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UNIT 1
THEME 1
World War I and Beyond
1914–1921
CANADA IN THE WORLD
Figure 1.10 In 1914, HMS Niobe was the flagship of Canada’s “tin-pot navy.”
This broken-down cruiser was expected to protect the East Coast against
attack. In 1915, the Niobe was turned into a supply ship in Halifax Harbour.
a naval strategy
used to transport supplies
reduced loss of supply
ships to German U-boats
from “convey”— to transport
convoy
ships traveling in packs
with naval escort
FOCUS ON Canadian Sailors
Did Canadian sailors make a difference
Before World War I, Britain boasted the world’s largest navy —
but Germany was catching up. Both countries built huge
battleships called dreadnoughts, and both were building
submarines.
When the war started, Canada’s entire fleet consisted of
two second-hand cruisers, which were small, speedy warships.
HMS Rainbow was based in Vancouver and HMS Niobe in
Halifax. These two ships were all that protected Canada’s
coasts — and the Niobe was in bad shape. After just one trip
to sea, this ship was taken out of service.
The Royal Canadian Navy was a navy in name only. Not
surprisingly, people poked fun at Canada’s “tin-pot navy.”
And because the navy lacked ships, thousands of Canadian
sailors ended up enlisting in Britain’s Royal Navy.
The War at Sea
Both the Allies and the Central Powers relied on ships to
bring them supplies: food, raw materials, soldiers, and
weapons. As a result, both sides used their navy to set up
blockades to try to prevent supplies from reaching the enemy.
Before the war, Germany had outpaced Britain in developing
submarines. The German submarines were called U-boats,
which stood for Unterseebooten (undersea boats). U-boats were
armed with torpedoes, which were used to sink enemy ships.
To cut off the Allies’ supplies, German U-boats began
attacking all ships bound for Britain. Forty-five Canadian
steamships were sunk by U-boats during World War I.
To counter this threat, the Allies set up a convoy system.
Merchant ships began travelling in packs with naval escorts to
detect and sink U-boats before they could attack the convoys.
16 MHR