CFB Esquimalt – former Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard | |
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Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada | |
Canadian naval ships docked at CFB Esquimalt
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Coordinates | 48°25′52″N 123°25′54″W / 48.43111°N 123.43167°WCoordinates: 48°25′52″N 123°25′54″W / 48.43111°N 123.43167°W |
Type | Naval base |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Canadian Forces |
Site history | |
Built | 1860 to present |
In use | 1842–present |
Battles/wars | |
Official name | Esquimalt Naval Sites National Historic Site of Canada |
Designated | 1995 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Royal Canadian Navy |
Location | HMCS Naden, Naden Museum Square, Building 37, Esquimalt, British Columbia |
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Website | http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org |
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters.
The base occupies approximately 41 square kilometres (10,000 acres) at the southern tip of Vancouver Island on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the municipality of Esquimalt, British Columbia, adjacent to the western limit of the provincial capital, Victoria.
CFB Esquimalt comprises facilities including Naden (formerly HMCS Naden), Her Majesty's Canadian (HMC) Dockyard Esquimalt, Fleet Maintenance Facility – Cape Breton (FMF CB), a Fire Fighting and Damage Control School, the Naval Officer Training Centre (NOTC Venture), and extensive housing including 716 personnel married quarters located at nine sites such as Belmont Park, WorkPoint, and Royal Roads.
The present dockyard and drydock, known as HMC Dockyard Esquimalt, dates to the Royal Navy's Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard (1842–1905) and was the Royal Navy's Pacific Station until 1911. Today it serves as the Canadian Naval Headquarters in the Pacific.
Due to their significance in Canadian naval history, four sites at CFB Esquimalt (the Dockyard, the former Royal Navy Hospital, the Veterans’ Cemetery, and the Cole Island Magazine) have been designated the Esquimalt Naval Sites National Historic Site of Canada.
As of March 2013, CFB Esquimalt services the following ships assigned to Canadian Fleet Pacific
CFB Esquimalt contains several recognized and classified federal heritage buildings on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.
The Institute for Stained Glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at the Multi-Faith Naval Chapel and the stained glass at the Old Naval and Garrison Church (1866), now known as St Paul's Anglican.
CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum is located at HMCS Naden. Building 20 (c. 1891), part of Naden Museum Square is a Municipal Heritage Property. Building 37 (c. 1889) part of the Naden Museum Square is also a Municipal Heritage Property and is also on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. HMCS Naden was named after the Dominion Government Ship Naden, which was commissioned as a tender for the Royal Naval College of Canada from 1918 to 1922 for training in sail. The museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, OMMC and Virtual Museum of Canada.