed Naval Militia Bill back in 1904. Limited communication was made with British Navy League members in London however, their steadfast idea of “one sea, one navy” was rather unhelpful. As the 1907 Colonial Conference came around, Brodeur essentially had nothing concrete information wise to bring with him, even though the Conference itself was predicted to heavily contain talks about imperial defense.

Regardless of that, three men were going to arrive in Britain to represent Canada. Prime Minister Laurier alongside Minister Brodeur and Minister Frederick Borden all departed but not without some apprehensiveness from Laurier about making the trip in the first place. While they had definitely made moves towards their vague goal of some kind of a naval force, Laurier essentially had nothing to show his fellow politicians. Laurier and Brodeur distrusted the Admiralty to a point, it was obvious that the good will they imparted with the transfer of the Canadian dockyards would be requested to be paid back, likely in the form of monetary assistance. In the end though, it would be the Australians to attempt to make the most development. Before the conference even started, New Zealand and Australia both requested the issues of increased funds be given to the Empire or the potential for separate local squadrons to be setup. Fisher was actually rather onboard with this idea and Prime Minister Deakin announced the Australian governments plan to build 4 torpedo boats and 8 destroyers over a 6-year period in 1906.

Important members of state posing for a photo at the 1907 Colonial Conference in London. Prime Ministers Laurier, Ward and Deakin are present in the front row, third, second and fifth from the left respectively. Winston Churchill, Minister Brodeur and Prime Minister Bond of Newfoundland are present in the second row, first, sixth and seventh respectively. Frederick Borden is present back row, furthest right.
​

Under this understanding, Deakin arrived with his delegation to London alongside his comrades. Ironically enough though, the issue of imperial defense had lost large amounts of its momentum. While it was indeed still a prevalent concern, the Admiralty had already accepted the fact that this issue rarely produced any results and was not willing to heavily push it at yet another conference. There was talks in general about homogenizing equipment, training, ranks, organization, etc however as the Dominions were already heavily based off their British counterparts, this was less of an issue and more of a reminder. Once the naval question was finally addressed, it seems the Admiralty had a much gentler hand. Lord Tweedmouth opened the address as such:

“I feel it a high privilege to sit at this table with the prime ministers of the self-governing dominions of the king beyond the seas. We welcome you, and we ask you to take some leading part in making us more complete than it is at present the naval defense of the empire. We want you to give us all the assistance you can, but we do not come to you as beggars; we gladly take all that you can give us, but at the same time, if you are not inclined to give us that help that we hope to have from you, we acknowledge our absolute obligation to defend the kings dominions across the seas to the best of our abilities.”

This was a rather nice opening, but it was rather quickly soured by the addendum. This defense provided by the Admiralty would require them to retain clear control of all fleets and units across the world, the old “one sea, one navy” mantra once again. Tweedmouth would continue to flop somewhat however, his next proposal was much more interesting to those in attendance.

“We are quite ready to enter into any arrangements with the colonies that may seem most suitable to them, and which may seem to bring advantage to the navy, and advantage to the colonies themselves. His majesties government recognizes the natural desire of the self-governing colonies to have a more particular share in providing the naval defense force of the empire, and so long as the condition of unity of command and direction of the fleet is maintained, they are ready to consider a modification of the existing arrangements to meet the views of the various colonies. In the opinion of the government, it would be of great assistance if the colonial governments would undertake to provide for local services in the imperial squadrons the smaller vessels that are useful for defense against possible raids or for co-operation with larger squadrons. Assistance could also be provided by equipping and maintaining docks and fitting establishments which can be used by his majesties ships.”

After shortly continuing about increased co-operation and how the Admiralty was completely willing to tailor each dominions arrangements to better fit each of their unique scenarios, Tweedmouth would continue.

“I understand that, in Australia particularly and in South Africa, it is desired to start some naval service of your own. Perhaps I might suggest that if the provision of the smaller craft which are necessarily incident to the work of a great fleet of modern battleships could be made locally, it would be a very great help to the general work of the navy. You cannot take the small craft such as torpedo boats and submarines across the ocean, and for warships to arrive in any of the dominions and find ready to their hand well trained men in good vessels of this kind, would be an enormous advantage to them. There is, I think, the further advantage in these small flotillas, they will be an admirable means of coastal defense; that you will be able by the use of them to avoid practically all danger from any sudden raid which might be made by a cruising squadron. Above all things in this work of flotilla defense, the submarine is probably the most important and effective weapon. I am assured by my advisers at the Admiralty that it is a most important weapon that has already reached considerable development upon which we may rely with great confidence.”

Laurier and his team were rather taken aback by the Admiralty’s new stance and with Tweedmouth pivoting to give the speakers position over to Laurier as the senior dominion speaker, Laurier deflected this duty to Australia and New Zealand as they had proposed previous resolutions before the conference. Both parties were positive about the Admiralty address however, Laurier would eventually turn down speaking and allow Minister Brodeur to take the stand. He stated,

“It will not be necessary for me to state the position which Canada intends to take in regard to this question of naval defense because our situation is a different one to that of the other colonies, and should be treated as such.”

Brodeur would go onto make a very relevant point, largely aimed at silencing critics of Canadian contributions or therefore lack of. After underlining the fact that the British Fisheries Protection service fell under Britain’s naval expenditure, Brodeur argued that Canada should be viewed as similar. Therefore, Canada’s major investment by the Fisheries Service into the establishment and upkeep of the Halifax/Esquimalt naval bases, all wireless stations along the coasts and doing hydrographic work was a major contribution. Attention was also brought to CGS Canada and her successful nature as an enforcement and naval training ship alongside the plan to procure another similar ship for service on the Pacific coast. This was generally agreed upon and the naval issue was sidelined for future negotiating, largely in private with each party. The Australian idea to have a local squadron quickly foundered when the Admiralty stated that such a squadron would be a part of the Royal Navy and a colony having political sway over a portion of the Royal Navy was unacceptable, likewise the Australians simply handing their ships and crews over to the Admiralty whole sale was political suicide. The private exchange with the Canadian delegation was never recorded however, it was much more positive with Tweedmouth acknowledging the work of the Fisheries Service alongside Canadian “willingness to assist in future ventures”.

The conference would therefore end on a strange note. The Australian grab for independence was for the moment squashed while the Canadians were finally thought of as something besides misers, at least by some. Laurier had attempted to propose the “All Red Route” with fast steamships able to move between the Dominions, armed as merchant cruisers able to fight down raiders and the like. While this would never come to be with the Invincible class 'Dreadnought Armored Cruisers" taking their role of trade route defense, the publicity would help in the further development of additional telegraph cables connecting all sides of the Empire. Although the conference was over, naval matters would once again spark at home at the end of 1907. US President Roosevelt had ordered the entire Atlantic fleet of the US Navy on a voyage to circumnavigate the world, dressed in ornate peacetime colors to show the goodwill of the United States. It also was a perfect opportunity to provide good training and show the rising power of Japan that the United States was perfectly able to strike, hopefully helping to drive tensions down. The traditionally largely Atlantic focused fleet was a shock to all parties and drummed up immense interest in naval matters of all nations around the world.

Journey of the Great White Fleet around the world shown on a modern map.​

This distraction for Japan and show of 'white dominance' to a 'racially inferior' Asian power was agreeable for Canada and especially British Columbia who had been recently dealing with a major spike in Asian immigration. The Deputy Minister of Labor William Lyon Mackenzie King was appointed a royal commissioner to oversee the ordeal and would later be invited to Washington by President Roosevelt to serve as a bridge between nations regarding their similar Asian 'issue'. While on one side, this show of force was greatly appreciated, it also stirred up quite a fuss within Canada. The Governor General, Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey was incredibly interested in the progress of this fleet and provided daily reports of their progress to Laurier. Grey was a stout liberal and also strangely enough Laurier’s most powerful partner in the fight to gain some kind of a naval force for Canada, Grey was heavily interested in naval matters and actually wanted Canada to have a naval force. Although an ally, Grey was not afraid to point out Canada’s crippling lack of defenses especially in the aftermath of a potential Japanese-American confrontation. In one of his many letters to Laurier, he had the following to say:

“It would be mockery to ask whether you are prepared for this. I am not aware that your Cabinet has even considered the expediency, as have the government of Australia, of taking steps to defend their coasts against possible Japanese aggression. Your only security against the possibility of British Columbia being occupied by the Japanese when it suits them to take possession lies in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and in the present strength of the Royal Navy. While I regard the American Navy as one of the reserves of the Empire, the US fleet and the Monroe Doctrine offer no protection on which you can count. Neither do I discount the possibility that the Japanese may simply destroy the Americans in yet another humiliating defeat, leaving North America helpless. Even without such a disaster, the American fleet does not represent Canadian interests and should not be relied upon.”

Mackenzie King had a front row seat in Washington to watch these events transpire and while both Japan and America were being more than agreeable with negotiations, Canada had little to threaten them both back into line if they suddenly refused. Soon into his stay though, King was visited personally by President Roosevelt who queried him about the possibility for the “Great White Fleet” as it was called to visit both Victoria and Vancouver. While King wanted to accept simply for yet another chance to build healthy relations with their neighbor especially considering the public in both cities seemed extremely enthused about the idea, this was not his call to make. In the end after talking with Grey, King and the government decided to decline the offer. The government did not want to encourage a dependence on the US Navy, nor did they want to further stir fears of American annexation across western Canada. In the end, the Canadian government did not want any fleet in their own waters besides either their own or that of the Royal Navy. This entire escapade had made it very clear that even though the Americans had asked, they and any other foreign fleet could effectively enter Canadian sovereign territory with minimal opposition, sweeping aside what little they could find. With the Royal Navy permanently gone from the area, the residents of British Columbia felt as vulnerable as ever.

It leaves little to the imagination why the voyage of the Great White Fleet sparked such interest in naval matters, a seemingly endless line of immaculate warships appearing off the coast of any nation must have been both a worrying yet impressive sight. ​

King would later write in his diary regarding the threats Canada faced, her unique political situation and his overall opinion on the matter.


“The situation reveals to me, too, so far as Canada is concerned, the necessity of our doing something in the way of our having a navy of our own. We must admit that in the present situation we are absolutely dependent upon the naval power of Great Britain for the protection of our own country against the Asiatic invasion. We might as well face this squarely and meet the situation by contributions to the British government or by the beginning of a navy of our own which, as a Canadian, would be the preferable course. In speaking of a navy of our own, I do not mean that we would act independently in any way of the British. An arrangement could be affected whereby a complete unity of action could be affected. I think, however, that it would be better for us in voting money to control expenditure and it is well to accompany any imperial sentiment by a healthy Canadian national spirit as well.”