HMCS Malahat

HMCS Malahat is a training establishment for part-time sailors as well as a local recruitment centre for the Canadian Naval Reserve in Victoria, British Columbia. It is one of 24 naval reserve divisions in major cities across Canada.

History

The genesis of Canada’s Naval Reserve first emerged in Victoria in 1913, when a group of citizens began coming together several evenings each week to become familiar with drill, seamanship, admiralty law, arms drill and naval organization.

Then-Cmdr. Walter Hose, who was in charge of Her Majesty's Dockyard, provided support and encouragement to this volunteer group. Hose believed that the only way to win public support for the fledgling Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was to create a citizen navy, "a naval reserve with units across the country".

The volunteer group was legitimized by an Order-in-Council on May 18, 1914. They became No.1 Half Company of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR).

At the start of World War I, the only naval reserve force in Canada was the volunteer unit in Victoria. Its members went to war in HMCS Rainbow, the submarines CC1 and CC2 and other vessels based in Esquimalt. Following the general demobilization at the end of the war, the RNCVR was disbanded.