HMCS Discovery
Encyclopedia
Her Majesty's Canadian Ship
The designation Her Majesty's Canadian Ship , is applied as a prefix to any Canadian Forces warship. In the reign of a king, the designation changes to His Majesty's Canadian Ship; the French version of the title remains unchanged in this instance...
Discovery is a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve division and shore facility based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Created during World War II from the Vancouver Half Company of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve, Discovery was used for recruitment and training, and provided almost 8,000 personnel during the war. Discovery continued in its training role following the war, and also serves as headquarters for several Reserve and Cadet units.
The stone frigate
Stone frigate
Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...
takes its name from , the ship used by George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
to chart most of North America's north-western coast. Originally based at the Stanley Park Barracks, Discovery moved to its current location on Deadman's Island
Deadman's Island (Vancouver)
Deadman Island is a 3.8 ha island to the south of Stanley Park in Coal Harbour in Vancouver, British Columbia. The indigenous Sḵwxwú7mesh name is "skwtsa7s", meaning simply "island." Officially designated "Deadman Island" by the Geographical Names Board of Canada in 1937. it is commonly referred to...
, adjacent to Stanley Park
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
, in 1944.
HMCS Discovery has a crew of about 150 Officers and Non-Commissioned Members (NCMs). The 2011 Command team consists of Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Phil Horner; Executive Officer, Lieutenant (Navy) Bryan Price; and Coxswain, Petty Officer First Class Rod Tulett.
History
Discovery traces its history to the creation of the "Number 2 (Vancouver) Company" of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve at the beginning of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. This small group was composed of 87 members of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club
Royal Vancouver Yacht Club
The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Vancouver, British Columbia. The club was founded in 1903. The club operates two marinas, one at Jericho Beach in English Bay and one in Coal Harbour...
who served and were demobilized at the end of the war. It was not until May 1924 that Lieutenant-Commander J.W. Hobbs was given permission to form the first "Vancouver Half Company" of the Naval Volunteer Reserve. Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
's schooner Casco was used for a time to train cadets in the 1920s.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the role of the reserves had to increase in order to maintain sufficient manpower. On 1 November 1941, the division was newly commissioned HMCS Discovery and they moved into the Stanley Park Barracks. In 1944, the unit was permitted to occupy Deadman's Island
Deadman's Island (Vancouver)
Deadman Island is a 3.8 ha island to the south of Stanley Park in Coal Harbour in Vancouver, British Columbia. The indigenous Sḵwxwú7mesh name is "skwtsa7s", meaning simply "island." Officially designated "Deadman Island" by the Geographical Names Board of Canada in 1937. it is commonly referred to...
in Stanley Park
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
and turn this property into a training facility. During the Second World War, Discovery was one of the greatest sources of naval recruits in Canada, having enrolled 372 officers, 6,974 ratings and 650 WRENS (Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service - WRCNS.) Of those, 15 were killed in action. At the end of the war, Discovery became the discharge centre for the whole of the British Columbia mainland, with 8,378 men and women discharged through the base.
HMCS Discovery continued to see service as a training facility. Discovery personnel have been deployed to Korea, the Persian Gulf, Egypt, Bosnia and Afghanistan. They have provided support for the 1997 APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region...
meeting in Vancouver, was home to the Olympic Maritime Operations Centre for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and conducted port security around the country. It also is the site of the Western Region Diving Centre, co-ordinating the efforts of the various port inspection diving teams at Naval Reserve Divisions in Western Canada. The unit continues to serve as host and ambassador to dozens of foreign vessels visiting the Port of Vancouver. In addition to the Naval Reserves, Discovery houses Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Captain Vancouver and Navy League Cadet Corps Captain Rankin. Discovery is also home to the Naval Museum of Vancouver and Vancouver Naval Veterans Association.
In 2001, a reservist at HMCS Discovery successfully sued the Department of National Defence for discrimination when the military refused to assign him to the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
because he was Jewish.
Crest
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, Clarenceaux King of Arms that the crest
Naval heraldry
Naval heraldry is a form of identification used by naval vessels from the end of the 19th century onwards, after distinguishing features such as figureheads and gilding were discouraged or banned by several navies...
of Discovery take the form of a rebus
Rebus
A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, for example in its basic form 3 salmon fish to denote the name "Salmon"...
. It depicts a gold disc on top of a shake-fork that looks like the letter Y; a "Disc Over Y".