My grandfather worked on the Bras Dor. He went out on it a couple times, he was an engineer and worked on electrical and research projects.

my dad was one of the propulsion engineers on the Bras d’Or, out of United Aircraft in Longeuil. He had worked on the Napier Deltic-powered fast torpedo boats for the Royal Navy, and not long after he moved back to Canada, to act as Napier’s representative out of Montreal, it started to become clear that Napier was in trouble, and wasn’t doing the cutting edge engineering he loved. He saw gas turbines as where the action was. So he moved to UA, first working for Pratt & Whitney in the US. They were affiliated companies, and I think he believed they were doing more interesting work. But his Canadian passport landed him in Montreal. The timing was good though, because he was part of this project, and then afterwards, the DDH -280 class. He was onboard the Bras d’Or on its trials, and said to his son (me), who couldn’t get enough of these stories, that the time when the ship started to lift, as it got up on the foils, and accelerate, was the only thing more terrifying and amazing than those british torpedo boats at speed.

Canadian government once more meddled with procurement and cancelled another amazing program. Their excuse that Canada was moving away from ASW was nothing more than a smokescreen. 50 years later and we are still using frigates designed for ASW and are currently designing their replacement around, you guessed it, ASW. This ship would have been the perfect littoral patrol boat: fast, minimal crew requirement, lightly armed, and best of all, seaworthy. As a very green young sailor, I saw her being towed out of Halifax harbour. One of the old hands was a boatswain during her high speed trials. He told us that at high speed, she screamed like a banshee but the ride was as smooth as his sweetheart “bum cheeks”. Thank you for this documentary. Bravo Zulu!

Back in the day I spent a couple of weeks on the Bras D'Or as a cook on assigned duty. Went on a couple of high speed foil runs before returning back to the steamers. What a thrill for someone who was still a kid!

I was born is the Bras d'Or's hometown, and strangely this great piece of Canadian history seems to have been largely forgotten here. I remember discovering the Bras d'Or whilst working at the local museum one summer, they had an exhibition about shipbuilding at Marine Industries, and not one mention of the fastest military ship in the world being built there...

I'd not seen that footage of Bras d'Or settling down into the water before, I'd only seen footage and photos of it getting up to speed. Unexpectedly graceful!

Another stellar piece of documentary! It's always a happy day when a new Polyus video comes out! The leaps and bounds in Canadian defense research during the mid-century are some of the most interesting stories of the time. Thank you for what you do. 😁

I seem to remember going to Halifax as a kid and passing this beauty on the way. Never truely appreciated it. Shame it was never used in the intended ASW role, or used in a Littoral Class style use. Thank you so much for this information!

My Dad is going to like this vid. thanks...He served in the Canadian Navy and to this day has a air solenoid on display in his workshop taken from this ship back in the day when he served.

The barge it sat on was built specifically for Bras D'Or by Pictou Industries for $800 k , no tender. It was submersible with 18 ballast tanks and was galvanized inside and out. Beaver Marine Construction obtained it from Crown Assets and utilized it building floating concrete wharf caissons in Nova Scotia for many years.

Awesome video! My lead hand when I was Buffalo mechanic at DH in the 70s was on the FH400. He was one of some DH techs who were sent to Marine Industries because the ship used aircraft AN and MS standard components for hydraulics and other systems and MI mechanics needed to be retrained on the differences. The control wheels in the bridge of the ship were straight from the Caribou/Buffalo parts bin.

I'm from Sorel and a former Naval cadet, and the ship has always had a special place in the city's ship building history. Great to see so many pics and video of her in action.

My late father was in the navy. He took me to see Bras d'Or in Halifax. I saw her running. Very cool.

*- I worked for a canoe company started by the hydrodynamics engineers for HMCS Bras D'Or.* *- Phenomenal hull design: stable, fast, rugged, light, and with compound curves throughout.* *- The Eskasoni peoples loved it because they could use it better than their own designs.* *- Their judgment of it was it was the best they had ever used.*

My grandfather was an instrumentation tech on the project. Starting in Sorel he worked and moved with the ship to Halifax and was on board for many of the sea trials. At one time I listened to old recordings of the sea trials on reel to reel cassettes that he had kept in an old shoe box

Ace Job Polyus Studios for this slick HMCS Bras D'Or Documentary. I was born in 1971, it died in 1971, feel a strange affinity to this wonderful piece of Canadian 'Golden Age' Tech. The close ties to DeHavilland are very interesting, plane/boat? boat/plane? who cares its flipping fast!

In 1965 I worked for the Canadian Aeronautical Establishment in Ottawa. I was friendly with a Navy man who was researching the name Bras D'Or to be certain that the name had no negative connotation in history and mythology. At the same time there was a test platform set up in the next lab which could perform all the gyrations expected of the hydrofoil. It was used to test crews probable performance on a new type of ship.

My old boss was a retired US Navy Commander who was at one time the captain of the US Navy hydrofoil the USS Pegasus (PHM-) It had a top speed of 48 knots (55.24 mph). It seemed like a good idea at the time but the career of this class vessel was relatively short-lived (1977-1993).

I was a part of a U.S. Navy team assigned to document a captured ussr hydroplane spy boat that was captured in the 70's. The engineers determined that it could perform at 80 to 100 knots in shallow water in coastal areas and it was no bigger than a WW2 PT boat. It had such a low radar profile and wood hulled that it was almost invisible to sea based radar. The Kennard was a single steerable ski design that had adjustable vertical angle. The drive was turbine type and used water jet propulsion.

Great stuff. My dad was in the Navy from 1959 to 1994. For many years you could see the Bras Dor sitting on dry land with its foils covered in the Dartmouth navy docks. I didn't realize they had moved it to a park.

I have lived in Halifax all my life and remember seeing her blazing across Bedford Basin as a youth. Everyone around here knew about her...her and "The Bonnie." Though the vessel was quite famous in these parts, this video has filled blanks in her story. Thanks for choosing The Bras D'Or as your subject. Well done!

One of my instructors in the Navy back in the late 80's was a radioman on board. He told me of times the Captain wanted to go to Bermuda for the weekend and that was that, off they went. They'd race down on a Friday in a matter of hours, and come back Monday morning.

I live a few km away from the Musée Maritime du Québec, where the Bras d'Or is located now. We used to go to the museum at lunch time when I was in high school. The people at the museum were letting us wondering around the outside parc where the Bras d'Or and the Ernest Lapointe (an ice breaker) are located. We couldn't go in the ships, but it was always nice to be there in this beautiful "boat park", just beside the Fleuve St-Laurent. Haven't been for a few years, I should go back and revisit the unique hydrofoil!

Thank you for making these beatuftiful documnentrays. As a Canadian, I take great pride of our legacy in aviation and science as a whole. However I can never shake this feeling that this era of Canadian inovation has come to an end. With the slow death of Bombardiar being the latest example. Thank you again for your excelent work.

First class production, fascinating and extremely educational. Canada obviously has a lot to be proud of in some of these technologies, and thank you for bringing that to light! Thanks for all of your hard work in researching and producing these videos.

I can’t thank you enough for bring up Canada achievements in technology and sciences. Thank you!

My father worked on it. I remember him taking me on a tour when I was very young. It was after the fire.

Have always been fascinated by this ship. Thank you for another great video on Canada's military history! Looking forward to the next one.

The silver dart. My old boss loved to tell the story of his grandfather flying it. It is a great story.

Truly KZfaqs most underrated channel! Great video!

I'm Canadian, and I'd never heard of this wierd and wonderful ship. Thanks for sharing this!

Bravo Zulu, Brad! A really nice overview of the project and the background specs with some terrific footage. I have to say, as a former naval officer, that the excuse for cancelling the project - moving away from ASW and choosing vessels that were "more versatile" - is a bit of a red herring. ASW is still our fundamental area of expertise and having additional smaller, faster (and cheaper to build, crew, deploy and maintain) vessels would have given us more flexibility in carrying out our sovereignty patrols, not less. The cavitation problems eventually may have proved insurmountable and ultimately have led to the project's cancellation (though that remains an open question), but this was a budget cutting exercise at the cost of operational flexibility and technical innovation, plain and simple. I think this is amply illustrated by the fact we only added 4 DDHs to the fleet in the 20 years that followed, despite the fact that our entire fleet of DDHs was already between 10-20 years long in the tooth when Bras D'Or was mothballed. Hardly a drive for a more versatile fleet. I remember having a laugh on a STANAVFORLANT deployment when one of my Dutch counterparts complained that their 8-year-old, state-of-the-art Frigate was showing its age. Our contribution to the NATA squadron, as much as I loved her, was over 30 with some technology dating back to WWII. If you ever decide to update the video there are a few suggestions I'd like to offer: There is a video of the Bras D'Or doing heavy sea trials in company with HMCS Fraser, if you can find it. It breaks down the rate of seasickness in the two vessels, with the Bras D'Or performing much better than the Fraser, despite being less than half her length and about 1/10th her displacement. Also, it might be nice to mention Thomas G. Lynch's book, "The Flying 400", which is a wealth of information and can still be tracked down, though I think it's no longer in print. And finally, a note on terminology: Canadian warships are referred to as either "The" or "HMCS" but never as "The HMCS". That essentially translates as "The Her Majesty's Canadian Ship". The media in Halifax still gets that wrong despite the navy being here for the last 270 years. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to your next production!

There's something satisfyingly majestic about how he sits back on the water

Thanks for this excellent information. I have seen the HMCS Bras d'Or on two occasions while travelling to eastern Canada and have marvelled at the design. Its so great to get all of this background information.

Fascinating. I travelled regularly in Auckland Harbour crossings in the Manu Wai. A NZ built Hydrofoil that was 72 feet long, could travel at 40 MPH with 75 people on board. This was 1964 through to 1973.

In the sixties we had a hydrofoil ferryline from Copenhagen Denmark, to Malmoe Sweden. I travelled many times with these boats, they was fast, and overall a great succes.

This was so worth the wait! I grew up outside of Halifax, so cool to see footage and pictures from there. Hydrofoils fascinate me a lot. I've been at the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck and have worked in that area a lot. Thanks for doing this one. May I suggest a video on the DEW line construction and operations? I work in the arctic a fair bit, and find it fascinating. I've seen the Tundra train at the Whitehorse museum. I grew up close to a Pinetree line base in Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia. Was always spooky but intriguing. Or maybe a video on the High Arctic Weather Stations. I've been to Eureka and Mold Bay ones, so far. Love having a Canadian channel like this. Always classy and informative. Keep it coming!

Interesting ship. I knew a machinist mate that served on it and he said that they did a speed run to Bermuda from Halifax once. This was in the days before GPS navigation and his one comment was if we had missed Bermuda by 5 nautical miles they would not have had enough fuel to make it to port and would have been looking for a tow. He also said that after they did the “rough sea trials” they had to dry dock it for almost a year to repair the cracks in the foil pivot supports. Very fast but high on maintenance.

I am always happy to see you post a new video. This one was on par with all your other ones... Excellent! Thank you!!

FYI, maraging steel is pronounced “miraging” as in a mirage not “marriaging”. Maraging steel is really cool stuff. It's what was used to make the springs on the moon buggys.

In 1978 I was posted ashore to the Cdn Forces Maritime Warfare School(now Center) as an ABRP. During the 2 years there I found on one of the lowest decks a group of abandoned offices previously used for the Brador project, and here I found drawings, specification tables, photos and, most interestingly, a pile of films of testing runs and engineering discussions. I tried to stow away some of the documents and films in the library but with little success. In the meantime the spaces used for the project were torn out to refit a new trainer. I doubt there is much of any of that material remains unfortunately.

The US Navy had several of these at Key West, FL. I was on one in 1986. They were used for drug interdiction.

Remember her running up and down halfax in lat60s early 70s.Commander Gord Edward's was the captain and I knew a few fellas who served on her. She made a record speed run from Halifax to Bermuda

The DDH-280 Iroquois class benefited from the development work done on Bras D'Or,. The 280's were the first Western Destroyers built with all Gas-Turbine propulsion using lessons learned here, and the Combat Control System also benefited from the work done on the system for Bras D'Or.

I remember visiting the Bras d'Or 25+ years ago as a kid. I even recognized the pictures used in this video as looking familiar, with the stairs and all... But no memory where the ship was located. Thank you for that trip down memory lane. It's sad hydrofoils never became a thing in the end. It would be amazing today.

Another Great video! I was looking forward to this one and you did an amazing job! Definitely the most informative on the HMCS Bras D’or I have come across!

My father was a commander in the Canadian Navy in the 1960's. He took us young kids down to Halifax harbor on one of the final times that the Bras D'or was running up and down the harbor ( It may have been Canada Day July 1st 1969 or 1970 as there were large crowds and many small private boats in the harbor). The only thing I remember other than the amazing sight of watching a large ship flying up the harbor faster than a water ski boat was the sound of the turbine. Painfully LOUD! It was unbelievable, an ear piercing, high pitched whistle like 10,000 steam kettles. Off the charts loud. Everyone in the crowd onshore had their hands over their ears because it hurt. Thanks for the informative video.

How's everyone in this comments section got a personal story about this boat

I took a hydrofoil from Dover to Ostend back in the early 90s when Interrailling. Going up the English Channel was like a river trip.

Man I have just got to say how cool it is that so many of these are still around in museums. Nice job, Canada. Two thumbs up.

Fantastic Canadiana, I'm happy to hear about our proud defense developments and innovations . Reminds me of the Heritage Moments of yesteryear TV reruns. Can't wait for your next documentary Polyus, keep up the fire ☺

I saw this ship as a kid and I didn't remembered it's name until today. Thanks you for this documentary.

Another great video. As a kid I heard about HMCS Bras d'Or but there wasn’t much information on her. Thanks for taking the time and putting this together.

Production quality and content continue to get better and better! The best yet!! Very interesting and engaging. Well done!!

In 1963 Dehaviland Aircraft moved to the old Avro Aircraft facilities ( Avro Arrow build site). In Malton Ontario Canada. Dehaviland had a contract to build the DC9 wings for Douglas Aircraft. I was on that program. One of the buildings had large wood mockups of large sections of the Bras Dor . Why there I don’t know .

The information and photos of the foil developement are excellent. Thanks

An excellent video by Polyus. It's kinda frustrating to think Canadian technology & innovation has provided the Ottawa government with potential game changer (Arrow, Bras d'Or) only for lack of finance to thwart their development to the fullest potential.

The Germans had delved into hydrofoils and the placing/arrangement of the foils themselves deserves some mention. I only rode once on hydrofoil, ferry of Italian origin and it was rock steady, I was really impressed.

I remember seeing her on dry dock in Halifax as a boy. Always wanted to see her in the water.

I remember her. She was at Shearwater on a cradle when I took sailing lessons at the yacht club in the 70s. You could walk right up to her

This was just excellent. I knew about the Bras D’or, but was unaware of the back story. Terrific! Thank you.

Cool story that I was unaware of. Thanks for posting it!

I recall the excitement of it when I was a kid. Ultimately if it had been a preferable platform, someone would have used it along the way.

On a planned motorcycle trip from Ontario to ride the Cabot Trail I took one day to stay put and went to the museum in Baddeck; lovely town for tourists to relax. From the outside the museum didn't look like it was worth the hour ride to get there but I ended up spending hours going through it. If you have a curious mind about "things" and engineering, it is enthralling. Bell did so much more than the telephone - like it was a side note to his more philanthropic efforts to human welfare. He was a collaborator instead of a competitor and had a hand in many things of medical diagnostics, aeronautics and propulsion we exploit to this day teaming up with other inventors in those fields.

It's so epic looking when cruising up on its foils. Really looks like it means business

It is terrific to have such a great source on the Northern contributions to our continental defense! Thank you for such great content!

The Skjold class of active duty corvetttes have apparently been clocked in excess of 80 knots - close to 150 km/h - design goal was to exceed 60 knots

Thank you. Educational and entertaining. Always good to learn more.

Worked for de Haviland at the time in public relations, we were very excited about the Bras d'Or. What happened was the foils kept cracking and the cost was extraordinary high. Was a very interesting time, if they could have corrected this problem it would have been a great ship.

Fascinating!! I am a wing foiler and appreciating the efficiency of foiling a lot these days... It is not just the top speed, but I believe the foiling will definitely save the fuel consumption while cruising at the same 'low' speed. It will be even more awesome if the foils are somehow retractable..

Great vid, as always! Now I need to go see this ship! What a beauty!

Thanks so much for going into great depth on what used to be a Wikipedia page I didn't quite comprehend to me!!!

Commander Edwards was Captain of the Bras'dor, he was previous a Navy pilot. I was flying in a Sea King Helicopter out of Shearwater, listening on my radios, I heard Cmdr Edwards contact Shearwater Airfield Control tower and ask for landing Instructions, he gave the ships side number, he was actually coming into Halifax Harbour, at a very high speed, I could see him out my window, the person on duty at Shearwater tower, asked him to repeat his side number and location, stating that the tower had no aircraft on their radar. Someone in the tower actually knew Cmdr Edwards and finally recognized 400 as the Bras'dor, it made for an interesting exchange between the tower base and the hydrofoil.

My father John Meunier was on this ship. He did Halifax to Bermudas for tests. Dad was a divers officer until 1971.

Interesting that Bras Dor was powered by the P&W FT4A2. I wouldn't be surprised if the research that went into the selection of the FT4 for the Bras Dor is what prompted it's use in the Iroquois class destroyers - the first warships to be powered exclusively by gas turbines. Bras Dor and the 280 class: two great Canadian firsts. Incredibly well done video! Love your inclusion of the technical aspects and details.

This was a wonderful documentary. You make great videos and I hope they are seen widely. Thanks! Looking forward to more.

Crazy video! I am from Halifax, build boats and love hydrofoil designs and am pretty sure my Grand Father served on the Bon Adventure but I did not know any of this!

once again, another awesome video. it's clear you don't rush your research and your videos. Your videos are essays and how I wish I could have done my history essays as a video like you have.

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

Another absolute gem of a doc! Well done!

I remember seeing the Boeing hydrofoil on Puget Sound (Seattle). I thought it would be the coolest thing to belong to that operation somehow. The project ended with no real explanations, except for floating hazards like logs. I can see where that would be a problem, but didn’t believe that was the whole story. In this video I learned that cavitation, materials, foil design strategy all played a part in the demise of the military hydrofoil. Nowadays they have the computer power to eliminate bad guesswork and proceed with better designs should they decide to do so. The same underlying problem, cavitation, will still be there to deal with.

Excellent documentary, on a very interesting subject. Thanks

That pic of the HMCS Bonaventure makes Dartmouth look like a foreign land nowadays

Very good video on the HMCS Bras D'Or, I'm still anxiously waiting for your video on the CF-105

Used to take hydrofoils in Greece between the islands in the 1980's - fast and stable ride!

Always great to see a new film from you :-)

Good on you bringing real Canuck engineering vids of history. Stability under fire made the foil impractical in some ways due to heavy waves and damage weakness

Amazing a channel for Canadian military development amazing

This is sort of like the Avro Arrow of boats. Fast, innovative, and better than anything else at the time, but relegated to the "could have been".

Bell also tested them in Maine. Our Navy Beach ⛱️ Jumpers tested the for Tactical Fleet Deception use as well. They were good for laying fast smokescreens around a Fleet( or lack thereof.)

As a Canadian, I've posted about this on my Facebook several times. Friends and family don't seem to care about its history -_- We'll try again with me posting this video.

I did visit the Musée Maritime in l'Islet-sur-Mer a few years ago. If you ever visit the city of Québec, by all means, make a small detour and go visit the museum.

Alexander Graham Bell was a Canadian. Born in Scotland but lived in Canada. He was a Citizen of Canada although he was renowned for his inventions in both Canada and the US. But that didn't make him American let alone an American Inventor or Canadian-American Inventor. He was a Canadian Inventor who created some inventions in the USA.

I really wish they could have gotten that for display near the Bell Museum.

As usual, Excellent work!

Great video ,very informative . Thank You !!

Fascinating. I would have loved to see that ripping down Halifax Harbour.

THIS SHIP SAT IN THE HALIFAX HARBOR FOR 20 YEARS AND DID NOT MOVE.

My granddad worked on the Bras D'or, as a foreman iirc. My dad had chests full of plans and documents about the boat, couldn't find anyone to take it at the time and had to throw it in the garbage. Sad news. A warm greeting to all other Peloquins stumbling through here 😊

The Beetle 2 is a Boeing hydrofoil ferry linking Hakata, Japan, and Busan, South Korea. I've ridden it many times, including once during a typhoon.