HMCS Okanagan (S74)


HMCS Ojibwa, HMCS Okanagan and ex-HMS Olympus docked in Halifax
Career (Canada)
Name: HMCS Okanagan (S74)
Namesake: Okanagan
Builder: Chatham Dockyard, Chatham
Laid down: 25 March 1965
Launched: 17 September 1966
Commissioned: 22 June 1968
Decommissioned: 14 September 1998
Motto: Ex imo mari ad victoriam
("From the depths of the sea to victory")
Status: To be scrapped
Badge: Blazon Or, issuing out of a base barry wavy of four azure and argent, a marine monster "Ogopogo" gules, langued of the second. the first Parliament of Upper Canada in 1792, both proper.
General characteristics
Class and type: Oberon-class submarine
Type: Attack/patrol submarine
Displacement: Surfaced: 2,030 t (2,000 long tons)
Submerged: 2,410 t (2,370 long tons)
Length: 295.25 ft (89.99 m)
Beam: 26.5 ft (8.1 m)
Draught: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion: 2 diesel electric engines
Speed: Surfaced: 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Submerged: 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range: 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi)
Endurance: 56 days
Test depth: 120 metres (390 ft)-180 metres (590 ft)
Complement: 69
Sensors and
processing systems:
Type 187 Active-Passive sonar
Type 2007 passive sonar
Electronic warfare
and decoys:
MEL Manta UAL or UA4 radar warning
Armament: 8 × 21 in (530 mm) tubes (6 bow, 2 stern), 18 torpedoes

HMCS Okanagan (S74) was an Oberon-class submarine that served in the Canadian Forces (CF).

Okanagan was laid down on 25 March 1965 at Chatham Dockyard, Chatham, England and launched on 17 September 1966. She was commissioned into the CF on 22 June 1968 with pennant number 74.

In July 1973, Okanagan collided with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Grey Rover while exercising in British waters. Fortunately, there were no injuries to the submarine's crew.

Okanagan participated in the filming of the Japanese disaster film Fukkatsu no hi, released in 1980; one of her officers was given a small speaking role.

She was decommissioned from Maritime Command (MARCOM) on 14 September 1998. She had served her entire career with Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) in the North Atlantic.

In May 2005, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald announced that MARCOM was looking to sell Okanagan for scrap metal, along with three other Canadian Oberons laid up at CFB Halifax. MARCOM stated that the submarines were not in suitable condition to be used as museum ships and predicted that each submarine would sell for between C$50,000 and C$60,000.[1] Okanagan was towed to a scrapyard in Port Maitland, Ontario in August 2011.[2]

References

  1. ^ "For sale: 4 submarines, not shipshape". CBC Online News. 25 May 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/05/25/subs050525.html. Retrieved 2006-12-10. 
  2. ^ Jeffrey, Davene (19 July 2011). "Former HMS Olympus en route to scrapyard". The Chronicle Herald. http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1253978.html. Retrieved 20 July 2011.