Halifax — Citadel & Waterfront
HMCS Sackville
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
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Transcript
HMCS Sackville is a preserved Second World War corvette and a memorial to the Royal Canadian Navy.
Corvettes were small escort vessels built in large numbers to protect Atlantic convoys from German U-boats. They were uncomfortable, wet and essential.
Halifax was one of the great Allied convoy ports. Ships assembled here before crossing an ocean where submarines made merchant traffic a military target.
Canada's navy expanded dramatically during the war, and the Atlantic campaign became one of the country's largest sustained military efforts.
A preserved warship can encourage heroic thinking because the vessel looks complete. Remember that its real function was repetitive: escort, lookout, maintenance, weather and fear.
Victory in the Atlantic depended less on spectacular battles than on keeping thousands of ordinary cargo ships moving.