page_title: Sydney, Nova Scotia
section_title: Steel city 1900–1945
hierarchical_section_title: Sydney, Nova Scotia / History / Steel city 1900–1945
caption_attribution_description: English: The RMS Queen Mary 2 visiting Sydney, Cape Breton Island on October 1st, 2016. RMS Queen Mary 2 is the flagship of Cunard Line and is one of the larges cruise ships in the world.She is an Ocean Liner, built for crossing the Atlantic Ocean, though she is regularly used for cruising; in the winter season she cruises from New York to the Caribbean on twelve- or thirteen-day tours.
context_page_description: Sydney is a former city and current community located in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Situated on Cape Breton Island's east coast, it belongs administratively to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolved on 1 August 1995, when it was amalgamated into the regional municipality.
  Sydney served as the Cape Breton Island colony's capital, until 1820, when the colony merged with Nova Scotia and the capital moved to Halifax.
  A rapid population expansion occurred just after the turn of the 20th century, when Sydney was home to one of North America's main steel mills. During both the First and Second World Wars, it was a major staging area for England-bound convoys. The post-war period witnessed a major decline in the number of people employed at the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation steel mill, and the Nova Scotia and Canadian governments had to nationalize it in 1967 to save the region's biggest employer, forming the new crown corporation called the Sydney Steel Corporation.
context_section_description: By the early 20th century Sydney became home to one of the world's largest steel plants, fed by the numerous coal mines in the area under the ownership of the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (DOSCO). Sydney's economy was a significant part of Industrial Cape Breton with its steel plant and harbour and railway connections adjoining the coal mining towns of Glace Bay, New Waterford, Sydney Mines and Reserve Mines. The economic boom brought about by industrialization saw the community incorporate as a city in 1904. The growth continued until the 1930s, with the Great Depression causing a slow down in production and growth. World War Two brought prosperity again for the plant, and the coal mines.
  Sydney Harbour played an important role during World War II once a Royal Canadian Navy base, HMCS Protector, was established to stage supply convoys bound for Europe. These convoys tended to be slower and had the prefix SC for Slow Convoy. Convoy SC 7 typified the dangers inherent with the Nazi U-boats off the coast of Cape Breton and Newfoundland during the Battle of the Atlantic, when 20 of the 35 merchant cargo vessels were sunk on their journey to England. Sydney Harbour was one of the hotspots of the Battle of the St. Lawrence. Two notable shipping attacks occurred during this battle: the sinking of the train ferry SS Caribou in October 1942 on its way from North Sydney to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland; and the sinking of the Sydney-based HMCS Shawinigan on 24 November 1944 in the Cabot Strait, near Cape North, on Cape Breton Island. Sydney's coal shipping and steel manufacturing made a significant contribution to the Allied war effort, however federal Minister of Industry, C. D. Howe favoured Central Canada's steel industry given its proximity to a larger workforce and less exposure to coastal attack.
caption: Sydney Harbour aerial view looking towards the north-east. The RMS Queen Mary 2 lies in the harbour.
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