According to Ken Macpherson & Ron Barrie, "The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910-2002", Vanwell Publishing, 2002, SURF was (probably) a part of the Fishermen's Reserve formed in 1938 on the Canadian West Coast, made up of 17 ships by Oct. 1941, mostly fishing craft of various kinds, with 25 more added in Dec. 1941 (20 of them seized from their Japanese-Canadian owners) and during the following months. The force performed an useful inshore patrol service, as their skippers were familiar with the intricacies of the British Columbia coastline. In August 1942 formal training of its personnel was begun at Esquimalt at an establishment called Givenchy II. After the danger of a Japanese attack faded, through 1943 and 1944 Fishermen's Reserve personnel were discharged or recruited into the RCNVR. By the end of 1944 the force had ceased to exist, the only five ships still in service manned by the RCNVR at Prince Rupert.