The Royal Canadian Navy of World War Two
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World War II Seaman's summer kit. |
The Royal Canadian Navy is featured in several areas of the
Museum. including a special exhibit representing the 100th
Anniversary of the Canadian Navy. The story of
HMCS St. Thomas, a Castle Class Corvette that sank the German
U-877 on December 27, 1944, is illustrated by specially commissioned
models of the St. Thomas, HMCS Sea Cliff,
HMCS Edmunston and U-877 and more of the Museum's naval
artifacts. Below is a World War II Naval officer's dress cap.
By the end of the Second World War, Canada (population twelve
million) had the third largest navy in the world with 95,000
personnel (including 6,000 women) and 471 ships. In addition to
building most of the 471 naval ships, the Canadian industries also
built over 400 merchant ships between 1939 and 1945; these merchant
ships completed more than 25,000 trips across the Atlantic. Canada
was able to finance this feat thanks in part to ordinary citizens
who raised the funds for their community to sponsor the purchase of
a vessel for the war effort.
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HMCS St. Thomas 1944 - Photo Credit Bill Ryder |
H.M.C.S. St. Thomas
K488, was a Castle Class corvette, laid down in June of 1943 for
the Royal Navy as HMS Sandgate Castle; but brought into
the Canadian Navy with funds raised by the citizens of St. Thomas,
Ontario (at that time a city of fewer than 18,000 people). On May
4, 1944, she was re-commissioned as H.M.C.S. St. Thomas.
Appropriately, five men from St. Thomas were amongst her crew along
with more than a dozen from Elgin County. Her primary tasking was
to escort the convoys across the North Atlantic. However, on
December 27, 1944, fate had something else in store. Click on the
following links to learn more about HMCS St. Thomas and other
stories about the men and women of Elgin County who served in the
Navy.
Click here to return to 100
Anniversary of the Navy