Coastal Forces of the Royal Canadian Navy

The Coastal Forces of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was a specialized naval force of well-armed, small and fast motor launch (ML) and motor torpedo boat (MTB) flotillas, primarily manned by members of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR). Tasked with escort, coastal defence, anti-submarine, minesweeping and search and rescue duties, the Coastal Forces of the RCN contributed to securing Allied sea lines of communication off the coasts of Canada and Britain during the Second World War. With the outbreak of war in Europe, a number of Canadian naval reservists recruited by the Royal Navy (RN) crossed the Atlantic to join the Coastal Forces of the RN. With some sailors and officers spending the duration of the war as fully integrated members of the British MTB flotillas, others were assigned to form the nucleus of what would become the Canadian 29th and 65th MTB flotillas. Back home in Canada, the RCN emulated the British Coastal Forces concept by building and employing the British-designed Fairmile B motor launch for operations off the coast of Canada and in the Caribbean. Affectionately known by their crews as The Little Ships, Little Fighting Ships, Q-Boats, MLs or Holy Rollers, due to their violent pitching and tossing, during the Second World War the Fairmile Bs of the RCN played a vital role in escorting shipping along the Saint Lawrence River, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and between Newfoundland and the mainland of Canada. Regularly deployed in flotillas of six, The Little Ships relieved larger escort craft urgently needed elsewhere by carrying out anti-submarine patrols, port defence and rescue duties in home waters. Based out of shore establishments on the Saint Lawrence River, Halifax, Saint John, Shelburne, Sydney and on the British Columbia Coast; at sea the RCN Fairmile flotillas were accompanied by two "mother ships" and providing fresh water, fuel and medical services. Canadian Fairmile B Originally designed for the RN by W.J.