The Fairmile Bs of the Royal Canadian Navy

Special contribution by Marc-André Morin
marc-andre.morin@videotron.ca

Gaspé, 1942. Fairmiles in formation Gavin Clark Collection From James W. Essex, Victory in the St. Lawrence. Canada's Unknown War, p. 65.

When the Second World War began in September 1939, the Royal Canadian Navy had a fleet of only about ten warships. To make up for the lack of vessels, shipbuilding was expanded at dizzying speed, not only in Canadian yards, but also in the United Kingdom, thanks to the building programs of the British Admiralty. Just before the end of hostilities in April 1945, there were a total of 404 vessels in service in the Royal Canadian Navy; 80 of these vessels, or 20% of the total fleet, were Fairmile-type motor launches.

In Canada itself, as the German submarine threat intensified and the enemy ventured up the St. Lawrence River, it became necessary to set up a coastal defence and escort system. The first nine Fairmiles, commissioned in the autumn of 1941, were a strategic and effective contribution to this end.

• The origins of the Fairmiles
• The defensive period
• The offensive period
• 8 May 1945: VE-Day
• Bibliography