Harold Taylor Wood Grant

During the First World War, Grant was sent to the British Royal Navy for further training and was a midshipman with HMS Leviathan in February 1917. He then served aboard HMS Roxburgh and HMS Minotaur in the Atlantic and North Sea. In 1919, Grant was promoted to sub-lieutenant and posted aboard HMS Warwick that saw service in the Baltic Sea. He returned to Canada in 1923. That year he was posted to HMCS Patriot based at Halifax and HMCS Patrician based at Vancouver, British Columbia, the following year. Beginning in 1927, Grant served in several Royal Navy warships including the battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Queen Elizabeth. He returned to Canada again in 1934.[2]

Considered an above average officer by senior Canadian officers Leonard W. Murray and George C. Jones, Grant was earmarked for early promotion and reached the rank of commander in 1935. Grant chose navigation as his specialty and attended Royal Navy staff courses.[3] Upon his return to Canada, he was appointed to HMCS Saguenay.[2] In 1932, he married Christian Mitchell of Halifax, from an old Haligonian family and a secretary to the deputy minister of Defence. He served as Director of Canadian Naval Plans and Director of Naval Reserves. It was during this period that the Chief of the Naval Staff, Percy W. Nelles rebuked Grant, having thought his promotion had gone to his head and earned a reprimand for poor behaviour.[3][4] In 1936, Grant was sent back overseas to join the staff of the Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet and take further staff courses. In 1938, he returned to Canada and was appointed commanding officer of the destroyer HMCS Skeena.[2]

HMS Enterprise in November 1943 while Grant was in command.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Grant was a member of the command staff of the Atlantic Coast. Promoted to captain in 1940, he became Director of Naval Personnel. It was during this period that Grant suggested that the expansion of the navy be halted to consolidate and train the existing personnel. He was overruled. Grant was then sent east where he appointed Captain (D) in St. John's in command of the destroyers assigned to the Newfoundland Escort Force. Six months later he was made commanding officer of the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Diomede in March 1943. This was done by Nelles to give Canadian officers experience with larger ships as the Royal Canadian Navy was intending to acquire cruisers and aircraft carriers as the war continued. Six months later, he shifted his command to the cruiser HMS Enterprise.[4][5] He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for "gallantry and skill and good service in command of HMS Enterprise in an action with enemy destroyers".

On December 28, 1943, in the Bay of Biscay, Enterprise and fellow light cruiser, HMS Glasgow took on 11 German destroyers. The two ships sank three German ships, damaged several other German ships and chased the rest of the German ships into a French port. He was Mentioned in Despatches for his service during the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. During the invasion, Enterprise conducted shore bombardment in support of the invasion forces at Utah Beach. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the United States for his actions during the naval bombardment of Cherbourg on June 25, 1944, during which he was wounded in an exchange with shore batteries. After leaving Enterprise, Grant returned to Royal Canadian Navy service and commissioned the cruiser HMCS Ontario and deployed to the Pacific. However, the surrender of Japan ended the war before Ontario could arrive and instead Grant and the cruiser helped re-establish British control over Hong Kong. Grant was awarded the Companion of the Order of the British Empire in January 1946.[2][6]

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.[7] 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.[8] Grant was considered "blunt, arbitrary, a firm decision-maker and a sea-dog to the core."[9]

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.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]