A hydrographic survey carried out by HMS Pandora around 1842, determined that the location and depth of the Esquimalt Harbour would make it acceptable for use as a British naval port on the west coast of North America.

In the summer of 1854, several ships, including President, Pique, Trincomalee, Amphitrite, and Virago, set out from Valparaíso and sailed across the Pacific Ocean, stopping at Marquesas Islands and then proceeding to Honolulu, where they met a French fleet of warships.

In late August, the combined fleets sailed to Russia to engage in the Siege of Petropavlovsk, at which Commander-in-Chief Pacific Station David Price died.

Captain of the Pique Frederick William Erskine Nicolson was brevetted and took command of the British naval forces from 31 August 1854 until the arrival of the next commander-in-chief.

Upon arrival at Esquimalt, Bruce asked Governor James Douglas to provide the navy with a hospital to receive the expected sick and wounded from the Crimean War.

In the late 1860s and early 1870s, any navy vessel in need of hull repair at Esquimalt had to be taken to shipyards in Seattle, Washington, in the United States.

Motivated by a desire to remove the dependence on American shipyards, and as a negotiated term enticing British Columbia to join confederation with Canada in 1871, a graving dock was constructed at Esquimalt starting in 1876.

[16] It is operated by Public Services and Procurement Canada and is the largest non-military hard bottom dry dock on the west coast of the Americas.

[17][18] In February 1942, RMS Queen Elizabeth spent two weeks in the Esquimalt Graving Dock refitting and adding 3,000 extra berths for troopship duty.