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The Prospects for Naval History

Serving naval personnel in Canada, whose company we so warmly welcome and of which we have too often been deprived at meetings of the Canadian Nautical Research Society, have a special need to know and understand Canadian naval history when, as is now so patently obvious, the axe is in danger of falling on the navy. The moment is opportune. Books and articles about Canadian naval history are increasing in number to such a degree that there no longer is as there once was a shortage of material on the subject. Disagreements there may be, and the resultant healthy debate — but no briefing note, no staff appreciation, no white paper concerning Canada's naval policy, no manual of naval doctrine for the Canadian Armed Forces (and of course these remarks apply to all aspects of the military experience, but the occasion demands particular attention to the seagoing profession) should see the light of day before it has been tempered by the fire of historical process. History, of course, is a two-way street. The historian can learn as much from the sailor as the sailor from the historian. Historians can help sailors to develop a clear perspective on the past and assist policy-makers in building new policies on the rock of fact (or as close to "fact" as responsible historians are able to come) rather than the sand of myth (or fact distorted by constant misrepresentation). And when historians expose themselves to the dynamic of people immersed in the daily activities of the naval profession, they invariably return to the documents with important new insights. A partnership is possible, and failure to cultivate it is plainly a dereliction of duty. What are the new sources of historical knowledge to which sailors can turn? In 1984 Mariner's Mirror published an article on "Canadian Naval Historiography" which was able to cite for a seventy-four year period a total output of five volumes of official history devoted to the R C N and the Coast Guard; James Boutilier's RCN in Retrospect? half a dozen theses on the history of the RCN; 4 several articles; and a number of additional books on Canadian naval history. A large proportion of the books appeared in the 1980s, and the stream is turning into a torrent. Since 1984 there have been more than two dozen volumes on the RCN, including at least six substantial scholarly studies, several first person accounts, and one popular best-seller. Among this cornucopia only a few have profited from naval birthdays more than they have instructed readers. Sailors, like most people, resent criticism, but as much or more than most, they can take it. A distinguished member of this society will recall, after he had delivered his paper on