HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256)

For other ships of the same name, see HMCS St. Croix.
Career (Canada)
Namesake: St. Croix River
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
Builder: Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel
Laid down: 15 October 1954
Launched: 17 November 1957
Commissioned: 4 October 1958
Decommissioned: 15 November 1974
In service: 1958-1974
Out of service: 1974-1991
Homeport: CFB Esquimalt
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic 1940-43
Fate: Placed in category C reserve. Converted to engineering hulk.
Status: Disposed and broken up in 1991.
General characteristics
Class and type:Restigouche-class destroyer
Displacement:As built: 2800 tonnes (deep load)
Length:As built: 366 ft (111.6 m)
Beam:42 ft (12.8 m)
Draught:14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion:2-shaft English-Electric geared steam turbines, 2 Babcock and Wilcox boilers 30,000 shp
Speed:28 knots (51.9 km/h)
Range:4,750 nautical miles (8,797.0 km) at 14 knots (25.9 km/h)
Complement:249
Sensors and
processing systems:		As built:
  • 1 × SPS-12 air search radar
  • 1 × SPS-10B surface search radar
  • 1 × Sperry Mk.2 navigation radar
  • 1 × SQS-501 high frequency bottom profiler sonar
  • 1 × SQS-502 high frequency mortar control sonar
  • 1 × SQS-503 hull mounted active search sonar
  • 1 × SQS-10 hull mounted active search sonar
  • 1 × Mk.69 gunnery control system with SPG-48 director forward
  • GUNAR (Mk.64 GFCS with on-mount SPG-48 director) aft
Electronic warfare
and decoys:		As built:
  • 1 × DAU HF/DF (high frequency direction finder)
Armament:As built:
  • 1 × 3"/70 Mk.6 Vickers twin mount forward
  • 1 × 3"/50 Mk.33 FMC twin mount aft
  • 2 × Mk NC 10 Limbo ASW mortars
  • 2 × single Mk.2 "K-gun" launchers with homing torpedoes

HMCS St. Croix (DDE 256) was a Restigouche-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and later the Canadian Forces from 1958-1974. The fourth ship commissioned of a class of seven, St. Croix was laid down on 15 October 1954 at Marine Industries Ltd., Sorel and launched on 17 November 1956. She commissioned into the RCN on 4 October 1958 and thereafter carried pennant number 256 as a destroyer escort. She was the second ship named HMCS St. Croix to serve in the RCN.

St. Croix, along with HMCS Columbia (DDE 260) and HMCS Chaudiere (DDE 235), was one of three Restigouche class DDEs not selected by the RCN for modernization in the Improved Restigouche (IRE) project of the late 1960s. All three paid off to reserve in 1974 (St. Croix on 15 November 1974) as economies required by government reductions in authorized strength. Her weapons and screws were removed and she was used primarily as an engineering training hulk while alongside at CFB Halifax until sent to the breakers in 1991.

St. Croix was not refitted as IRE, did not have ASROC, maintained 4×3 inch armament until decommissioned in 1974 after transit from Esquimalt.

References