_underway_1999.jpeg) HMCSHuron (DDG 281) in 1999 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Huron |
| Namesake | Huron |
| Builder | Marine Industries,Sorel |
| Laid down | 1 June 1969 |
| Launched | 9 April 1971 |
| Commissioned | 16 December 1972 |
| Refit | 25 November 1994 (TRUMP) |
| Identification | Pennant number: 281 |
| Motto | Ready the brave[2] |
| Honours and awards | Atlantic 1943, Arctic 1943–1945,Biscay 1943–1944,Norway 1945, Korea 1952–1953[1] |
| Fate | Sunk 14 May 2007 during Operation Trident Fury, a live-fire exercise conducted by MARPAC 100 km (54.0 nmi) west ofVancouver Island. |
| Notes | Colours: Gold and crimson[2] |
| Badge | Or a nicotine bloom gules, seedpod vert and stamens or.[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Iroquois-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 5100 t |
| Length | 129.8 m (425.9 ft) |
| Beam | 15.2 m (49.9 ft) |
| Draught | 4.7 m (15.4 ft) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 29 kn (53.7 km/h) |
| Range | 4,500 nmi (8,334.0 km) |
| Complement | 280 |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 2 ×CH-124 Sea King helicopters |
| Aviation facilities | hangar and flight deck |
HMCSHuron was anIroquois-class destroyer that served with theCanadian Forces from 16 December 1972 to 23 October 2000. She served mainly on the western coast of Canada. After decommissioning, her hull was stripped to be used in a live-fire exercise. The ship's hulk was eventually sunk by gunfire from her sister ship,HMCS Algonquin.Huron was the second ship of her class and the second vessel to use the designationHMCS Huron.
Huron was laid down on 1 June 1969 by the builderMarine Industries ofSorel, Quebec, and was launched on 9 April 1971.[3] She was officially commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 16 December 1972 and carried thepennant number 281.[3]
Huron began a refit known as theTribal Class Update and Modernization Project (TRUMP) in July 1993, performed byMIL-Davie Shipbuilding atLauzon, Quebec and concluded on November 25, 1994.[3] At this time, her classification changed from Destroyer Helicopter (DDH) to Destroyer Guided Missile (DDG).
The ship was assigned toMaritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) and was homeported atCanadian Forces Base Esquimalt.
Huron served on MARPAC missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in thePacific Ocean and enforced Canadian laws in its territorial sea andExclusive Economic Zone.Huron was also deployed on missions throughout the Pacific and to theIndian Ocean; specifically thePersian Gulf andArabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations.
As part ofSilver Jubilee of Elizabeth II,Huron represented Canada in thenaval review atSpithead on 28 June 1977. On 12 March 1980, it assisted the crew of the damaged freighterMaurice Desgagnes eventually taking them off when the ship sank.[3]
From 19 February to 24 February 1981,Huron was used to carry out trials of theSea Sparrow system to be added in the TRUMP refit. Later that year she carried the Governor-GeneralEdward Schreyer on a tour of Scandinavian ports. In the summer of 1990Huron, accompanied byHMCS Kootenay andHMCS Annapolis, visited Vladivostok, the first visit by Canadian warships to Russia since theSecond World War.[3]
Huron was sent to thePersian Gulf in the winter of 1991 as part of Operation Friction, the Canadian Forces' contribution to Operation Desert Storm (theGulf War), to replace her sister shipHMCS Athabaskan as flagship of the Canadian Naval Task Group.Huron arrived after hostilities had ceased and patrolled for several months before returning to Esquimalt.
In 1993Huron was deployed to theAdriatic Sea as part ofOperation Sharp Guard in support of theUnited Nations naval embargo of the formerYugoslavia. She then departed for the refit that began in July of that year. After completing her TRUMP refit,Huron returned to the west coast in 1995, taking part in most of the major naval exercises in the Pacific Ocean. On 7 September 1999, withRoyal Canadian Mounted Police and personnel fromImmigration Canada aboard, the warship intercepted a vessel carrying 146 Chinese migrants. The migrant ship was found to be unfit andHuron transported the passengers to Esquimalt.[3][4]
Huron appeared in the episode "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" of the television seriesSeven Days, representing a new type of US warship under the command of a female captain.
DespiteHuron being the most recently refittedIroquois-class destroyer, she was placed in mothballed status in 2000, due to a personnel shortage following defence cutbacks during the late 1990s. In 2005 she was paid off from the Canadian Forces and awaited disposal at Esquimalt.
In 2006 MARPAC decided to useHuron in what would become the first sink-exercise thatMaritime Command (MARCOM) conducted. The exercise was named Operation Trident Fury and was planned to use a variety of MARPAC ships, andUS Navy andAIRCOM aircraft, to bombardHuron with artillery, missiles and strafing fire, and finally to sink the ship with a torpedo launched from a submarine.
Huron was stripped of armaments and all environmentally harmful contaminant equipment and fuel in the winter of 2006–2007. On 14 May 2007 she was towed to the MARPAC offshore weapons range west ofVancouver Island. Despite being damaged byHMCS Regina with aSea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, 57 mm gunfire andCIWS rounds,[5] it was 76 mm naval gunfire fromAlgonquin that was responsible for sinking the hulk ofHuron.[6] The main gun used byAlgonquin had originally been installed onHuron, meaning thatHuron was eventually sunk by one of her own weapons.[7] This was the first operational sinking of a Canadian warship in home waters.[8]
The sinking was the subject of a 2007History Television documentary, "Sinking a Destroyer".[9]
The Christening Bells Project at CFB Esquimalt's Naval and Military Museum includes information from theship's bell of HMCSHuron, which was used forbaptism of babies on board ship from 1973 to 1997. The bell is currently held by the museum in Esquimalt.[10]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2007 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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48°58′.472″N127°58′.638″W / 48.96679778°N 127.96684389°W /48.96679778; -127.96684389
