The Ship Model Forum

I just received my copy of “A Blue Water Navy”, the second part of volume 2 of the Official History of the Royal Canadian Navy in WW2.

The reason I noted it is that there are some very nice photos included (although not particularly well reproduced).

Amongst others, the following particularly interested me;

Page 152 shows HMCS Micmac in dry dock in final stages of construction (ref LAC E003525096)

Page 271 shows HMS Swift in a rather out of focus shot in a classic “V” shape, sinking after being mined (ref DND PMR 92-484)

Page 282 shows an overhead shot of HMCS Teme after being nearly cut in half by HMS Tracker (ref DND GM-2288)

Pages 361 and 362 shows the inside of Asdic huts (ref LAC PA 150442 and 134330)

Pages 533 and 534 shows HMCS Uganda, showing the interesting non-slip pattern on the metal deck surfaces (ref DND M2110 and M 2290)


The references “LAC” and DND” aren’t explained, but presumably stand for “Library and Archives Canada” (formerly the National Archives of Canada) and (probably) “Department of National Defence”.

It looks like there are some fascinating photo resources out there in Canada, does anyone know any more about them ?

(A link to “LAC” is http://www.collectionscanada.ca/faces-o ... 100-e.html )

Ken Macpherson has the best collection for RCN I believe.

A very good collection I've delved into in the past is at the Maritime Musuem of Alberta I think it was.

Kens photo collection was donated to the Naval Museum of Alberta, located in Calgary. They now have over 60,000 photos. A lot are duplicates and not very good quality, but a lot are fantastic. They cover RCN, RN, USN and some German other Navies. I had the pleasure of looking through it last year and found a number of excellent photos. Some are from the IWM, but most are DND photos.

Another little known resource is the Department of National Defence (DND) photo unit. They have official photos going back to 1910, the beginning of the RCN. A lot are digitized as well.

The Esquimalt Base museum near Victoria, BC also has a decent selection that includes many RN ships that visited over the years.

I have a decent selection of these photos that I have collected and plan to make more trips to Alberta and Ottawa to collect more. I have a partial list of what's available, if you are looking for something, let me know. For example, I have a great selection of Uganda, and a couple of good ones showing the different patterns on the Uganda and Ontarios focsles.

Regards,
Darren