HMCS Griffon

HMCS Griffon is a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division (NRD) located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Dubbed a stone frigate, HMCS Griffon is a land-based naval establishment for part-time sailors as well as a local recruitment centre for the Canadian Naval Reserve. It is one of 24 naval reserve divisions located in major cities across Canada.[1][2]

HMCS Griffon
Active1937 to present
Country Canada
Branch Royal Canadian Navy
TypeNaval Reserve Division
RoleReserve unit
Garrison/HQ125 Algoma St N, Thunder Bay, ON P7A 4Z5
Motto(s)PRIMA IN LACUBUS (First on the Lakes)
ColoursWhite and Blue
EquipmentVarious types of inboard and outboard rigid-hull inflatable boats
Battle honoursNone

History

HMCS Griffon was first established on 3 May 1937 as the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) Half-Company Port Arthur. As the unit did not have its own facility, the Half-Company joined militia soldiers from the Lake Superior Regiment at the Port Arthur Armoury.[3][4][5]

In 1941 she was commissioned as a tender to HMCS Naden and re-named HMCS Griffon and then re-commissioned as an independent shore establishment in 1942.[6]

HMCS Griffon moved into its current location at 125 Algoma St North in Thunder Bay in 1944.

During the Second World War, HMCS Griffon recruited and trained over 2400 volunteers for the Royal Canadian Navy and became home to the commissioning crews for corvettes and minesweepers built in Thunder Bay.[7]

References
  1. Government of Canada, National Defence (2013-04-19). "Naval Reserve Divisions | Royal Canadian Navy". www.navy-marine.forces.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  2. Defence, National (2018-11-27). "HMCS Griffon". aem. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  3. "Chronology of Canadian Naval Reserve Divisions". www.nauticapedia.ca. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  4. "Men of R.C.N.V.R. go to naval base". www.museevirtuel.ca. September 4, 1939. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  5. Degagne, Chelsea; Beaulieu, Michel S.; Ratz, David (2009). "PRIMA IN LACUBUS: Over a Century of Naval Activity at the Lakehead". Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society Papers & Records. 37: 46–59.
  6. Gimblett, Richard H.; Hadley, Michael L. (2010-11-16). Citizen Sailors: Chronicles of Canada's Naval Reserve, 1910-2010. Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-4597-1160-0.
  7. "We will remember them | Rainy River Record". www.rainyriverrecord.com. Retrieved 2019-11-25.

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