The Royal Canadian Navy emerged from an interwar period in which near-disbandment and absorption into a single defence service had been serious possibilities. By 1945, it ranked third or fourth among the world's navies, depending on the measure used. Even the fourth-place estimate by ship numbers and tonnage describes a fleet without battleships or fleet carriers and with only a couple of light cruisers. Its strength lay in fighting the North Atlantic convoy and U-boat war. This was a navy organised to exercise sea control by protecting shipping while larger Allied forces secured command of the sea.
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Atlantic trade shaped Canada's wartime navy
Canada's wartime naval expansion produced a large convoy fleet whose strength lay in exercising sea control in the North Atlantic.