Royal Canadian Navy

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) (French: Marine royale canadienne) is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Forces. As of 2012, operating 33 warships and several auxiliary vessels, the Royal Canadian Navy consists of 8,500 Regular Force and 5,100 Primary Reserve sailors, supported by 5,300 civilians. Vice-Admiral Paul Maddison, CMM MSM CD, is the current Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy and Chief of the Naval Staff.

Founded in 1910 as the Naval Service of Canada and given Royal Sanction in 1911, the RCN was placed under the Department of National Defence in 1923, and amalgamated with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Army to form the unified Canadian Forces in 1968, after which it was known as "Maritime Command" until 2011. Over the course of its history, the RCN served in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the First Gulf War, the Afghanistan War and numerous United Nations peacekeeping missions and NATO operations.

Read more about Royal Canadian Navy:  Structure

Famous quotes containing the words royal, canadian and/or navy:

    Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior—bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper—it’s possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother’s impending visit.
    Mary Arrigo (20th century)

    We’re definite in Nova Scotia—’bout things like ships ... and fish, the best in the world.
    John Rhodes Sturdy, Canadian screenwriter. Richard Rossen. Joyce Cartwright (Ella Raines)

    Give me the eye to see a navy in an acorn. What is there of the divine in a load of bricks? What of the divine in a barber’s shop or a privy? Much, all.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)