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The Canadian Armada at Gaspe Bay


The First Canadian Contingent assembled and sailed to England from Gaspe Bay on October 3,rd 1914 to join the Allied cause in the Great War. This impressive Armada included 32, 000 officers and men borne by 31 transport ships and 20 battle ships. Despite the threat represented by the Karlsruhe, the Dresden and other German warships at large in the Atlantic, the crossing was made with relative ease and they arrived in Portsmouth, England on the evening of the 14.th

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First Canadian Contingent Sailing from Gaspe Bay
World War I, 1914-1918
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada


Credits:
Bay Chaleur Military Museum

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The Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada in 1914, prepared the following statement to be read to the men on each vessel in the fleet:

"On the eve of your departure from Canada, I wish to congratulate you on having the privilege of taking part, with the other forces of the Crown, in fighting for the honour of the King and Empire. You have nobly responded to the call of duty, and Canada will know how to appreciate the patriotic spirit that animates you. I have complete confidence that you will do your duty, and that Canada will have every reason to be proud of you. You leave these shores with the knowledge that all Canadian hearts beat with you, and that our prayers and best wishes will ever attend you. May God bless you and bring you back victorious."

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Canadian Armada Sailing from Gaspe Bay
3 October 1914
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada


Credits:
Bay Chaleur Military Museum

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As the fleet began its trek across the Atlantic and pulled out of Gaspe Bay, Colonel George Nasmith recalls that:

"The shores of Gaspe, dotted with white cottages; yellow stubble fields; hills red and purple with autumn foliage: these were our last pictures of Canada - truly the last that many of us were ever to see, and we looked upon them, our hearts filled with emotion that these scenes had never given rise before. Our ruddy Canadian emblem, the maple leaf, gave its characteristic tinge to the receding shores - a colour to be seen often on the field of battle, but never in the foliage of a European landscape..."

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Canadian Armada Sailing from Gaspe Bay
3 October 1914
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada


Credits:
Bay Chaleur Military Museum

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This sizable fleet traversed the Atlantic Ocean in three columns arranged in the following order:

Column Z Column Y Column X

H.M.S. H.M.S H.M.S

Eclipse Diana Charybdis
Megantic Caribbean Scotian
Ruthenia Athenia Arcadian
Bermudian Royal Edward Zeeland
Alaunia Franconia Corinthian
Ivernia Canada Virginian
Scandinavian Monmouth Andania
Sicilian Manitou Saxonia
Montezuma Tyrolia Grampian
Lapland Tunisian Lakonia
Cassandra Laurentic Montreal
Royal George

The convoy was later joined by the H.M.S. Glory off St. Pierre-Miquelon and the Florizel bearing the Newfoundland Regiments.

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Canadian Armada Sailing from Gaspe Bay
3 October 1914
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada


Credits:
Bay Chaleur Military Museum

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Winston Churchill served as the First Lord of the Admiralty during the war. His prophetic remarks on the arrival of the first Canadian contingent in Portsmouth, England was as follows:

"Canada sends her aid at a timely moment. The conflict moves forward to its terrible climax, and fiercer struggles lie before us than any which have yet been fought."