Navy Minister Angus Lewis Macdonald, a lean Maritimer, slumped in his leather chair and studied the ceiling in Ottawa's press gallery. Then he sprang the news: back in 1941 the Dominion Government had committed itself to a Navy of at least 9,000 men after the war. Minister Macdonald himself thought a force of 15,000 would be "more likely ... [to] satisfy Canadians," hoped the nation would keep two cruisers, two carriers and eight destroyers in postwar fighting trim, with lesser craft to match.
Canadians had long known that their Navy was growing up. Minister Macdonald proudly told them just how...
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