Harold Taylor Wood Grant place of death Ottawa
Chief of the Naval Staff
Grant was promoted rear admiral in February 1946 and was appointed Chief of Administration Services and Supply in Ottawa, Ontario. He served as deputy to Chief of the Naval Staff Howard E. Reid, but for the most part, influenced the policy of the time more than Reid. Following the end of the war, the Royal Canadian Navy was greatly reduced in size, with fewer ships and those ships in service only partially manned. Grant had a tendency to promote regular force officers over those of reserve backgrounds. He also maintained that senior officers did not require formal staff training. Grant was considered "blunt, arbitrary, a firm decision-maker and a sea-dog to the core."By the time of Grant's promotion to vice admiral, appointment as the Chief of the Naval Staff and successor to Reid on September 1, 1947, the Minister of National Defence, Brooke Claxton sought to focus the navy's efforts on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) defence. Grant approved of Canada's new commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, he disapproved of Claxton's interference in naval affairs and some of these, including the re-arrangement of ranks within Canada's armed forces was one of the factors that led to a series of personnel unrest in 1949. Following the unrest, a commission was set up by Claxton headed by Rear-Admiral Rollo Mainguy. Grant wanted the commission to be internal, but Claxton refused. Mainguy was Grant's man on the commission while Claxton chose Louis Audette, a former naval reservist who disliked Grant. The report latter found that several deficiencies in morale, training and leadership. It also affirmed that a Canadian identity for the navy should be expanded. Grant had already put in motion several initiatives to correct them, with the exception of the Canadian identity. Grant initially refused to support this recommendation and it was only  with Claxton's pushing that Grant acted on it.In 1950, the Korean War began and the Royal Canadian Navy was the only Canadian force able to send units immediately to the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, Grant was pushing for increased support for naval aviation and the new St. Laurent-class destroyers. The Korean War allowed Grant to seek funds for naval expansion and seven of the  St. Laurents were authorised, along with increased personnel and active ships. The first of the St. Laurents, HMCS St. Laurent was launched on November 30, 1951. On December 1, Grant retired. The launch of St. Laurent established Canada's naval identity for the remainder of the Cold War as an ASW-specialised force. Grant was succeeded as Chief of the Naval Staff by Vice-Admiral Rollo Mainguy. After retiring, he continued with naval life, serving as the president of the Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund from 1956 to 1963. Grant died in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, Ontario on May 8, 1965. He was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Halifax. He was survived by his wife and three children.
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