Tucked beneath the A&A lobby, the HMCS King's Wardroom is the College's beloved campus pub.

The pub's wet/dry liquor licence allows all students—including those underage—to enjoy the Wardroom's social atmosphere. Free pool and foosball tables, as well as chess and backgammon boards, are available during the day when the space is used by the neighbouring Day Students' Lounge. A well-stocked lunch counter in the DSL sells fresh baked goods and homemade soup as well as coffee and snack foods.

The History

The black and white photos of old HMCS ships that line the Wardroom walls aren’t merely on display because we think they look good. King’s has a history deeply rooted in the Navy, one that dates back to the Second World War.

The Royal Canadian Navy required more training facilities during the war and universities and colleges were called to the plate. In May of 1941, the University of King’s College contributed to the war effort and officially entered into military service. The campus, transformed into a military unit, was used as a place of instruction for sailors before they were shipped off to various appointments. The school was known as a "stone frigate."

Extracts of ghost stories from the King's archives tell the story of German U-boats that followed convoys and examined their garbage in an effort to find intelligence in discarded pieces of paper. When German propaganda sources found the name of a ship in the garbage, they reported that they had sunk that ship, in an attempt to weaken morale on the home front.

Legend says the Germans obtained the name of the HMCS King's College and reported the "stone frigate" as sunk. Sink she did not—HMCS King’s provided a superb experience for the RCN and graduated thousands of officers before being decommissioned in May of 1945.

More than 30 years later, on April 5, 1979, the HMCS King’s College Wardroom was first established. Funds donated by alumni, faculty, the Nova Scotia Naval Officers’ Association and a five-year pledge of $22,000 from the King's Students' Union were used to build the bar in an old common room in the basement of the A&A building. A nautical theme guided the look of the bar, with wood paneling, photos of WWII ships and a ship’s bell decorating the room.