HMCS KOOTENAY (II)

The destroyer HMCS KOOTENAY, DDE 258, is the second ship of the name to serve in the Canadian Navy.  The first KOOTENAY served in the Second World War and received battle honours for action in the Atlantic from 1943-1945, and in 1944 for service at Normandy in the English Channel, and in the Bay of Biscay.  She is named after the Kootenay River in British Columbia.

HMCS KOOTENAY was laid down at the Burrard Dry Dock Company’s North Vancovuer, B.C., yard August 21, 1952, and was launched June 15, 1954.  The ship was commissioned March 7, 1959, at the Burrard Dry Dock Company, Vancouver, B.C.  KOOTENAY was the fourth of the “Restigouche” class destroyers to enter service with the Canadian Navy.

After commissioning KOOTENAY sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where for the next ten years she served with the Atlantic Fleet.

On October 23, 1969, while the ship was returning to Halifax after a visit to Plymouth, England, an explosion occurred in the engine room during a full power trial.  KOOTENAY returned to Plymouth under tow and after emergency repairs and docking returned to Halifax under tow arriving November 27, 1969.

While repairs were being made in Halifax, it was decided to convert KOOTENAY into an “Improved Restigouche Class” destroyer.  This involved the removal of the mast, the 3”/50 gun aft, and one of the two three-barrel mountings of the Mk. 10 anti-submarine mortar.  A higher, lattice-type mast, with more sophisticated electronic warfare sensors, was added along with an ASROC mounting and a Variable Depth Sonar System to increase the effectiveness of KOOTENAY in her primary task of Anti-Submarine Warfare.  KOOTENAY had been de-commissioned to conversion in May 1970, re-commissioned January 7, 1972, and was accepted back into the Atlantic Fleet in September 1972.

On January 23, 1973, KOOTENAY departed Halifax for duties with the Maritime Forces Pacific Fleet, arriving at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, Victoria, B.C., February 12, 1973.  

HMCS KOOTENAY departed Esquimalt May 14, 1973, on an operational cruise to South Pacific waters as part of Canada’s contingency plans as standby support to Canadian Forces members serving in the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) in Vietnam.  KOOTENAY arrived at Subic Bay in the Philippines June 6, 1973, and assumed the duties of communication headquarters and standby support ship for Canadian servicemen in Vietnam from HMCS TERRA NOVA.  She relinquished her duties July 31, 1973, when Canada withdrew from the ICCS, and returned to Esquimalt August 16, 1973.