HMCS Saguenay (DDH 206)

For other ships of the same name, see HMCS Saguenay.
Career (Canada)
Name: Saguenay
Namesake: Saguenay River
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
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)
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic 1939-42[1]
Fate: Sold in 1990 and scuttled as an artificial reef off Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
Badge: Blazon 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.
General characteristics
Class and type:St. Laurent-class destroyer
Displacement:As DDE:

2263 tons (normal), 2800 tons (deep load)[note 1]

As DDH:

2260 tons (normal), 3051 tons (deep load)[2]
Length:366 ft (111.6 m)
Beam:42 ft (12.8 m)
Draught:As DDE: 13 ft (4.0 m)[3] As DDH:14 ft (4.3 m)[2]
Propulsion:2-shaft English-Electric geared steam turbines, 3 Babcock and Wilcox boilers 30,000 shp
Speed:28.5 knots (52.8 km/h)[3]
Range:4,750 nautical miles (8,797.0 km) at 14 knots (25.9 km/h)[4]
Complement:As DDE: 249
As DDH: 213 plus 20 aircrew
Sensors and
processing systems:		As DDE:
  • 1 × SPS-12 air search radar
  • 1 × SPS-10B surface search radar
  • 1 × Sperry Mk.2 navigation radar
  • 1 × SQS-10a hull mounted active search and attack sonar "Scanner"
  • 1 × SQS-501 high frequency bottom profiling sonar "Tracer"
  • 1 × Type 170 high frequency attack sonar "Attacker"
  • 1 × SQS 503 hull mounted search sonar "Searcher"
  • 1 × UQC-1B underwater telephone "Gertrude"
  • 1 × GUNAR (Mk.64 GFCS with 2 on-mount SPG-48 directors)

As DDH:

  • 1 × SPS-12 air search radar
  • 1 × SPS-10B surface search radar
  • 1 × Sperry Mk.2 navigation radar
  • 1 × URN 20 TACAN radar
  • 1 × SQS-10a hull mounted active search and attack sonar "Scanner"
  • 1 × SQS-501 high frequency bottom profiling sonar "Tracer"
  • 1 × Type 170 high frequency attack sonar "Attacker"
  • 1 × SQS 503 hull mounted search sonar "Searcher"
  • 1 × UQC-1B underwater telephone "Gertrude"
  • 1 × SQS-504 VDS, medium frequency active search "Diver"(except 233 after 1986)
  • 1 × GUNAR (Mk.64 GFCS with 1 on-mount SPG-48 director)
Electronic warfare
and decoys:		As DDE:
  • 1 × DAU HF/DF (high frequency direction finder)

As DDH:

  • 1 × WLR 1C radar warning
  • 1 × UPD 501 radar detection
  • 1 × SRD 501 HF/DF
Armament:As DDE:
  • 2 × 3"/50 Mk.33 FMC twin mounts guns
  • 2 × 40mm "Boffin" single mount guns
  • 2 × Mk NC 10 Limbo ASW mortars
  • 2 × single Mk.2 "K-gun" launchers with homing torpedoes

As DDH:

  • 1 × 3"/50 Mk.33 FMC twin mount gun
  • 1 × Mk NC 10 Limbo ASW mortar
  • 2 × triple Mk.32 12.75 inch launchers firing Mk.44 or Mk.46 Mod 5 torpedoes
Aircraft carried:As DDE:
  • none

As DDH:

  • 1 × CH-124 Sea King

HMCS Saguenay was a St. Laurent-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from 1956-1990. She was the second vessel in her class and the second Canadian naval unit to carry the name HMCS Saguenay.

Saguenay was laid down on 4 April 1951 at Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax and launched on 30 July 1953. She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 15 December 1956 and assigned pennant number 206.

Design

The St. Laurent class were built to an operational requirement much like that which produced the British Type 12, and 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 lead 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.

Armament

As a St. Laurent-class destroyer escort, Saguenay was fitted with twin 3 inch/L50 guns for engaging both surface and air targets. Her anti-submarine armament consisted of a pair of triple barrelled Limbo ASW mortars in a stern well. The stern well had a roller top to close it off from following seas. The design included provision for long-range homing torpedoes, in this case BIDDER [Mk 20E] or the US Mark 35. They were never fitted however.[5]

As built, the twin 3-inch 50-calibre anti-aircraft mounts were installed without shields. These were added in 1963. The gun housings are fibreglass. [note 2]

Machinery

The vessels of the St. Laurent class had two Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers installed[6] providing 600 PSI (4.1 MPa, 42 kgf/cm²) at 850 °F (454.4 °C).[2]

The steam produced by these boilers was directed at two geared steam turbines which powered two shafts, providing 30,000 HP (22 MW) to drive the ship at a maximum speed of 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h).[7] By the early 1990s, the quoted maximum speed was only 27 kt.[2]

The propelling machinery was of British design. Canadian Vickers supplied the machinery which was manufactured in Canada. The main turbines and machinery were of English Electric design.[7]

Service history

After commissioning, Saguenay saw service on the east coast. In 1959, the vessel transferred to the west coast.[8]

Saguenay underwent conversion from a destroyer escort (DDE) to a destroyer helicopter escort (DDH) at Burrard Dry Dock in Vancouver, British Columbia beginning 22 August 1963.[8] For this conversion the ship was fitted with helicopter platforms and SQS 504 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS). When ships were fitted with the helicopter platform, the single funnel was altered to twin stepped funnels to permit the forward extension of the helicopter hangar.[9] Stabilizing systems were added to allow for helicopter recovery in any sea conditions, and a single CH-124 Sea King was carried.[6] To make room for the helicopter deck, the aft 3 in (76 mm) mount and one of the Limbos were removed.[6] '

Saguenay was officially reclassed and recommissioned on 14 May 1965. The ship was sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia to work with the east coast fleet.[8] On 16 July 1970 the ship ran aground off the coast of Cape Breton.[10]

Saguenay (first from right) underway in a Standing Naval Force, Atlantic group in 1982.

The warship was subsequently selected by the Canadian Forces for the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) project. This refit was commenced on 29 October 1979 at Versatile Vickers in Montreal, Quebec and was completed on 23 May 1980.[8] On 16 August 1986 while taking part in NATO naval exercises, Saguenay collided with the German submarine U-17 and was sent home for repairs. The vessel returned to active service in 1987.[8] In 1989, she clashed with an American fishing boat who had strayed over the border into Canadian waters. The fishing ship Concordia, who refused to stop, bumped the Canadian warship three times causing minor damage to the Saguenay. The fishing vessel continued on, which led to the warship firing warning shots. Concordia did not stop and returned to American waters.[11]

Saguenay was decommissioned from active service in the Canadian Forces on 26 June 1990. She was sold to the South Shore Marine Park Society which scuttled her in 1994 as an artificial reef in Lunenburg Bay, off Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.[8]

Commanding officers

. Cdr A. Schwartz

Assignments

References

Notes
  1. ↑ These were "officially revised figures" quoted in Jane‍ '​s Fighting Ships 1963-64
    Conway‍ '​s says 2000 tons standard displacement, 2600 deep load.
    Combat Fleets of the World 1978-79 says 2390 tons displacement, 2900 full load.
  2. ↑ Jane‍ '​s Fighting Ships 1963-64 shows photographs taken in 1962 and 1963 respectively of Skeena and Assiniboine with these.
Footnotes
  1. ↑ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jane‍ '​s Fighting Ships 1992-93, p.84
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jane‍ '​s Fighting Ships 1963-64
  4. ↑ Combat Fleets of the World 1978-79
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Friedman, The Postwar Naval Revolution p.161
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Canadian Navy of Yesterday & Today: St. Laurent class destroyer escort
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jane‍ '​s Fighting Ships 1963-64, p.34
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Macpherson & Barrie, p.249
  9. ↑ Jane‍ '​s Fighting Ships 1963-64, p.35.
  10. ↑ "Canadian destroyer aground". The Montreal Gazette (Google News Archive). 16 July 1970. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Canadian navy, US fishing boat clash". The Milwaukee Journal (Google News Archive). 13 December 1989. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
Sources