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Vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy Fishermen’s Reserve

compiled by John M. MacFarlane 2012 (Updated in 2019 with additional data from Bryon Taylor)

HMCS Mitchell Bay

The fish boat Mitchell Bay (formerly HMCS Mitchell Bay) (Photo from the John MacFarlane Collection)

The Accepted List of Vessels of the RCN Fishermen’s Reserve

There is no ‘official’ list of vessels that comprised the RCN Fishermen’s Reserve. This is the list of vessels generally considered to be part of that organization. It is based on research of official records over many years. (Click on the individual links to see the vessel histories.)

Fishermen’s Reserve Vessels (Pre–war Mobilized in 1939)

(Author’s Note): These vessels were members of the pre–war Fishermen’s Reserve fleet mobilized for wartime service but returned to civilian status before they were formally chartered by the Royal Canadian Navy.

Fishermen’s Reserve Vessels (Pre–war Not Mobilized)

(Author’s Note): These vessels were members of the pre–war Fishermen’s Reserve fleet but were not mobilized for wartime service.

Vessels Sometimes Incorrectly Reported as Fishermen’s Reserve Vessels (Harbour Craft Crewed by Fisheries Reserve Personnel)

(Author’s Note): The following vessels have been reported, on a speculative basis, by some writers, as being part of the Fishermen’s Reserve. The speculation on their inclusion in the list is sometimes based on the fact that they were manned by Fishermen’s Reserve personnel or if the vessel carried a pendant number with the Fisheries Pendant superior to the number. Another line of thought is that they were operated prior to the Second World War by members of the RCNR Fishermen’s Reserve Section. They may also have operated as tenders to naval bases or as auxiliary vessels. (Readers should note that there has been a lot of inaccurate or misleading speculation on this branch of the Navy which is frequently repeated by casual writers. It is poorly documented in the public sector and are advised not to propagate these unproven reports.)

More Vessels Which May Have Been Part of the RCN Fishermen’s Reserve

For More Details on These Vessels

The stories of these vessels and more than 54,000 others are outlined in the search-able Vessels Database on this website. Search by name to find out about them. Searchable Vessels Database

To quote from this article please cite:

Compiled by John M. MacFarlane 2012 (Updated in 2019 with additional data from Bryon Taylor) Vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy Fishermen’s Reserve. Nauticapedia.ca 2012. http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/RCN_Fishermens_Reserve_Vessels.php

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Site News: April 24, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,289 vessel histories (with 15,634 images and 13,293 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).

In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!

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

Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.

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