Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is home to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) of the Royal Canadian Navy. The base facility dates back to the fur trade era, before the founding of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1849. The docks were first opened for servicing the Royal Navy in 1842 and were expanded in the wake of the disastrous Siege of Petropavlovsk during the Crimean War as the Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard. The first buildings were three hospital huts to tend the wounded from the Crimea War.