Interview with Steve White

Narrator: White, Karl S., 1946- Interviewer: Interviewed by Xander Hannaford-Craveiro Interview Date and Location: 18 March 2025, Victoria BC Synopsis This interview goes over Commander Steven White’s time in the Royal Canadian Navy from his beginnings as a Navigating Officer upon joining in 1968 and the roles of this position, the requirements for commanding a vessel which White obtained, before moving on to opinions on the unification of the branches of the Canadian military and current capabilities of the navy. From there, the interview moves on to the importance of the NATO alliance, port tours and deployments with NATO during his career, before moving on to an incident his ship HMCS Nipigon was involved in a NATO training mission which received little media coverage. The interview finishes with interesting workings on navy ships, Commander White’s post navy career, and finishing with his greatest achievements and lessons that could be learned from his service. 00:00 – 07:12 – Opening Remarks & reason for joining the navy 07:12 – 11:36 – Navigating Officer’s role 11:36 – 17:00 – How far White thought he’d go in the navy and the requirements of command 17:00 – 23:09 – Thoughts on the unification of the Canadian military branches into the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and thoughts on current Canadian navy capabilities 23:09 – 25:28 – Importance of the NATO alliance and Article Six of the NATO Charter 25:28 – 33:03 – Port tours and deployments in NATO operations 33:03 – 41:45 – 1993 Helicopter incident 41:45 – 48:47 – Fun Facts and Post-Navy Years 48:47 – 59:16 – Closing Statements & Achievements

In Collection:

• Canadian Military Oral Histories

Contributor

• Hannaford-Craveiro, Xander
• White, Karl S., 1946-

Subject

• Military history
• Canada. Royal Canadian Navy
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Language

• eng

Identifier

• Interview #SC141_WS_940

Keyword

• RCN
• HMCS Mackenzie
• HMCS Nipigon
• Helicopter loss
• Commanding Officer
• NATO ops
• Assistant Weapons Officer

Date created

• March 18, 2025

Relation

• Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews (HIST 426, 2025).

Resource type

• Moving Image

Rights statement

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Extent

• 00:59:16

Alternative title

• Stories From the Royal Canadian Navy in NATO Operations: Through the Testimony of Colonel Stanley Brygadyr and Commander Karl Steve White

Physical Repository

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Collection

• Canadian Military Oral History Collection

Provider

• University of Victoria (B.C.). Library

Genre

• interviews
• oral histories (literary genre)
• video recordings (physical artifacts)
• reminiscences

Archival item identifier

• Accession Number: 2026-0008; Series: V; Item: 940

Fonds title

• Military oral history collection

Fonds identifier

• SC141

Is referenced by

• Special Collections Finding Aid: https://search.archives.uvic.ca/military-oral-history-collection

Date digitized

• 2025

Technical note

• Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in Spring 2025. Recorded in digital format by interviewer. Keywords supplied by interviewer. Metadata by KD.

Rights

• This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.58066/j6x2-g677