HMCS Saguenay (DDH 206)
HMCS Saguenay underway in 1981
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History | |
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Canada | |
Name | Saguenay |
Namesake | Saguenay River |
Builder | Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax |
Laid down | 4 April 1951 |
Launched | 30 July 1953 |
Commissioned | 15 December 1956 |
Decommissioned | 26 June 1990 |
Reclassified | 14 May 1965 (as DDH) |
Identification | Pennant number: 206 |
Motto | A 1'erte (Ready to act)[1] |
Honours and awards | Atlantic 1939–42[1][2] |
Fate | Sold in 1990 and scuttled as an artificial reef off Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. |
Badge | Sable, a bend wavy argent charged with two like cotises azure, surmounted by an Indian's head facing sinister and couped at the shoulder proper having a fillet gules about the temples, depending there from, tips downward, four feathers of the second pied of the last, and pendant from the ear an annulet silver.[1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | St. Laurent-class destroyer escort |
Displacement |
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Length | 366 ft (111.6 m) |
Beam | 42 ft (12.8 m) |
Draught | |
Propulsion | 2-shaft English-Electric geared steam turbines, 3 Babcock & Wilcox boilers 22,000 kW (30,000 shp) |
Speed | 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h)[3] |
Range | 4,570 nautical miles (8,463.6 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h) |
Complement |
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Sensors and processing systems |
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Electronic warfare & decoys |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried |
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Aviation facilities |
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HMCS Saguenay was a
Design and description
The need for the St. Laurent class came about in 1949 when Canada joined NATO and the Cold War was in its infancy. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was assigned responsibility for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and controlling sea space in the western North Atlantic. The St Laurent class were built to an operational requirement much like that which produced the British Type 12, and were powered by the same machinery plant. The rounded deck-edge forward was adopted to prevent ice forming.[5] The vessels were designed to operate in harsh Canadian conditions. They were built to counter nuclear, biological and chemical attack conditions, which led to a design with a rounded hull, a continuous main deck, and the addition of a pre-wetting system to wash away contaminants. The living spaces on the ship were part of a "citadel" which could be sealed off from contamination for the crew safety. The ships were sometimes referred to as "Cadillacs" for their relatively luxurious crew compartments; these were also the first Canadian warships to have a bunk for every crew member since previous warship designs had used hammocks.[6]
As built, the ships were 366 feet (112 m) long overall with a beam of 42 feet (13 m) and a draught of 13 feet 2 inches (4.01 m).[7] The destroyer escorts displaced 2,263 tonnes (2,227 long tons) standard and 2,800 tonnes (2,800 long tons) at deep load.[7][note 1] The destroyer escorts had a crew of 12 officers and 237 enlisted.[7]
Armament
The St. Laurent class was fitted with twin
Machinery
The vessels of the St. Laurent class had two
DDH conversion
Following successful trials aboard the
In the conversion to a helicopter-carrying vessel, Saguenay was gutted except for machinery and some forward spaces. The hull was strengthened, fueling facilities for the helicopter and activated fin stabilizers installed. The fin stabilizers were to reduce roll in rough weather during helicopter operations.[12] All seven St Laurents were fitted with helicopter platforms and SQS 504 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS). The single funnel was altered to twin stepped funnels to permit the forward extension of the helicopter hangar.[8] To make room for the helicopter deck, the aft 3-inch mount and one of the Limbos were removed.[12][13] The two 40 mm guns were also removed.[13] Following the conversion, the displacement remained the same at standard load but at full load, it increased to 3,051 tonnes (3,003 long tons).[7]
DELEX program
In the late 1970s, under the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) program was commissioned to upgrade ten of the St. Laurent-class ships with new electronics, machinery, and hull upgrades and repairs. However, only enough was done to keep the ships in service into the late 1980s. For the St. Laurents, this meant hull and machinery repairs only.[14]
Service history
Saguenay was
Saguenay underwent conversion from a
The warship was subsequently selected by the Canadian Forces for the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) project. This refit was commenced on 29 October 1979 by
Saguenay was
Assignments
- Third Escort Squadron 1953–1959 – Halifax
- Second Escort Squadron 1959–1965 – Esquimalt
- First Escort Squadron 1965–1971
- Fifth Escort Squadron 1971–1990
References
Notes
- ^ Conway's says 2000 tons standard displacement, 2600 deep load.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Arbuckle, p. 105
- ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
- ^ a b Blackman, 1964
- ^ a b Sharpe, p. 84
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 161
- ^ Barrie and Macpherson (1996), pp. 9–11
- ^ a b c d e f g Barrie and Macpherson (1996), p. 17
- ^ a b Blackman, p. 35
- ^ Soward 1995, pp. 63–65
- ^ a b "The Beartrap – A Canadian Invention". The Crowsnest. Vol. 17, no. 3. March 1965. Archived from the original on 2014-07-27.
- ^ Blackman, pp. 35, 37
- ^ a b Barrie and Macpherson (1996), pp. 12–13
- ^ a b Chumbley & Gardiner, p. 44
- ^ Barrie and Macpherson (1996), p. 16
- ^ a b c d e Macpherson & Barrie (2002), p. 249
- ^ a b c d e f Barrie and Macpherson (1996), pp. 30–31
- ^ "Canadian destroyer aground". The Montreal Gazette. 16 July 1970. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^ "Canadian navy, US fishing boat clash". The Milwaukee Journal. 13 December 1989. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^ "The sunken destroyer that didn't sink as it was supposed to". CBC News. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ "HMCS Saguenay 206 St Laurent Class Destroyer". For Posterity Sake. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
Sources
- Arbuckle, J. Graeme (1987). Badges of the Canadian Navy. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 0-920852-49-1.
- Barrie, Ron; Macpherson, Ken (1996). Cadillac of Destroyers: HMCS St. Laurent and Her Successors. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-55125-036-5.
- Blackman, Raymond V.B., ed. (1963). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963–64. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0070321612.
- Friedman, Norman (1986). The Postwar Naval Revolution. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-952-9.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław, eds. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
- Sharpe, Richard, ed. (May 1992). Jane's Fighting Ships 1992–93 (85th ed.). Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0710609833.
- Soward, Stuart E. Hands to Flying Stations, a Recollective History of Canadian Naval Aviation, Volume II. Victoria, British Columbia: Neptune Developments, 1995. ISBN 0-9697229-1-5.