jnrbird.blogg.se - Canada navy world war 2 in pacific

These escorts included specially designed boats such as corvettes that could outmaneuvre submarines. To help protect merchant ships, the Royal Canadian Air Force ( RCAF) supplied air escorts and the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN) organized merchant ships into convoys that were accompanied by armed naval escorts.The term U-boat is from the German word for submarines, Unterseebooten (undersea boats). U-boats, preyed on merchant ships, causing heavy losses and high mortality rates for merchant crews.

"Wolf-packs" of German submarines, known as

Merchant crews were given training at special schools such as the Marine Engineering Instructional School in Prescott, Ontario.

Because so many merchant sailors experienced the dangers of mines and submarines during the First World War, they knew firsthand the dangers of wartime shipping.

By war's end 410 merchant ships had been built in Canada.

When the war began, Canada had 38 ocean-going merchant vessels.

Despite the fact that merchant crews were not compelled to sail on the dangerous ocean passages, most indeed did. On August 26, 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN) took control of all shipping. In fact, early information gathered by British intelligence agents about German ship movements led Canada to conscript all merchant ships two weeks before the war actually began. It was known right from the beginning that Canada's merchant ships would have an important role to play in the war effort. More than 25,000 merchant ship voyages were made during the war.A total of 12,000 men and women served in Canada's Merchant Navy.Merchant mariners showed tremendous bravery on this ocean battlefield, demonstrating the heroism of ordinary Canadians who chose to risk so much to help protect the rights of others. Most of those who served in the Merchant Navy would find themselves as participants in the Battle of the Atlantic, the struggle between the Allies and the Germans for control of the Atlantic Ocean. Those who served in Canada's Merchant Navy, our country's fleet of transport ships that carried desperately needed equipment, fuel, goods, and personnel to Europe and around the world, had to do their vital job knowing that their ships were prime targets for enemy action. Wartime was often a time of great danger, but the danger was not faced only by those in military uniform. The achievements and sacrifices of Canadians during the Second World War were great and covered a broad spectrum of efforts.