Fonds consists of articles and notes regarding various topics on maritime history, from the Roman period to the Cuban crisis. The M files were created in the Office of the Naval Historian in order to retain a collection of miscellaneous articles and notes on a variety of maritime history topics. There are 15 series according to each different period and event. Many sections are subdivised by subject. There are 17 series:
Series 1: M-4: Early Maritime History
Series 2: M-6: Battle of Coronel
Series 3: M-10: Battle of Zeebrugge
Series 4: M-11: Criticisms
Series 5: M-13: Crowsnest
Series 6: M-15: Barry German Prize in Naval History
Series 7: M-16: Bureau of Current Affairs
Series 8: M-17: Quotations
Series 9: M-20: Lakes of Canada
Series 10: M-21: Seapower
Series 11: Early Maritime History (1700-1799)
Series 12: Early Maritime History (1800-1899)
Series 13: Early Maritime History (1900- )
Series 14: Early Maritime History (Antarctic)
Series 15: Early Maritime History (Arctic)
Series 16: Unpublished Narratives
Series 17: Merchant Ships [1939-1945] (95/76, 95/77, 95/78, 95/87, 95/104)
Series consists of one file of articles, reports, memoranda and a survey about Canadian warships, defence position and French-Canadians and the navy. Includes report on the modernization of Canadian warships.
Series consists of papers relating to the competition for the Barry German Prize in Naval History.
Subseries 2 consists of four files of articles and notes about military boats, civil navigation and bibliographic notes. It contains a paper on arms control on the Great Lakes, a list of vessels employed on the British naval service on the Great Lakes during 1755-1875, articles on navigation on the Great Lakes, an account of the naval action fought in Lake Erie on 10 September 1813, and notes on gunboats, steamers and canoes. Includes articles on canals and waterways of Canada, prints of W. H. Bartlett showing waterfront scenes of Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Cobourg, Kingston, Port Hope, Quebec and Brockville, and a booklet on Meaford, Georgian Bay, Ontario. Also includes articles and notes on some steamers or vessels including : Queen Charlotte; Queenston; Royal William; General Porter; Sir Robert Peel; Chief Justice Robinson; Ocean Wave; Plymouth Rock; Prince Alfred; and Queen Victoria.
Series consists of three files of a paper, articles, address, notes about Canada and the naval war. It contains a paper titled A Study of the Philosophy and Conduct of Maritime War, 1815-1945. Also includes articles and address on sea-power and the exercise of sea-power in the naval history of Canada.
Series consists of 6 files of articles notes, extracts, correspondence, summaries, cards, post cards, memoranda, photographs, original maps and address on Canadian early maritime history, from 1800 to 1899. Subjects covered include naval war of 1812, Canadian merchant marine, steam vessels, canals, Pacific Station of Esquimalt, disasters, different kind of ships and shipping.
Series consists of articles, memorandum, notes and correspondence on the early maritime history of the Arctic.
Subseries 1 consists of nine files of articles and notes on many topics: Roman galleys, Vikings, Prince Henry the Navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, Elizabethan England, early settlements in North America, historical ships, the Wasa, and bibliographic notes. Also includes articles on Francis Drake, Alexander McKee, Jacques Cartier and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Subseries 4 consists of one file of typescripts and articles regarding maritime history, including notes on commercial policy of Great Britain, the Royal Navy, the liquid compass of Francis Crow and the astrolabe.
Series consists of one file of articles, note and correspondence about the Battle of Zeebrugge (Belgium).
Series consists of one file of articles regarding the annual essay contest sponsored by the Bureau of Current Affairs, which was organized in 1951 and ceased to function in 1958.
Series consists of one file of quotations relating to navy and naval history.
Subseries 3 consists of one file of articles and notes about ships, including articles on lake steamers, the Lachine rapids, the storm of 1913 on the Great Lakes, the Empress of Ireland and its sinking.
Series consists of 3 files of articles notes, extracts, correspondence, cards, pamphlet, memoranda, photographs, booklet and photocopies of manuscripts on Canadian early maritime history, from 1700 to 1799. Subjects covered include the battle of Restigouche, the battle and the siege of Quebec, Louisbourg, early Canadian built warships, and general topics documenting the early maritime history of Canada before 1800.
Series consists of articles and notes on early maritime history, from the Roman period until the 19th century.
There are four subseries:
Subseries 1: M-4, Vol. 0: Early Maritime History
Subseries 2: M-4, Vol. 1: Early Maritime History (General)
Subseries 3: M-4, Vol. 2: Early Maritime History (General)
Subseries 4: M-4, Vol. 3: Early Maritime History (General)
Subseries 3 consists of five files of articles and notes on many topics regarding early maritime history: individuals (Thomas Durell, Michael de Courcy and Elmes Yelverton Steele); stations (list of commanders-in-chief in Pacific stations, Mediterranean stations, 1792-1912, East India and China stations, 1805-1865); ships (notes on Impregnable, Calliope, Calypso); ordnance (notes on history of firearms and ordnance, naval gunnery). Also includes articles on the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, fisheries, sea-power, convoys, cables, anchors, and series of eleven coloured illustrations of covering page of United States Naval Institute Proceedings.
Series consists of one file of articles and correspondence about the Battle of Coronel (Chile), including some notes on John Victor Whiteman Hatheway, from Fredericton, New Brunswick, killed in action at Coronel in 1914.
Series consists of two files of articles about the sailors periodical, The Crowsnest, and a history of the Seagoing Officers Club and The Newfoundland Officers Club.
Subseries 1 consists of four files of articles, notes and maps about ships, astrolabe and other naval subjects. Included in these files are notes : from the journal of Jeffrey Amherst; on transportation and naval defense in the old northwest, 1760-1796; on the siege of Fort Saint John; on the journey of colonel Landman in Canada 1798-1802; on Cartier’s La Grande Hermine, La Salle’s Le Griffon, and d’Iberville’s Le Pelican; and on the schooner Nancy. Also includes : notes and illustrations of sailing cargo vessel called Chalon; maps of some parts of the Great Lakes; photos and drawings of colonial bateau; notes and extracts describing a bateau.
Series consists of the following unpublished narratives:
I. Canadian Tribal Channel Actions – chronicles of ships that were used during the Second World War
II. Operations of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in United Kingdom Waters After September 20, 1944 – Coastal Forces
III. Operations of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in United Kingdom Waters After September 20, 1944 – Corvettes
IV. The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion of Northern France – Operation “Overlord”
V. Operation Neptune Criticisms – edited account & notes regarding “The Royal Canadian Navy’s Part in the Invasion of Northern France – Operation ‘Overlord’”
The tribal class ships were constructed for the Royal Navy (RN). In 1936, the first of the tribal class ships had been constructed. The ships served in a variety of different locations, including the Mediterranean as well as the English Channel. After the war, most RN tribal class ships were scrapped; the majority of Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships were used during the Korean War. “Operations of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in United Kingdom Waters After September 20, 1944 – Coastal Forces” describes the accomplishments of the 29th and 65th Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) Flotillas. “Operations of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in United Kingdom Waters After September 20, 1944 – Corvettes” is a chronological account of the battles that the corvette ships or convoys engaged in during the given time period. Generally, the fonds contains various drafts of a narrative regarding Canadian naval missions overseas; it elaborates on the Canadian contribution to the liberation of Europe. There are also criticisms of the narrative that were compiled by several Canadians involved in the invasion of northern France and cross-reference facts in the account.