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Second World War Naval Topics

Enemy Merchantmen Taken In Prize by Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Enemy Merchantment

The list of enemy merchantmen taken in prize by ships of the Royal Canadian Navy during the First and Second World War.


The Vancouver Volunteer Yacht Patrol The Vancouver Volunteer Yacht Patrol

The Vancouver Volunteer Yacht Patrol was created in the early days of the war to provide services to the Royal Canadian Navy which they were, at the time, unable to provide for themselves. This unit operated in the greater Vancouver area and consisted of yachtsmen employing their own power cruisers. A number of the members went on to wartime service after its dissolution.


The Ships of the Bedwell Bay Ship BoneyardShips of the Bedwell Bay Ship Boneyard

Contributor Christopher Cole has assembled an inventory of the surplus vessels that once resided in the vessel "boneyard" in Bedwell Bay. These vessels were held in strategic reserve or were simply awaiting disposition as surplus to government requirements. It took several years to clear them out.


Vessels Owned or Operated by the Canadian Army Canadian Army

During the Second World War the Canadian Army operated a small fleet of ships to support their activities on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Here is a link to that list of vessels.


The Bay of Islands/Cornerbrook (Newfoundland) Patrol ForceBay of Islands Patrol

During the Second World War, eight officers were appointed as honorary members of the RCNVR and acted as an active reserve unit on the coast of Newfoundland.


Second World War Veteran HMS Cailiff Still Afloat In NorwayHMS Cailiff

Svein Ludvigsen, reports that the Norwegian trawler Borgenes is due to be scrapped in the near future at Kristiansund, Norway. HMS Cailiff (as she was originally known) was built as one of sixteen Western–Isles Class Anti–Submarine Trawler for the Royal Navy. She was one of eight loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy as escorts for coastal convoys.

Merchant Ships Used as Fighter Carriers in World War TwoAuxiliary Carriers

Fraser McKee presents a complete listing of all of the Auxiliary Aircraft Carriers that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

German U–Boat Commanding Officers Who Died by ‘Other Means’U-Boat

Fraser McKee presents a complete listing of all the German navy U–Boat commanding officers who died by ‘other means’ during the Second World War.

Canadian & Newfoundland Merchantmen Lost during the Second World War Due to Enemy ActionsMerchant Ship losses

Fraser McKee presents a complete listing of all the Canadian & Newfoundland Merchantmen Lost during the Second World War Due to Enemy Actions

RCN Ships Present Off the Normandy Beaches on June 6/7/1944 (D–Day Landings) RCN D-day Ships

Fraser McKee presents a complete listing of all the RCN Ships Present Off the Normandy Beaches on June 6/7/1944 (D-day Landings)


Vancouver’s Fleet of Former US Navy APc Vessels British Naval and Reserve Organizations

Contributor George Duddy has revised and updated his extensive list of Canadian vessels that were formerly serving in the US Navy. Following the war, the US Navy disposed of the small coastal transports. Eleven of these were eventually registered in Vancouver as Canadian vessels.


British Naval and Reserve Organizations British Naval and Reserve Organizations

Some Canadians chose to serve in Royal Navy organizations – and other were related to those who served. This is an overview of the diversity of organizations that made up the Royal Navy’s reserve.


Nauticapedia

Site News: February 12, 2025

ANOTHER MILESTONE REACHED

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 95,146 vessel histories (with 16,409 images and 14,064 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 4000 images).

My thanks to Ray Warren who is beginning a long process of filling gaps in the photo record of the vessel histories in the vessel database. Ray has been documenting the ships of Vancouver Harbour for more than 60 years.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he continues to contribute to illustrate British Columbia’s floating heritage.

My very special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.

Thanks to John Spivey who is beginning his 4th year of fact checking all of the entries in the vessel database.

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