HMCS Oriole

HMCS Oriole in July 2011
Career (Canada)
Name: Oriole
Namesake: Oriole, Oriolus aurum
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
Builder: George Lawley & Son
Laid down: Early 1921
Launched: 4 June 1921
Commissioned: 19 June 1952
Homeport: CFB Esquimalt.
Identification: KC 480
Honours and
awards:
Dunkirk, 1940
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:Sail training vessel
Type:Ketch
Displacement:92 tonnes (70.760 kilograms)
Length:102 ft (31 m)
Beam:19 ft (5.8 m)
Height:105 ft (32 m)
Draught:10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion:15,700 sq ft (1,460 m2) of sail
Sail plan:Marconi rig
Complement:1 senior officer, 2 senior petty officers (POs), 2 junior POs. 16 supernumary junior officers and POs.
Notes:Auxiliary engine 261 hp (195 kW) Detroit Diesel

HMCS Oriole is the sail training vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy based at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, British Columbia. She is a 31-metre sailing ketch, currently the oldest commissioned vessel in the Royal Canadian Navy, and also the longest serving commissioned ship.

History

Oriole was originally laid down as Oriole IV, the successor in a line of vessels named Oriole that were in service as the flagships for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club of Toronto, Ontario. During the Second World War she was chartered by the Royal Canadian Navy as a training vessel. In 1949 she was again chartered by the Navy as a new recruit training vessel, and subsequently moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1951. She was officially commissioned HMCS Oriole 19 June 1952, and two years later the navy moved her to CFB Esquimalt to become a training vessel to the Naval Officer Training Centre.

Current status

Oriole provides sail training to junior officers and non-commissioned officers as part of their introduction to life at sea. She also provides a venue for teamwork exercises and adventure training available to all of the Canadian Forces. She participates in many events, races and public relation day sails in support of local charities.

Images

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oriole (ship, 1921).

References