To check the list of all Commanding Officers of VANGUARD, and their biographies, click here.

To check the list of all Coxswains of VANGUARD, including their biographies, please click here.

The ROYAL CANADIAN SEA CADET CORPS VANGUARD is a unit of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, which trains on Tuesday evenings, from 1830Hrs (6:30pm) to 2130Hrs (9:30pm) and is supported by the Navy League of Canada and the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Forces (CF).

VANGUARD is housed at HMCS YORK, a CF Facility. The Officers of RCSCC VANGUARD are fully commissioned Officers in the Canadian Forces. These officers are members of the Cadet Instructor Cadre, solely responsible for the training, development and safety of VANGUARD Cadets.

Although the Officers are CF Officers, the cadets are not members of the military, thus making the need between the CF/DND and the Navy League an obvious benefit to the program.

The current Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps VANGUARD was formed by the merger of two former units, RCSCC HAIDA and RCSCC ARK ROYAL in 1958. The first Commanding Officer of RCSCC VANGUARD was Lieutenant Desjardin, and the first Coxswain was CPO1 John Chattoe. The merger only received formal recognition in November of 1963, when it received the VANGUARD name and badge from the Navy League of Canada. Also included were some of the Navy League Wrenette Corps ISABEL MCNEIL, which seased to exist when Sea Cadets started accepting young women as members.

The newly formed RCSCC VANGUARD moved to its current location at HMCS YORK in early 1959, when the Navy League sold the building where VANGUARD was stationed, to the Royal Canadian Legion (Currently, it is the location of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 344 -Queens Own Rifles of Canada, at 1395 Lakeshore Boulevard West - Toronto). 

In 1968, The Right Honourable, Admiral Louis Mountbatten, The Earl of Burma, Viceroy of India, Admiral of the Fleet, visited RCSCC VANGUARD and dutifully signed the Ship's Log. This page of the Ship's Log is proudly displayed in the Commanding Officer's cabin.

VANGUARD cadets are well known for their attitude and devotion to their ship and shipmates. Many former VANGUARD cadets volunteer with the unit on a regular basis, when others always drop by for a visit. Former VANGUARD cadets along with former cadets from the Original HAIDA, ARK ROYAL, Original ILLUSTRIOUS and TEMERAIRE helped form the Toronto Sea Cadet Alumni Association which started with a reunion held at the old HAIDA/VANGUARD barracks at 1395 Lakeshore Rd. W. on 05 October, 2003.  (over 150 former cadets, relatives and friends were in attendance).

ABOUT OUR BADGE

1) Badge of Namesake Ship - HMS VANGUARD

Many corps are named for a past or present ship of the RN, RCN or Canadian Navy. . While a corps is not obliged to use the badge of its namesake ship, most are honoured to do so. VANGUARD Sea Cadets inherits it name from the usual Canadian practice of naming Sea cadet corps after British and Canadian ships. The VANGUARD Name and Badge carry a very long and proud history, including successes in many Sea Battles. Lord Nelson was once the Commanding Officer of HMS VANGUARD. Princess Elisabeth (Queen Elizabeth II) launched the 9th HMS VANGUARD.  The current HMS VANGUARD is the first of a series of British Ballistic Missile Submarines called the VANGUARD CLASS SUBMARINES. The Officers and Crew of HMS VANGUARD's Port Watch visited RCSCC VANGUARD is June of 1998, occasion in which RCSCC VANGUARD celebrated 40 years since formation.

There is also a British Sea Cadet Corps, TS VANGUARD. They also visited RCSCC VANGUARD for the 40th Anniversary.

You may find more information on the current HMS VANGUARD by clicking here, or on former HMS VANGUARD by clicking here.

Our Name - VANGUARD

The word "VANGUARD" - derived from the French "avant-garde" - is military rather than naval in origin, and applied to the detachment of an army sent in advance of the main body to guard against surprise.  At sea, it is used in its abbreviated form "VAN".  The idea of being to the front is implicit, in both forms; hence the ship's motto - "WE LEAD".

Our Ship's Crest

Records of the crests worn by earlier Vanguards are far from complete, but it seems to have been the practice for each ship to adopt a fresh design. The crest of Nelson's Vanguard -" the stern works of a ship of the line, all proper" - was an illustration of the van ship as she would appear to her own fleet.  That of the Vanguard of 1835 portrayed a sailing ship appearing over a distant horizon, an enemy's first view of our van approaching.  The eighth Vanguard's was a profile of Lord Nelson.  

The crest of the ninth Vanguard was a different illustration  of the ship's name, containing also heraldic references to her origin and history:  a spear-head, representing the van, is held on guard by a lion, symbolic of Britain's strength;  they are shown rising from a sea of white and green, the colors of the House of Tudor in whose time the first ship of the name was built;  the lion was also the standard figurehead of the ship of the line of Nelson's day, and is thus a link - though a slender one – between this ship and Nelson's Vanguard, between those who serve in this ship and Nelson.

1) The Naval Crown

This consists of a gold circlet on which are mounted the sterns and sails of square-sailed sailing ships alternately. The sails are always shown as white, the remainder (including the pennants flying from the masts) are shown gold.  The jewels in the circlet are shown in outline only and are not coloured.

2) The Name Plate

This bears the name of the ship or corps only. It does not include the letters, HMCS, RCSCC/CCMRC etc., and does not bear the ship's number or corps administrative file number. For Canadian Navy ships, any contrasting colours may be used for the lettering and background of the nameplate. For RCSCC/CCMRC badges it has been ruled that all corps names will be in black on a gold background. For NLCC/NLWC/CCLN or CWLN the nameplate should also be gold with black letters. If the field is black, blue, green or red white letters can also be used.

3) The Rope Border

In general (and for all newly formed Sea Cadet corps), the circular shape is used. However, a special dispensation has been made for corps name for RN ships that have traditionally employed one of the other shapes, i.e., AJAX, COURAGEOUS, FURIOUS, ILLUSTRIOUS, IMPREGNABLE SCARBOROUGH, VINDICTIVE. They may continue to use that shape so long as the corps remains in existence.

Should these specific corps be shut down and a new corps assumes the name, the circular shape will apply. The border is gold throughout. For NLCC/NLWC/CCLN the same rule will apply. The rope border and base is all gold.

4) The Maple Leaves

These must be red for all Royal Canadian Sea Cadet corps and Navy League Cadet corps, including those named for existing HMC ships (which themselves use the gold outline maple leaves). It is not acceptable for cadets to wear ship's badges purchased directly from the ship. Commanding officers of HMC ships do not have the authority to allow Sea Cadets to wear CF ship approved badges. Commanding officers of Sea Cadet corps must recognize that each element have specifically approved badges and must not allow for the wearing or use of unapproved badges on CF cadet approved uniforms or other areas such as plaques, letterhead, posters or accoutrements.