This black-and-white World War II era film shows footage of Canadian Royal Navy warships during World War II, focusing on the ship manufacturing process. The film starts with a view of a ship’s wake as it travels in the Atlantic Ocean; a seagull overhead (0:30). Freighters and tankers bring food and munitions for the United Nations front lines. Views of destroyers and corvettes (small warships) (0:53). During World War II, corvettes were usually Tribal-class destroyers. A closeup of a wave crashing over artillery on the side of a ship (1:09). A sailor climbs below deck; a Tiefenmesser pressure gauge (1:37); a view through the ship’s crosshairs; an approaching fleet of five warships billowing smoke; a series of explosions; a bomber plane overhead (2:15); sailors duck for cover from a nearby explosion. A montage of planes, air and sea explosions, sailors running on deck, raising ropes, and paddling oars in a rowboat (2:54). A Canadian Royal Navy Ensign flag (3:08); artillery firing; sailors looking through binoculars; sailors rowing in a rowboat. A man in a life vest with oil on his face; the film zooms out to show the same photo on the front page of a newspaper and a voiceover describing what it was like being at war (4:00); a man who works at a steel mill and helps build ships at a breakfast table with his wife closes the newspaper and says, “They’re doing real things out there.” He gets up, takes his cap, and leaves the house (4:48). He works on a factory assembly line making steel plates for the ships (5:56) and shows a sailor where it goes on the ship; the sailor takes him to see a ship launch. Construction workers drill parts to finish building the ship (7:24). Workers pour molten ore into a mold to cast a propeller (8:26); the film details the steps involved in its construction. Workers in Canada sand a propeller (9:01). Workers examine auxiliary motors for an engine (9:35); take material out of a furnace for pressure gauges and valves (10:42), use a lathe to drill the gauge, and calibrate them (11:15). Workers operate the generator and pumps, and feed wire and rubber into a furnace (12:36), then spin it into cables (14:08). Spare parts for the ship are shown, including fire extinguishers, engine parts, and helms (14:58). Crowds with umbrellas gather to watch the newly-built ship, the HMCS Cobalt, a Flower-class Royal Canadian Navy corvette, ship set sail from port (15:25). A group of men smoking pipes gather at Joe’s restaurant (16:15) with the steel worker and one, Charlie, describes what happens after ships launch. A ship telegraph set to “full ahead” (16:57). Another man describes how steel is made for the ships: iron ore is shown going into a blast furnace (17:42), the slag being drawn off, and going into a mold to form ingots (19:30). The film ends with the men saying they all play a role in the ship-building process, and “the ship’s only as good as the builders can make her.” Credits: M&S No. 4

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com