Royal Canadian Navy Destroyers (Restigouche Class): HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235); HMCS Columbia (DDE 260); HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236); HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258); HMCS Restigouche (DDE 257); HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256); HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259)
Restigouche-class destroyer escorts
HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235) (II); HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II); HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II); HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II); HMCS Restigouche (DDE 257) (II); HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256) (II); HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259)
HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235) (II)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235) (II). Built at Halifax Shipyards and the last of her class, HMCS Chaudiere was commissioned on 14 Nov 1959. On 2 Oct 1967, she left Halifax to serve on the west coast. Her intended conversion to an IRE was abandoned for reasons of economy, and in 1970 her complement was reduced to training level. On 23 May 1974, she was paid off and thereafter used as a source of spare parts for others of her class. Her bow was removed in 1989 to replaced that of HMCS Kootenay, which had been damaged in a collision. HMCS Chaudiere was sunk as a sport divers' wreck in Sechelt Inlet, BC, on 5 Dec 1992. Lt (N) Dale Ray Skaarup served on this ship.
(City of Vancouver Archives Photo)
HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235) (II).
(City of Vancouver Archives Photo)
HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235) (II).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Chaudière (DDE 235) (II).
HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II)
(City of Vancouver Archives Photo)
HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II). Built by Burrard Dry Dock Ltd., Vancouver, HMCS Columbia was commissioned on 07 Nov 1959, and soon afterward was transferred the east coast. In 1960 she represented Canada at Nigerian Independence observances, returning home on 25 Oct 1960. On 29 Apr 1961, HMCS Columbia and HMCS Restigouche made a port visit at Washington, DC. In Mar 1967 she was transferred to Esquimalt. Paid off on 18 Feb 1974, HMCS Columbia was fitted to "no-thrust wheels" so that her engines might be run at dockside. Sold to the Artificial Reef Society of BC, on 15 Jun 1996, she was sunk as an artificial reef off Maude Island, Campbell River on 14 Jun 1997.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) (II).
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II)
(DND Photo via Brian Dobling)
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II). Laid down at Davie Shipbuilding Ltd, Lauzon, Quebec, HMCS Gatineau was the first post-war product of Davie Shipbuilding. Launched two years later, she was towed to Halifax for completion to avoid freeze-up and commissioned at HMC Dockyard, Halifax, on 17 Feb 1959. For the next ten years she served at part of the 5th Canadian Escort Squadron (the Barber Pole Squadron) . In March 1965, HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Gatineau participated in the search for a Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair CP-107 Argus that had disappeared 60 miles (97 km) north of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In Mar 1968 she was the first Canadian warship to become a member of NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT). HMCS Gatineau was transferred west, departing Halifax on 16 Jul 1969; arriving at Esquimalt on 14 Aug 1969 with port visits to Bermuda, Panama, Acapulco and San Diego. On 9 Sep 1969 she began her IRE conversion at Ship Repair Unit (Pacific). The two year conversion introduced the VDS and ASROC to the class and one her re-commissioning on 14 Apr 1971 she was classified as an IRE. She then became part of the Second Canadian Escort Squadron. Her DELEX refit was also carried out at SRU(P) between Sep 1981 and 12 Nov 1982. In Apr 1987 she resumed her duties in Halifax. In Jul 1993, she played host to three visiting Soviet warships and afterward escorted them to sea while carrying out exercises along the way. In the fall of 1993, HMCS Gatineau, along with HMCS Fraser and HMCS Preserver, assisted in the enforcement of UN sanctions off Haiti. Early in 1995 she took part in the NATO exercise Strong Resolve off the coast of Norway, acting as flagship for the four other Canadian ships involved. Apr 1995 found her operating in support of Fisheries and Coast Guard ships off Newfoundland during the "Turbot Dispute" with Spain. She was finally paid off on 1 July 1998. On 18 Sep 2009, DND called for bids for "the removal, dismantling and disposal" of HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Gatineau. On 4 Nov 2009, DND announced that Aecon Fabco had won the bid and would tow both vessels to their Pictou Shipyard in Pictou, Nova Scotia. HMCS Gatineau departed Halifax Harbour on 17 Nov 2009, under tow by the tugboat Atlantic Elm and arrived in Pictou on 19 Nov 2009, for breaking up.
(Raymond Cumby Photo)
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II).
(Terry Gunn Photo)
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II), Dublin, Ireland, 1966.
(Author Photo)
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II), Halifax, Nova Scotia.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4951312)
HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) (II), view of Chicago, 1959.
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II)
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 482151)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II), in the first lock of the Welland Canal, Ontario, 1959. First of her class to be launched, HMCS Kootenay was built at Burrard Dry Dock, Vancouver, and commissioned there on 7 Mar 1959. After working up, she was transferred to the east coast. In Apr 1963, 12 RCN ships, HMCS Algonquin, HMCS Micmac, HMCS Cayuga, HMCS St. Croix, HMCS Terra Nova, HMCS Kootenay, HMCS Swansea, HMCS La Hulloise, HMCS Buckingham, HMCS Cape Scott, CNAV Bluethroat and CNAV St. Charles, took part in NATO Exercise New Broom Eleven, an exercise designed to test convoy protection tactics. On 23 Oct 1969, while in European waters, she suffered a gearbox explosion that killed 9 crewmen and injured 53 others. She was towed to Plymouth - part of the way by HMCS Saguenay and then to Halifax by a salvage tug. It was the RCN's worst-ever peacetime accident. While she was under repairs, it was decided to convert her to an IRE. She was re-commissioned on 7 Jan 1972. Transferred to the west coast, she departed Halifax on 23 Jan 1973 and arrived in Esquimalt on 12 Feb 1973. HMCS Kootenay had left Esquimalt on 14 May 1973 on Westploy 2/73. HMCS Kootenay’s routine was similar to that of HMCS Terra Nova, exercising with American and Australian naval vessels, and assisting broken-down fishermen. When the Canadian continent left Saigon on 31 July 1973, she was just fifty miles off the coast, the closest either ship was allowed to approach Vietnam. HMCS Kootenay then proceeded home to Esquimalt. On 8 May 1986, HMCS Provider, HMCS Restigouche, HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Kootenay, departed Esquimalt for Exercise RIMPAC 86 and returned on 21 Jun 1986. On 1 Jun 1989, HMCS Kootenay collided in fog off Cape Flattery with the MV Nord Pol, sustaining a sizeable gash in her bow, which was replaced with a matching section from HMCS Chaudiere. From 3 to 7 Jun 1990, HMCS Kootenay visited Vladivostok as part of a Canadian Task Group, the first to do so since the end of the Second World War. On 16 May 1994, HMCS Kootenay 258 departed Esquimalt, BC, for Exercise RIMPAC. She departed Hawaiian waters and the exercise on 21 Jun 1994, for Operation Forward Action, Haiti, arriving in the Op Area on 13 Jul 1994. She returned to Esquimalt on 10 Oct 1994. In 1995, HMCS Kootenay participated in EX UNITAS off the coast of Chile. Returning home, she made a final port visit at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; departing there on 16 Nov 1995. HMCS Kootenay's boilers were shut down for the final time on 5 Dec 1995 after she returned from de-ammunitioning at Rocky Point. On 18 Dec 1995, she was paid off and, on 6 Nov 2000, towed out of Esquimalt with HMCS Restigouche to be sunk as an artificial reef off Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The HMCS Restigouche was sunk off Acapulco, but HMCS Kootenay was not. She was later towed to Manzanillo, Mexico where she was last photographed in 2003. HMCS Kootenay ended up under arrest as the purchasers didn't pay some kind of import fee and it ended up in a dispute between the Mexican federal government and the harbour authorities and the owners. She was being scrapped at the dock at Manzillo.
(Brian Dobing Photo)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II).
(DND Photo via Richard Larchevesque)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II).
(Author photo)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II), view from the MacDonald bridge, Halifax, ca 1973.
(USN Photo via John Hawley)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II), visiting Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 1986.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II).
(Ships Nostalgia Photo)
HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) (II).
HMCS Restigouche (DDE 257)
(Bill Starr Photo)
HMCS Restigouche (DDE 257). Built by Canadian Vickers Ltd., HMCS Restigouche suffered portside damage in a collision with the freights Manchester Port in Nov 1957 while still in the hands of her builder. She was finally commissioned at Montreal on 7 Jun 1958. She was present at the formal opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, and at a mini-UN naval review in Toronto the following month, immediately afterward carrying the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland on a tour of that province's northeast outports. On 29 Apr 1961, HMCS Restigouche and HMCS Columbia 260 made a port visit to Washington, D.C. She underwent her IRE modernization in 1970-72 at Halifax Shipyards.
In Jun 1972, HMCS Restigouche was damaged as a result of a barge fire alongside her. In 1973 she was transferred to the west coast, arriving at Esquimalt on 2 Aug 1973. Between 3 Dec 1984 and 29 Nov 1985 she completed her DELEX refit at SRU(P). On 8 May 1986, HMCS Provider 508, HMCS Restigouche 257, HMCS Terra Nova 259 and HMCS Kootenay 258, departed Esquimalt for Exercise RIMPAC 86 and returned on 21 Jun 1986. Upgraded (as per HMCS Terra Nova) for possible service in the Persian Gulf, in Mar 1991 she instead joined SNFL, the first west coast based unit to do so. On 24 Feb 1992, HMCS Restigouche was dispatched to the Red Sea to assist a multinational force convened to ensure that Iraq did not resume hostilities. She returned to Esquimalt on 18 Aug 1992. She was paid off on 31 Aug 1994. HMCS Restigouche was sold in December 1998 to American Dick Crawford for $113,055.50. On 6 Nov 2000, she and her sister, HMCS Kootenay, departed Esquimalt in tow for Mexico, where HMCS Restigouche was sunk off Acapulco on 11 Jun 2001.
(USN Photo)
HMCS Restigouche in 1992, with Phalanx CIWS and Harpoon missile launchers aft.
HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256)
(CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Photo)
HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256), 16 March 1960. Built by Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel, HMCS St. Croix was commissioned on 4 Oct 1958. In 1959, as a member of the 5th Canadian Destroyer Squadron, she served as escort to HMY Britannia on a Royal visit to Canada and in Aug 1960, with HMCS Terra Nova, helped mark the 500th Anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator off Lisbon. In Apr 1963, 12 RCN ships, HMCS Algonquin, HMCS Micmac, Cayuga, HMCS St. Croix, HMCS Terra Nova, HMCS Kootenay, HMCS Swansea, HMCS La Hulloise, HMCS Buckingham, HMCS Cape Scott, CNAV Bluethroat and CNAV St. Charles, took part in NATO Exercise New Broom Eleven, an exercise designed to test convoy protection tactics. HMCS St. Croix was transferred to the west coast in Aug 1964. On 3 and 4 May 1966, HMCS St. Croix took part in blast tests off the coast of Long Beach, California. These tests were conducted in order to study the effects of near-misses and help make design changes to prevent damage from such explosions. After the blast on 3 May, HMCS St. Croix recovered fighting capability in 30 minutes. The blast on 4 May rendered her non-operational and she could not become fully operational without Dockyard assistance. During these tests the ship was fully manned. The impact from the 2nd explosion lifted men 12 inches off the deck; equipment fell from bulkheads and bulkheads were distorted. The only casualty resulted from a clock coming off the bulkhead and hitting a sailor on the hand, injuring his thumb. On 2-5 June 1967, HMCS St. Croix had a port visit in Powell River, BC. From 5-7 June 1967 she visited Port Mellon, BC. She returned to Halifax in 1974, where she was paid off on 15 Nov 1974, into Category "C" Reserve. Her guns and propellers were removed and her machinery spaces made into classrooms for Fleet School trainees. She served in this capacity from 1984 to Sept 1990. In 1991 HMCS St. Croix was sold to Jacobson Metal of Chesapeake, Virginia, and early in Apr 1992 left Halifax under tow to be broken up.
(CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Photo)
HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259)
(DND Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259). Seventh and last of her class, HMCS Terra Nova was built by the Victoria Machinery Depot and commissioned on 6 Jun 1959, and shortly thereafter sailed east, to be on hand of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway and a review of NATO warships at Toronto in August. On 3 Jul 1961 she embarked the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland on a 12 day series of visits to its southwest outports. In Apr 1963, 12 RCN ships, HMCS Algonquin, HMCS Micmac, HMCS Cayuga, HMCS St. Croix, HMCS Terra Nova, HMCS Kootenay, HMCS Swansea, HMCS La Hulloise, HMCS Buckingham, HMCS Cape Scott, CNAV Bluethroat and CNAV St. Charles, took part in NATO Exercise New Broom Eleven, an exercise designed to test convoy protection tactics. In Mar 1965, HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Gatineau participated in the search for a Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair CP-107 Argus that had disappeared 60 miles (97 km) north of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In May 1965 she entered Halifax Shipyards to begin her conversion to an IRE class destroyer escort. She was fitted with the new AN/SQS-505 sonar, which she tested for seven months before completing the IRE conversion, which she was the first of her class to undergo. She returned for duties in Esquimalt on 4 May 1971 . Between 21 Nov 1983 and 9 Nov 1984, HMCS Terra Nova received her DELEX refit at Esquimalt. On 8 May 1986, HMCS Provider 508, HMCS Restigouche 257, HMCS Terra Nova 259 and HMCS Kootenay 258, departed Esquimalt for Exercise RIMPAC 86 and returned on 21 Jun 1986. Transferred to the east coast, she returned to Halifax on 12 Dec 1989. Designated for service in the Persian Gulf, she was temporarily armed with two quadruple Harpoon missile-launchers, mounted just abaft the after deckhouse; a Phalanx gun atop the Limbo well; two single Bofors on the boat deck amidships, and shoulder-fired Blowpipe and Javelin missiles. Along with HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Protecteur, she left Halifax on 24 Aug 1990, not to return until 7 Apr 1991. On 22 Feb 1994, HMCS Terra Nova stopped and boarded MV Pacifico while on a drug interdiction patrol and seized 5.9 tonnes of cocaine. On 5 Apr 1994, HMCS Terra Nova departed Halifax for Op Forward Action, Haiti; arriving in the Op Area on 28 Apr 1994. While so employed she rescued boatloads of refugees on two separate occasions and conducted 90 boardings. She left the Haitian Op Area on 13 Jul 1994 and arrived in Halifax on 18 Jul 1994. On 11 Jul 1997 she was placed in a "state of extended readiness" until finally paid off on 1 Jul 1998. After being paid off, HMCS Terra Nova appeared, cast as an American destroyer, in the movie K-19: The Widowmaker. On 4 Nov 2009, DND announced that Aecon Fabco had won the bid and would tow both vessels to their Pictou Shipyard in Pictou, Nova Scotia to be broken up. HMCS Terra Nova departed Halifax Harbour on 20 Nov 2009 under tow by the tugboat Atlantic Elm and arrived in Pictou on 22 Nov 2009, where she joined HMCS Gatineau which had arrived a few days earlier. By the summer of 2010 she was being cut up for scrap, mainly aluminum, stainless steel and carbon steel. She later sank at her mooring and was raised by crane in April 2011 and the remainder of her hulk was dismantled.
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259), Halifax, Nova Scotia.
(USN Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 1986.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259), part of the 5th Destroyer Squadron, before her conversion to an IRE.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259).
(DND Photo)
HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259).
