The College was first established in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1910 in the same year that the Royal Canadian Navy was formed and its purpose was to train officers for the fledgling navy. When the building it was housed in was destroyed in 1917 in the Halifax explosion, it was temporarily moved to Kingston, then by September 1918 came to the Esquimalt Naval Base. 57
Because their dormitory wasn’t ready when they arrived, cadets had to sleep in HMCS Rainbow.
A typical day for the students is described: “The cadets did not have a great deal of time to spend in the dorm. They arose at 6:30am (7:00 on Sundays) and were expected to put in an hour of work before breakfast at 8:00. During the day there were classes, meals, boat work and an afternoon ‘recreation’ period with lights out at 9:00 p.m.”58
The College was closed in 1922 for lack of support and funding. 59
by Catherine Gilbert