Grand River Naval Depot was a planned base on
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
in what is now
Port Maitland, Ontario,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Located at the mouth of the
Grand River, the naval base was to have been built as a second naval base on Lake Erie intended to complement the base at
Navy Island
Navy Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Niagara River in the province of Ontario, managed by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site of Canada. It is located about upstream from Horseshoe Falls, and has an area of roughly . It is acr ...
. It was to have stationed 1,000 sailors and 3
frigates. It was never completed and the site was abandoned by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
. It is now the site of Esplanade Park in Port Maitland.
In 1815
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore ...
Sir
Edward Campbell Rich Owen had sent a letter to
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Gordon Drummond
General Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB (27 September 1772 – 10 October 1854) was a Canadian-born British Army officer and the first official to command the military and the civil government of Canada. As Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Dr ...
of interest to establish a naval shipyard in the area and land was acquired from the
Six Nations but nothing beyond the establishment of naval base with personnel was established in 1816.
Following the
Rush Bagot Treaty, the based slowly wound down, but an 1820 survey was ordered and the based was re-established but closed one last time in 1834.
[http://www.cambridge.ca/relatedDocs/docker_The%20Grand%20River%20Naval%20Depot.pdf]
See also
*
Battle of Lake Erie
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...
*
Navy Island Royal Naval Shipyard
Navy Island Royal Naval Shipyard was a Royal Navy yard in Ontario.
Located on Navy Island in the Niagara River, it served as a French naval base in the early 18th century and was acquired by the British in 1763. The Royal Navy used it for their ...
References
External links
Canadian Historical Naval Ships and YardsGrand River Naval Depot
{{Authority control
Military of Canada
Royal Navy bases in Canada
Royal Navy dockyards in Canada