A Great Fleet of Ships

The building of the Canadian Forts and Parks was a response to the huge merchant fleet losses in the North Atlantic in the opening months of the Second World War, and by 1941 Canada's small shipbuilders had begun to turn out a fleet of 10,900- and 4,700-ton merchant ships which were quite the equal of those from American and British yards. This book tells the story of the mobilisation of effort and capital which turned Canada's small-scale yards into world-scale shipbuilders so that at the height of the War Canadian yards were delivering one new ship every three days. Like the better-known "Liberty" and "Victory" types, these Fort and Park ships were to be found in every theatre of the War from 1942 onwards, sailing under the Canadian flag as well as under British management. With a collection of photographs, narrative, statistical tables, drawings and fleet lists, as well as two large-scale modellers' plans, this work provides a piece of research on a significant aspect of the battle against the U-Boats.