The
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) established a temporary training base in the
Imperial fortress colony of
Bermuda (also called the
Somers Isles) during the latter part of
World War II. From 1944 to 1945, the RCN operated a shore facility named from the former
Royal Navy base at
Convict's Bay,
St. George's (which had been transferred to the
War Office to be joined to the adjacent
St. George's Garrison after the Royal Navy had relocated to Bermuda's West End in the 19th Century). HMCS
Somers Isles closed in 1945 following the end of World War II. The RCN departure from Bermuda was short lived as a result of the growing tensions of the
Cold War. In 1951 most of the
Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda was closed, leaving the South Yard to operate as a supply base,
HMS Malabar, until it closed in 1995. The RCN returned to Bermuda, taking over part of the former RN property and creating a winter training installation. More than 30 RCN warships and 5,000 sailors trained in Bermuda during the 1950s. A satellite of the
Royal Naval Dockyard was a parcel of Admiralty land at Daniel's Head, on
Somerset Island, part of which was purchased in 1809 and the rest in 1914 and 1915 for a Royal Naval
Wireless Telegraphy station. In 1961 the RCN established a
HFDF receiver facility at
Daniel's Head, and on 1 January 1963, Daniel's Head was transferred from the
Royal Navy to the Royal Canadian Navy when the RCN facility became operational. The RCN also built a transmitter facility on
Ireland Island North, using a former Royal Navy wireless station that operated between 1939 and 1949. Both the receiver and transmitter facilities were operated during the 1960s as
Naval Radio Station Bermuda or
NRS Bermuda. From 1944 until 1968, the Bermuda installations would be the only RCN facilities outside Canada. From 1968 to 1992 it was one of three CF locations outside Canada. ==CFS Bermuda==