CSS Acadia CSS " Acadia " is a former hydrographic surveying and oceanographic research ship of the Hydrographic Survey of Canada and its successor the Canadian Hydrographic Service . " Acadia " served Canada for more than five decades from 1913 – 1969 , charting the coastline of almost every part of Eastern Canada including pioneering surveys of Hudson Bay . She was also twice commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN ) as HMCS " Acadia " , the only ship still afloat to have served the RCN in both World Wars . Today she is a museum ship , designated as a National Historic Site of Canada , moored in Halifax Harbour at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic . Retaining her original engines , boilers and little - changed accommodations , she is one of the best preserved Edwardian ocean steamships in the world and a renowned example of Canada ' s earliest scientific prowess in the fields of hydrography and oceanography . History . " Acadia " was designed in Ottawa by Canadian naval architect R . L . Newman for the Hydrographic Survey of Canada and built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Newcastle - on - Tyne in England . Named after Acadia , the early colonial name for Atlantic Canada , she was launched on May 8 , 1913 . " Acadia " arrived in Halifax on July 8 and was commissioned that July upon her first voyage using the prefix CGS , which stood for " Canadian Government Ship . " She saw extensive use prior to 1917 surveying the waters along Canada ' s Atlantic coast , including tidal charting and depth soundings for various ports . Her first two seasons were spent charting in Hudson Bay at Port Nelson and the entrance to Hudson Bay to open the way for a grain port for Manitoba . In her first year she also made the first Canadian surveys of notorious Sable Island and rescued the crew of the steamship " Alette " , crushed by ice in Hudson Bay , the first of many rescues the rugged " Acadia " would make . Among her more enduring work was a survey of the Bay of Fundy which became her longest assignment prior to entering military service in World War I . World War I . CSS " Acadia " was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in January 1917 as a patrol vessel , replacing the CSS prefix with HMCS , thus becoming HMCS " Acadia " . From 1917 until March 1919 , she conducted anti - submarine patrols from the Bay of Fundy along Nova Scotia ' s Atlantic coast and through the Gulf of Saint Lawrence . On December 6 , 1917 , less than 12 months into her war - time service , HMCS " Acadia " survived the disastrous Halifax Explosion . Acadia was serving as guard ship at the entrance to Bedford Basin but suffered only minor damage . Near the end of the war she served as a platform for experiments with anti - submarine balloons . Inter - war period . Following the armistice , HMCS " Acadia " was returned to the Hydrographic Survey of Canada ( renamed the Canadian Hydrographic Service in 1928 ) where she regained her original name CSS " Acadia " and resumed hydrographic survey work throughout the inter - war period of the 1920s - 1930s . Lack of survey funds suspended her operation in 1924 and 1925 . In 1926 she resumed surveys and became the first Canadian research vessel to be fitted with an echo sounder . A major achievement were surveys to establish the port of Churchill , Manitoba . " Acadia " also performed pioneering Canadian oceanographic research . In 1929 " Acadia " rescued the crew of a crashed Sikorsky amphibious aircraft named the " Untin Bowler " who were attempting a round - trip to Europe across Greenland and Iceland sponsored by the Chicago Tribune until the aircraft was destroyed by ice off the tip of Labrador . World War II . CSS " Acadia " was recommissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in October 1939 , once again becoming HMCS " Acadia " . She was first used as a training ship for , a shore - based facility in Halifax . From May 1940 to March 1941 she saw active use as a patrol ship off the entrance of Halifax Harbour , providing close escort support for small convoys entering and leaving the port from the harbour limits at the submarine nets off McNabs Island to the " Halifax Ocean Meeting Point " . After a refit , HMCS " Acadia " was assigned in mid 1941 for use as an anti - aircraft training ship , serving as a gunnery training vessel for crews on board the Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships ( DEMS ) fleet . In June 1944 , HMCS " Acadia " was assigned to the training base HMCS " Cornwallis " and stationed at the nearby port of Digby , Nova Scotia where she was used for gunnery training for recruits and advanced gunnery training for petty officers and officers . Her wartime name of continues in use today for the Sea Cadet summer training camp held at the ship ' s old base at Cornwallis . Later years . With the end of the war , HMCS " Acadia " was paid off by the RCN on November 3 , 1945 , and returned for the second time to the Canadian Hydrographic Service as CSS " Acadia " , the new acronym standing for Canadian Survey Ship . A major post - war assignment was updating and expanding the nautical charts of Newfoundland and Labrador after the province joined Canada in 1949 . In 1962 , " Acadia " rescued hundreds of people from forest fires in Newfoundland , evacuating two towns . In addition to her work with the CHS , CSS " Acadia " participated in military survey missions for the Royal Navy , Royal Canadian Navy , and United States Navy . By the end of her career , " Acadia " had charted almost every region of Atlantic Canada as well as much of the Eastern Arctic . Museum Ship . She was retired from active service on November 28 , 1969 , and was transferred to the Bedford Institute of Oceanography ( BIO ) for use as a museum ship . " Acadia " was declared a National Historic Site in 1976 . On February 9 , 1982 , BIO transferred the CSS " Acadia " to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for preservation and interpretation . She is moored at the Museum ' s North Wharf and open to visitors from May to October . In September 2003 she rode out Hurricane Juan with ease , despite being the oldest vessel in Halifax Harbour . " Acadia " is well known among visitors and animal lovers for being one of the last ships in Halifax that is home to an official ship ' s cat used for rodent control . " Acadia " is drydocked every five years to preserved her hull , formerly at the Dartmouth Marine Slips and at Halifax Shipyard in more recent years . In the summer " Acadia " is joined at the Museum wharves by , operated by the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust . The two nearly identically sized ships present a contrast in shipbuilding eras and offer an ironic comparison as " Sackville " is a warship which became a part - time hydrographic ship and " Acadia " is a hydrographic ship which became a part - time warship . " Acadia " is the only known vessel still afloat to have survived the Halifax Explosion in 1917 . Every on the December 6 anniversary of the explosion , " Acadia " hoists exactly the same signal flags she flew on the day of the explosion . Film Roles . " Acadia " ' s well - preserved decks , cabins and engine room have attracted numerous film makers who have used the ship to depict a wide variety of vessels . These include : Crew . Most of " Acadia " ' s crew came from the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia . Many served their entire careers aboard , an indication that she was regarded as a " happy ship " . Many of her officers were from Newfoundland . As a hydrographic ship , the Hydrographer in Charge was the senior officer , deciding where " Acadia " went and what she did , while the Captain ran the ship ' s day to day operations . In wartime , naval officers took over .