ABSTRACT
Canadian historians have always insisted that the Royal Canadian Navy's contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic was a key to Allied victory. This chapter illustrates more pointedly where and how the RCN made a significant contribution to the pattern of the Atlantic war and to suggest how a closer look at the Canadian experience sheds important light on some enduring issues. Until substantial work is undertaken on naval control of shipping in British and American records, it will be impossible to assess accurately the significance of the RCN in easing the US Navy into the war. For the moment, it seems clear that the Canadian role as the organizational and administrative lynch-pin in the Anglo-American naval alliance is missing from the literature on the Atlantic war. On both counts the RCN made important and lasting contributions to the shape of the Atlantic war.
