Provincial Marine

Provincial Marine was a coastal protection service in charge of the waters in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and parts of Lake Champlain under British control. While ships of the Provincial Marine were designated HMS, they were operated in more of a coast guard manner than as a full fledged navy. Operations were maintained and staffed by the Royal Navy. Most ships of the Provincial Marine were built in the Great Lakes.

The Provincial Marine followed the practices and rank structure of the Royal Navy, but with some flexibility. The Provincial Marine were established and controlled by the army and manned by personnel borrowed from the navy, by soldiers, and by direct recruitment of Great Lakes sailors. The Provincial Marine used lightly armed topsail schooners for transportation purposes.

The Provincial Marine's base was Carleton Island, on Lake Ontario from 1785–89. The base was moved to Point Frederick (Kingston, Ontario) Kingston and was used from this location from 1789 until 1813. Merchants who were originally located on Carleton Island and moved to Kingston used Provincial Marine vessels for transshipment of goods.