This book is about the life of a navy, from its conception in the nineteenth century to its seventy-fifth birthday in 1985.
Born in the midst of political controversy, the Royal Canadian Navy traces its roots to conflicting British and Canadian interests during the prime ministerships of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, as well as to Anglo-German naval competition in the early years of the twentieth century.
The RCN played a more important role in World War I than has generally been realized and, despite neglect between the wars, rose to a position of some prominence in World War II. Except for a demoralizing period of retrenchment from 1945 to 1949, it then flourished until the early 1960’s, before the twin agonies of unification and defence cutbacks began to influence its development.
Total unification of the navy with the army and air force has been a unique Canadian experience. How Canada weathered the transition from RCN to “Marine Command” is illuminated by the discussions in this book. The navy appears as a resilient institution in the face of change, particularly in the last two decades of its first seventy-five years.
This collection of papers by leading authorities in naval history and defence policy provides a record of Canadian naval problems, the navy’s pragmatic search for solutions, and its prospects for the future. The authors open up areas of discussion that will be of fundamental importance in the critical years to come.
RCN in Transition does a great service to the public in describing the foundation, successes, challenges and the future of a service with a proud tradition, and it is a very good book to have on the shelf.
This well-edited and readable book, containing many useful visual aids, is recommended to the specialist and generalist alike. Its seventeen chapters of consistently high quality stem from a 1985 conference marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) separation from the Royal Navy (RN).
A significant contribution to maritime historiography and a must for anyone wishing to be properly informed about an often ignored but vital contributor to Twentieth Century naval history.
Abbreviations
Introduction: The Canadian Navy in the Modern World / W.A.B. Douglas
1. Naval Mastery: The Canadian Context / Paul Kennedy
2. Strategy and Maritime Law: “Free Seas” and the Canadian Navy / Barry D. Hunt
3. Historical Strategy and Its Uses in Large and Small Navies / Donald M. Schurman
4. MARCOM Education: Is It a Break with Tradition? / Richard A. Preston
5. The End of Pax Britannica and the Origins of the Royal Canadian Navy: Shifting Strategic Demands of an Empire at Sea / Barry Morton Gough
6. Hard Luck Flotilla: The RCN’s Atlantic Coast Patrol, 1914-18 / Roger Sarty
7. Inshore ASW in the Second World War: The U-Boat Experience / Michael L. Hadley
8. Inshore ASW: The Canadian Experience in Home Waters / Marc Milner
9. Canada and the Wolf Packs, September 1943 / Jurgen Rohwer and W.A.B. Douglas
10. The St. Laurent Decision: Genesis of a Canadian Fleet / S. Mathwin Davis
11. Canada and the Cold War at Sea, 1945-68 / Joel J. Sokolsky
12. International Naval Co-operation and Admiral Richard G. Colbert: The Intertwining of a Career with an Idea / John B. Hattendorf
13. Economic Considerations in the Development of the Canadian Navy since 1945 / Dan W. Middlemiss
14. Canadian Naval Responsibilities in the Arctic / Harriet Critchley
15. Ships: Managing the Need / J.M. Treddenick and C.G. Galigan
16. Canada and Maritime Defence: Past Problems, Future Challenges / R.B. Byers
17. The Future of Naval Warfare / G.R. Lindsey
Notes
Contributors
Index
