After the armistice ending World War One was signed, the Admiralty ceded two H1-class boats laid-up at Bermuda to Canada as replacements for the worn out CC boats. The two boats, H14 and H15, had been commissioned during the summer of 1918 at New London under the overall command of Lieutenant Commander Barney Johnson, DSO, RNR, who was CO of H15. They reached Bermuda the day after the armistice was signed and berthed alongside HMCS SHEARWATER.
After the armistice ending World War One was signed, the Admiralty ceded two H1-class boats laid-up at Bermuda to Canada as replacements for the worn out CC boats. The two boats, H14 and H15, had been commissioned during the summer of 1918 at New London under the overall command of Lieutenant Commander Barney Johnson, DSO, RNR, who was CO of H15. They reached Bermuda the day after the armistice was signed and berthed alongside HMCS SHEARWATER.
In late 1919, the two boats sailed to Halifax. Fully refitted at the Halifax shipyard, they were commissioned into the RCN in April 1921 as HMC Submarines CH14 and CH15. The two captains and first lieutenants were drawn from amongst the Canadians still serving in British submarines. The crews consisted of a few ex RN-trained submariners recruited into the RCN to man the boats, while the bulk of the men were green RCN ratings, most of whom had never been to sea before.
The two submarines spent the winter of 1921-1922 based at HMS Malabar, the Royal Dockyard in Bermuda, exercising with Canadian and British ships. Upon their return to Halifax, they, along with most of the rest of the navy, fell victim to the severe defence budget cuts of May 1922. The same cutbacks resulted in all Canadians being withdrawn from RN submarines.
The two submarines lay alongside the paid-off cruiser Aurora at moorings in the Northwest Arm for many years, an eyesore for the residents of prestigious Armdale. In 1927, all three vessels were towed away after being sold to a Montreal shipbuilder for scrap.
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