The designation His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS;

CSM CSM may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'', a collection of medieval Galician-Portuguese vernacular songs and poems in praise of the Virgin Mary * Chaos Space Marines, in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' fictional universe * ...

, is applied as a

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

to surface ships in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and

Canadian Joint Operations Command The Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC; ) is one of the two unified commands of the Canadian Armed Forces, the other one being the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. CJOC was announced in May 2012 as the result of the cost-cuttin ...

. The similar designation of His Majesty's Canadian Submarine is applied to submarine vessels.

Origins of the term

The title is derived from ''

His Majesty's Ship His (or Her) Majesty's Ship, abbreviated HMS and H.M.S., is the ship prefix used for ships of the navy in some monarchies. Derivative terms such as HMAS and equivalents in other languages such as SMS are used. Commonwealth Realms United Kingdo ...

'' (HMS), used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, as the

monarch of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is one of the key components of Canadian sovereignty and sits at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Wes ...

is also equally and separately the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Various

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

realms A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Etymo ...

use derivative variations to designate their warships, such as

His Majesty's Australian Ship His Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) (or Her Majesty's Australian Ship when the monarch is female) is a ship prefix used for commissioned units of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). This prefix is derived from HMS (Her/His Majesty's Ship), the pr ...

(HMAS) and His Majesty's New Zealand Ship (HMNZS). In the reign of a

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, the designation changes to ''Her Majesty's Canadian Ship''; the French version of the title remains unchanged in this instance.

Usage

After the formation of

Naval Service of Canada The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary vesse ...

in 1910, warships were given the prefix HMCS with the "C" representing Canadian as a way to differentiate Canadian from British warships. It was initially the only concession the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

made following the formation of the Canadian naval service. was the first ship with the HMCS designation after being transferred from the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

to Canada, commissioned on 4 August 1910. became the first Canadian ship commissioned under a Queen during March 1952. Many RCN shore facilities also bear the designation, such as , , , , and the

Royal Canadian Sea Cadets The Royal Canadian Sea Cadets (RCSC; ) is a Canadian national youth program sponsored by the Canadian Armed Forces and the civilian Navy League of Canada. Administered by the Canadian Forces, the program is funded through the Department of Nati ...

summer training centre HMCS ''Quadra''. Shore maintenance and mooring facilities bear the name His Majesty's Canadian Dockyard (HMC Dockyard) (in French or ).

Citations

Sources

* * {{Canadian Navy Royal Canadian Navy Monarchy of Canada Ship prefixes

Origins of the term

Usage

See also

Citations

Sources