HMCS Carleton

HMCS Carleton is a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve Division (NRD) located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Dubbed a stone frigate, HMCS Carleton is a land-based naval establishment.HistoryIn 1923, the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) was established. This Reserve Force was organized into companies and half companies located in fourteen cities across Canada. In 1935, the name of the Ottawa Half-Company was changed to the "Ottawa Division of the RCNVR".Just prior to Canada's declaration of war on Germany, the government called the Reserve into active service. For the duration of hostilities, the Ottawa Division concentrated on the recruitment and basic training of seamen. By the end of the war some 4,620 officers and men had enlisted through the Ottawa Reserve Division.On 1 November 1941, the Ottawa Division was commissioned as HMCS Carleton. It was named after, a schooner which took part in the Battle of Valcour Island, in 1776, during the American War of Independence. The schooner was named after Governor Guy Carleton.On 17 December 1943 HMCS Carleton moved to its current facilities at Canadian Forces Reserve Barrack Dow's Lake, when the new "stone frigate" was inaugurated in the presence of Major General Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, Governor General of Canada. In 1944, a new type of naval presence was added to Carleton when the barracks blocks were occupied by the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRENS). New training facilities were then added to Carleton in the late 1940s and early 1950s.