Immediately after graduating in January 1913,Original graduation certificate in Library and Archives of Canada, Admiral Murray papers, Collection MG30 E207 Murray went to sea as a midshipman on the Royal Navy armoured cruiser ,Naval Personnel records of Leonard Murray in Library and Archives Canada AE42-14-29 and 60-M-11 Vol 3. protecting British interests in the Mexican Revolution, and then in the armoured cruiser . This was a tense moment for Canada's fledgling navy: the Government of Robert Borden favoured a policy of providing ships and sailors to the British navy, but was blocked by the opposition led by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who advocated for Canada to have its own navy.
