HMCS Canada

HMCS Canada was launched at Vickers, Sons & Maxim in England in 1904. She became the flagship for Fisheries Protection Service of Canada and was equipped with the smallest Marconi wireless telegraph available at that time. 
HMCS Canada provided training for naval officers before the creation of the Royal Canadian Navy and was commissioned as a naval patrol vessel from 25 January 1915 to November 1919.

She was anchored in harbour at his Majesty’s Canadian Dockyard in Nova Scotia during the Halifax Explosion of 6 December 1917. She suffered minor damage, and the crew was sent ashore to aid the devastated city. One crew member was seriously injured in the explosion. 

HMCS Canada was sold for commercial purposed in 1924 to an American company and renamed MV Queen of Nassau executing shuttle services between Florida and the Bahamas. Due to being unequipped as comfortable overnight guest accommodations, she was set to be sold to Mexico in 1926. While on her way to undergo final inspection for the sale, she stopped twice in the straits of Florida due to boiler problems, prior to taking on water on 2 July 1926. The former HMCS Canada slipped stern-first into her watery grave near Islamorada, Florida. Its wreck is a designated element of the US Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. 


Reference Links:
Government of Canada – HMCS Canada
Canadian War Museum – HMCS Canada
The Canadian Encyclopedia – HMCS Canada