The Canadian nautical tour (all)

[Kapitan]

As you guys know I am very fond of North America & Canada and I have the intention of making a permanent home in the latter.
Well in the great Province of Ontario there are two items on my agenda which despite my frequent trips I have only now managed to go and see.



First up is a treasure in her own right the submarine HMCS Ojibwa located at Port Burwell, the submarine herself is currently on the outside anyway looking like she is in a bit of disrepair however I am reliably informed she is due to be repainted shortly, the reason she is in a state is when the boat was being sold off the Navy wanted the sonar absorbing paint stripped off originally she was headed for scrap but was saved.

You get a sense of size with this submarine that you don’t get with others such as HMS Ocelot (Same class) maybe because it is on dry land where as Ocelot sit in a dry dock but there is one thing to notice and it does stick out like a sore thumb she has substantial damage to her port side saddle tanks, not by lifting her out of the water or dropping her but before she was tendered for scrap she took part in explosive tests which caused the damage and so it remains.




Originally laid down in 1962 as the HMS Onyx she was sold to Canada while still under construction and named after the first nation peoples, she would enter service with the Canadian navy Atlantic fleet in 1965 and be put straight to work.

During her construction she was built to Royal Navy standards one was to tell this is by the hatch design in the Bulkheads, British hatches are perfectly round while North American hatches are oval, over time with refits her layout changed and she is radically different to the British submarines of the same class and indeed each of the Canadian submarines are different again, one notable feature is a small medical ward in the officers mess something the British boats never had.

HMCS Ojibwa would see action throughout the cold war and she would take part in many exercises and also go on to track soviet submarines, in 1985 the Ojibwa while conducting an Anti-Submarine patrol for NATO discovered a Soviet Delta class submarine which passed by very close to the Ojibwa, while in the track she was discovered by a soviet victor class attack submarine and she broke contact with both after two days.

With the end of the cold war came a new role this time with the department for oceans & fisheries which led to the eventual “Turbot war” between the EU (Chiefly Spain) and Canada with Canada coming out on top after a deal was reached.

Now entering into the 1990’s the Ojibwa was showing her age the former and paid off Oberon class submarine HMS Osiris was purchased as a hulk and used for spare parts, with the Royal navy now entering its long decline and rapid cut backs all the Oberon class submarines were removed from service by the early 1990’s in the Royal navy but the Canadian, Chilean, Australian and Brazilian boats soldiered on, during this time Ojibwa would enter her final refit where she would be cut in two and her engines replaced with the newer ones of the former HMS Osiris.

This action would extend her life with the above mentioned cuts to the Royal Navy the planned 12 Upholder class submarines were never built only 4 made completion and promptly after a few years’ service paid off and were now laid up pending sale or disposal.
With an ageing fleet of submarines it was time for replacement sensing a bargain and the relatively young age of the Upholders Canada bought all 4 and thus was born the Victoria class which serve today (despite the initial problems).

[/url]DSCN1212 by B S, on Flickr


HMCS Ojibwa would pay off in 1998 after 34 years’ service with the Canadian navy being replaced by the former Upholders, she would have just one final duty to perform as an experiment.
After sitting idle for sometime she was towed out to sea a large under water charge placed relatively close to her (some 200-300 yards away) and detonated, this was to see the effects of underwater explosions on hulls, the damage is significant and is still visible today.
She was towed back to port where she was to wait her final fate which was likely the scrappers.

However in 2012 she was sold as a museum ship and towed to Port Burwell where she was lifted onto land and finally in 2013 opened to the public, she remains at her current site however due to the technology on board it is forbidden to take pictures of her interior past the torpedo room a bit disappointing but her entire layout is worth the look around the guided tour is very interesting and they do know their stuff a worthwhile visit if your passing through.

[Kapitan]

She is the last of her kind, a true fighting ship, during her active service she would sink more enemy tonnage than any other Canadian warship, she is the Tribal class destroyer HMCS Haida.

DSCN1217 by B S, on Flickr

Commissioned in 1943 the HMCS Haida would see active duty straight away and to the bitterest part the convoys to North Russia, her and her 26 other sisters were chiefly designed for operations in the Pacific fighting the heavily armed Japanese destroyers however the more pressing need in the Atlantic saw a role she never fulfilled.

Assigned to the 10th Destroyer squadron alongside another famous warship the Polish ORP Blyskawica now preserved in Gdynia Poland (Both are twinned with each other), the Haida would go on to protect convoys and also work with the Home fleet before later serving in the English channel on D Day and the Bay of Biscay.

Armed with six 4.7inch quick firing guns (which I believe B turret it still live) mounted in pairs in three turrets A,B & Y these fast destroyer were a match for the sleek and fast Japanese they were designed to take on, however they were more armed than their German counterparts who by now relied more heavily on submarines than warships.

DSCN1246 by B S, on Flickr

Haida would see a lot of action even after the second world war, she would be present during the D Day landings and would sink the U917 in that theatre along with several other warships in operation Hostile which secured the Western edge of the English channel against German ships and submarines.

After the war HMCS Haida returned to Canada for tropicalisation refit however with the Surrender of Japan the work was halted and Haida paid off in March 1946.

It wasn’t long before the call came again for Haida to serve her country, this time on the other side of the world in the area she was built for the Pacific, the Korean war had broken out and she would be there.

Acting as carrier escort for the large American carriers she performed well but her recent down grade to depot ship and refit back to destroyer and a world war had taken its toll, she would remain on station until after the cease fire returning via the Suez canal to Halifax.

Normally she would have been paid off but the old girl had some life in her still and would continue on serving the Canadian navy and NATO in anti-submarine duties in the Atlantic Ocean, by 1958 her infrastructure and hull were presenting some problems the layout and modern equipment was a mish mash her hull was now showing cracking which required many refits between 1958 and 1962.

DSCN1279 by B S, on Flickr


The writing was on the wall, this ship which had served in two wars in two oceans faithfully was decommissioned for the final time in April 1963, originally slated for scrap she was saved becoming a museum ship in Ontario.

Having a troublesome life in two wars she had trouble in her retirement the foundation which saved her went into liquidation and the museum closed in 1970, she was sold for $1 CAD to Hamilton provincial government where she remained until 2002 as a tourist attraction, the ship underwent a refit in the 2000’s to keep her a float and in 2016 she entered her new berth at the west end of Hamilton Quay where she remains.

Visits from HRH Prince of wales & Duchess of Cornwall in 2009 assisted in her gaining notice from the public also HRH the duke of York presented to the Haida the world ship trust certificate, but one final honour would bestow her in February 2018 she officially became the ceremonial flag ship of the Canadian navy a fitting retirement to an old warrior.

DSCN1351 by B S, on Flickr

[Jimbuna]

The Tribal class, or Afridi class gave sterling service and unsurprisingly were very powerfully armed because they were originally conceived during design studies to be light fleet cruisers.

Such a shame only this old girl remains to this day but in fairness so many excellent vessels went before her.

[Jimbuna]

By my reckoning there can only be at most eight Oberons remaining

[Kapitan]

She was an eye opener especially when outside was 33c and down in the engine room was 45c+ in temperature i just burst out in sweat so i can get a sense (having also been in working engine rooms on ships) of just how hot it must have been down there.

[Kapitan]

i think you maybe right there i know there is Ocelot in Chatham obviously and Otus in Germany i think 2 in Canada and Australia has 3 maybe ?

I should know this ~!

[Schroeder]

I must have missed this when you posted it first.


Thanks for sharing.

[Jimbuna]

Ocelot - Preserved since 1992 at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Otus - Preserved at Sassnitz, Germany.
Onslow - Preserved at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Ovens - Preserved since 1998 at the Western Australian Maritime Museum.
Riachuelo - Preserved at the Navy Cultural Centre, Rio de Janeiro.
Ojibwa - Preserved since 2012 at the Elgin Military Museum.
Onondaga - Preserved since 2009 at the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père.
O'Brien - Preserved in Valdivia, Chile.


Orion - Fin preserved at Rockingham Naval Memorial Park.
Otway - Fin and upper casing preserved at Holbrook, New South Wales.
Oxley - Fin preserved at HMAS Stirling. Bow preserved at the Western Australian Maritime Museum.

Not sure you can count the last three as they aren't complete.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ass_submarines

[u crank]

I must have missed it as well.

Toured this famous ship back in the late 70's when she was docked at Ontario Place on the Toronto waterfront. She was moved to Hamilton in 2002.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Nice

[Jimbuna]

Received this from Grant/Tarjak back in 2014.

[arkroyal]

Thanks for that brings back lot of memories (20years in boats ex CPO)

[Cobber]

I've been through Ovens a couple of times, She's in excellent condition. No side openngs have been cut in Her, normal access.

[captgeo]

I posted this some time ago, when she found her home.

Great post man, I am sorry to admit that I have not visited this sub yet.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...t=HMCS+Ojibiwa

[Kapitan]

Thanks guys i do have a few on my list to keep me going that side of the world too and i really do want to go and see HMCS Sackville thats a big one on the list