Canada's Second World War navy grew around escort warfare

The wartime Canadian fleet supplies historical context for a modern navy again centered on versatile surface combatants. It included only two cruisers and two escort carriers, alongside a very large array of Tribal-class destroyers, other destroyers, frigates, and escorts. Its strength lay in the mass of ships required for Atlantic escort work rather than in a capital-ship battle line. That history makes force generation, common classes, and anti-submarine capability especially relevant to the Canadian Surface Combatant discussion.