Creatures furry and feathered have featured in the shipboard lives of sailors since ancient times. Many cats, for example, have served as mascots and companions to ships' crew members. These feline friends not only paid for their keep by saving shipboard supplies from vermin, they were a real comfort to sailors far from home and loved ones for long periods. There was a ship's cat aboard HMCS Rainbow, one of the Canadian Navy's first two vessels, and also a dog.
CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum celebrates the contribution of such creatures great and small with a new exhibit for summer 2008. Creature Comforts showcases photos and reminiscences of ships' cats, dogs and other animal companions befriended by Canadian sailors, including Bruno the Naden bear, a reindeer transported by HMCS Haida during WWII, and the vexatious parrot of sailor Tim Ryley of HMCS Shearwater. Also featured are animal mascots that have represented Canadian ships, like Percy the penguin (HMCS Terra Nova) and HMCS Qu'Appelle's fox Wylie.
To help preserve the history of the WRCNS, CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum has begun a project to gather data about women who served in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS) during World War II.
Unfortunately, much information about these women -- affectionately known as ‘Wrens’ -- may already have been lost.
But thanks to the efforts of museum volunteer Mary Grant, an attempt is being made to capture basic information about the Wrens' names and service numbers. This is a good starting point for further exploring their lives and careers.
For further information about this project, visit
The Wren Registry
Visit this link for more information about the