An action-packed, first-hand account of Canada's most famous naval warship and her exploits during the Second World War.

This commemorative volume produced on the occasion of the centennial of the Canadian Navy, 1910-2010, records a special kind of dual citizenship: Canadians exercising the profession of the sea in their nation's service, while also living out the demands of their civilian occupations in their home communities. The perspectives of the part-time citizen-sailors who have made up Canada's Naval Reserve over the past century provide an interesting, valuable, and timely alternative history of the Canadian Navy. Most of the contributors to this volume have served in Canada's Naval Reserve, and all are respected authorities in their fields. Whether read on its own, or as the intended companion to The Naval Service of Canada, 1910-2010: The Centennial Story, readers will find much to delight and inform in this lavish combination of text, photos, and illustrations of the people, ships, and aircraft that have formed a proud national institution.

This is the story of Canada's greatest destroyer, the aggressive and hard-hitting Haida. She is Canada's most decorated warship, winning honours in the Arctic, English Channel, Normandy, Bay of Biscay, and Korea. Her first commander, the late Harry DeWolf, is Canada's most famous naval hero. Since her decommissioning in 1963, Haida, the last of the feisty Tribals, has been preserved as a national naval memorial.HMCS Haida's story is an account of sharp-end war; of Canada's naval experience in Murmansk convoys and British Home Fleet protection; in English Channel operations, when Canadian and British naval units swept the German naval ensign from the seas; in the destruction of a U-boat, and in the liberation of Trondheim, Normay. Haida was always in on the action. She sank more enemy military tonnage than any other Canadian vessel.Haida's finest days were during the intense naval operations leading up to D-Day. With her sisters Huron and Iroquois and the ill-fated Athabaskan, with British and Polish men of war, she engaged German destroyers, torpedo boats, minesweepers and others and never lost. She vigorously carried the war to the enemy at great risk. Her postwar career including two tours in the Korean theater displays the same brave purpose in her officers and men, trained professionals and dedicated sailors.Barry Gough has written a new chapter in Canadian naval annals, showing that the best equipment brings forth the best results when good fortune and superb seamanship and weapons handling are matched in equal measure Haida's illustrious story.

Bounded by three great oceans, Canada stands as a maritime nation with rich seafaring traditions. Born of both national and British imperial interests in 1910 and maturing in two world wars, its navy is a vital national institution that continues to evolve in response to new and complex challenges. A Nation's Navy explores the decisive formative forces of the navy's history and illuminates the characteristically Canadian elements and values that have defined it.

Although the Royal Canadian Navy had spent the early years of the Second World War in a desperate struggle against German U-boats on the North Atlantic convoy routes, the service's professional officers never lost sight of the need to build a balanced national navy, one that included the larger warships required for Canada to project its naval power around the globe. Part 2 of the Official Operational History continues the story of the Royal Canadian Navy begun in No Higher Purpose and carries the narrative into the decisive final years of the Second World War, as the navy largely achieves its "blue water" ambitions. Based on extensive research in Canadian, British, American and German archives, A Blue Water Navy follows the RCN's path to victory from 1943 to 1945 as Canadian warships engage the enemy across the globe in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans as well as in the dangerous waters of the European littoral. Beginning with the Allies' North Atlantic triumph over the German submarine arm in April-May 1943, the volume examines the navy's many roles in European waters, including the RCN's combined operations role in the amphibious assaults on Dieppe, northwest Africa and Sicily; the procurement of large fleet destroyers and their operations guarding important Arctic and Mediterranean bound convoys; and the culmination of the RCN's overseas buildup with Operation Neptune and the invasion of Normandy. A Blue Water Navy recounts the multitude of tasks Canadian naval forces performed in the war's final phases, from motor-torpedo boat, minesweeping and fleet operations to the inshore anti-submarine campaign. In tracing the acquisition of cruisers and Canadian-manned escortcarriers, this important and well-illustrated history thoroughly explores the world-wide scope of the Royal Canadian Navy's involvement in the Second World War and its transition from a small-ship navy into a balanced force. A Blue Water Navy was written by a team of professional historians and has been in preparation for many years. The first volume of this official history, No Higher Purpose, was highly praised by veterans of the RCN, current sailors and naval officers, and students of military and naval history. This second volume will be equally well received. REVIEWS .,."Unlike many official histories, the writing in this book is clear and easy to read while still being quite informative. The section on naval support at D-Day is perhaps the best and most complete that I've ever read."Books-On-Line 7-07