HMCS ''Restigouche'' was the lead ship of the s that served in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and later the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. Commissioned in 1958, ''Restigouche'' remained in service until 1994. She was sold for use as an

artificial reef An artificial reef (AR) is a human-created freshwater or marine benthic structure. Typically built in areas with a generally featureless bottom to promote Marine biology#Reefs, marine life, it may be intended to control #Erosion prevention, erosio ...

, however controversy arose over her acquisition and instead she was

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

off the coast of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 2001. She was the second Canadian warship to carry the name .

Design and description

Based on the preceding design, the ''Restigouche''s had the same hull and propulsion, but different weaponry.Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 45 Initially the ''St. Laurent'' class had been planned to be 14 ships. However the order was halved, and the following seven were redesigned to take into improvements made on the ''St. Laurent''s. As time passed, their design diverged further from that of the ''St. Laurent''s.Milner, p. 248 The ships had a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of , at deep load. They were designed to be

long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of . The ''Restigouche''s had a complement of 214.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 251 The ''Restigouche''s were by powered by two English Electric geared steam turbines, each driving a

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

, using steam provided by two

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. is an American energy technology and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Historically, the company is best known for their stea ...

boilers. They generated giving the vessels a maximum speed of . The ''Restigouche''s were equipped with SPS-10, SPS-12, Sperry Mk 2 and SPG-48 radar along with SQS-501 and SQS-503 sonar.Gardiner and Chumbly, p. 46

Armament

The ''Restigouche''s diverged from the ''St. Laurent''s in their weaponry. The ''Restigouche''s were equipped with two twin mounts of

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

/70 calibre Mk 6 dual-purpose guns forward and maintained a single twin mount of 3-inch/50 calibre Mk 22 guns aft used in the preceding class.

Calibre In guns, particularly firearms, but not artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or wher ...

denotes the length of the barrel. In this case, 50 calibre means that the gun barrel is 50 times as long as it is in diameter A Mk 69 fire control director was added to control the new guns.Boutiller, p. 323 They were also armed with two Limbo Mk 10 mortars and two single

Bofors 40 mm Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to models of 40 mm calibre automatic anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: * Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/43 - developed in the 1930s with market entry in 1934, wid ...

guns. However the 40 mm guns were dropped in the final design. The 3 in/70 mounting was placed in the 'A' position and the 3 in/50 mounting was placed in the 'Y' position. The destroyers were also equipped beginning in 1958 with Mk 43 homing torpedoes in an effort to increase the distance between the ships and their targets. The Mk 43 torpedo had a range of at . They were pitched over the side by a modified

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

thrower.

Improved Restigouche Escorts (IRE)

As part of the 1964 naval program, the Royal Canadian Navy planned to improve the attack capabilities of the ''Restigouche'' class. Unable to convert the vessels to helicopter-carrying versions like the ''St. Laurent''s due to budget constraints, instead the ''Restigouche''s were to receive

variable depth sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

(VDS) to improve their sonar range, placed on the stern, and the RUR-5 anti-submarine rocket (

ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

). The destroyers also received a stepped

lattice mast Lattice masts, or cage masts, or basket masts, are a type of observation mast common on United States Navy major warships in the early 20th century. They are a type of hyperboloid structure, whose weight-saving design was invented by the Russia ...

. Called the Improved Restigouche Escorts (IRE), ''Terra Nova'' was the first to undergo conversion, beginning in May 1965. The conversion took ten months to complete, followed by

sea trials A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on o ...

. The sea trials delayed the conversion of the next ship for four years. By 1969, the budget for naval programs had been cut and only four out of the seven (''Terra Nova'', ''Restigouche'', ''Gatineau'' and ''Kootenay'') would get upgraded to IRE standards and the remaining three (''Chaudière'', ''Columbia'', and ''St. Croix'') were placed in reserve. The ASROC launcher replaced the 3 in/50 cal twin mount and one Mk 10 Limbo mortars aft. The ASROC was rocket-propelled acoustically-guided Mk 44 torpedo that had a minimum range of and a maximum range of .

Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX)

The Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) refit for the four surviving ''Restigouche''s was announced in 1978. An effort by Maritime Command to update their existing stock of naval escorts, the DELEX program affected 16 ships in total and came in several different formats depending on the class of ship it was being applied to. On average, the DELEX refit cost $24 million per ship. For the ''Restigouche''s this meant updating their sensor, weapon and communications systems. The class received the new ADLIPS tactical data system, new radar and fire control systems and satellite navigation. They were also fitted with a triple

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

mounting to use the new Mk 46 torpedo.Milner, p. 278 The ships began undergoing their DELEX refits in the early 1980s.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), pp. 251–255 However, by the time the ships emerged from their refits, they were already obsolete as the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

had changed the way surface battles were fought.

Gulf War refit

With the advent of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

in August 1990, Maritime Command was asked to have a fleet of ships available to send to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, preferably three ships. The and the

replenishment ship A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. T ...

would be made part of the task force, however all the other ''Iroquois''-class vessels were in refit. Maritime Command chose from among the remaining fleet the vessel with the best electronic countermeasures suite, ''Terra Nova'', to deploy with the task force.Milner, p. 296 ''Terra Nova'' was quickly altered to make her ready for an active war zone. The ship's ASROC system was landed and instead two quad

Harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

surface-to-surface missile system was installed. A Mk 15

Phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

was placed on the

quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

in place of the landed Limbo ASW mortar and two 40 mm/60 calibre Boffin guns were installed in single mounts where the ship's boats were. The ship was also fitted with new chaff, electronic and communications systems.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 255 ''Restigouche'' received a similar refit before deploying as ''Terra Nova''s intended replacement in the Persian Gulf in 1991.Macpherson and Barrie (2002), p. 254

Service history

''Restigouche'', named for a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

that flows through

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 15 July 1953 by Canadian Vickers Ltd., in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec. The ship was launched on 22 November 1954. While still on sea trials by the builder, ''Restigouche'' collided with the freighter ''Manchester Port'' on 21 November 1957 in the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

. The ship suffered damage to her portside superstructure and hull.Barrie and Macpherson (1996), pp. 45–46 ''Restigouche'' was commissioned at Montreal on 7 June 1958 with the

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

DDE 257. In June 1959, ''Restigouche'' took part in the opening of the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

. In 1961, ''Restigouche'' was the lead ship of the Fifth Canadian Escort Squadron. From 10–18 April, she took part in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

naval exercises off the Canadian Atlantic coast. In February 1964, ''Restigouche'' was a member of the "Matchmaker" squadron, the predecessor of

STANAVFORLANT Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. H ...

and took part in naval exercises off

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. In 1966, with the restructuring of the Royal Canadian Navy into Maritime Command, ''Restigouche'' was assigned to the Third Canadian Escort Squadron. The destroyer escort was selected for the IRE program and underwent the modernization beginning in 1970 at

Halifax Shipyards The Halifax Shipyard Limited is a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded in 1889, it is today a wholly owned subsidiary of Irving Shipbuilding, Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and is that company's l ...

. She returned to active duty on 12 May 1972 and was transferred to the west coast, arriving at

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians ...

on 2 August 1973. In August 1984, ''Restigouche'' was sent to track the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

spy ship ''Semen Chelyushkin'' of Cape Flattery. However, ''Restigouche'' only had one turbine working as a defect had been found in its port side turbine at the time. Following that incident, the destroyer escort was taken in hand for her DELEX refit, which began on 3 December 1984. The ship returned to service on 29 November 1985. In early 1991, ''Restigouche'' was upgraded with a Gulf War refit in preparation for relieving

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

on station in the

in March 1991. However, before the ship could arrive in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, the war ended. ''Restigouche'' was then redirected to the Atlantic where she deployed as part of

's Standing Naval Force Atlantic, the first west coast-based ship to do so. On 24 February 1992, ''Restigouche'' was dispatched to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

as part of a force intended to respond if

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

resumed hostilities. The destroyer escort arrived in the Red Sea on 18 April and was assigned the job of inspecting all the shipping going into the port of

Aqaba Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...

. While performing these duties, she became the first Canadian warship to make official visits to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

.Morin and Gimblett, p. 254 Her duties ended on 4 July and returned to Esquimalt on 18 August. ''Restigouche'' was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

on 31 August 1994. In November 2000, she, along with sister ship , was towed to

for use as an

. The acquisition of ''Restigouche'' and ''Kootenay'' for use as artificial reefs became a source of controversy in Mexico. ''Restigouche'' and ''Kootenay'' were purchased by businessmen Carlos Estrabeau and Josefat Cortés, for $160,000 from the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) after the two men were inspired by ARSBC's work with other former Canadian ships off the coast of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Supported by their government, controversy arose after an investigation by the

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

-based newspaper ''La Jornada El Sur'' found that $100,000 of the total amount paid for the destroyer escorts had come from a government anti-poverty fund. Dubbed "Reefgate", it was later found that the owners did not have the permits to create an artificial reef and were fined by the government. The former destroyer escort was sunk off Acapulco on 11 June 2001. The ship was towed into Acapulco Bay and

in of water by the government who feared that the derelict ship would become a navigational hazard during the hurricane season.

Ship's bell

The Christening Bells Project at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum includes information from the

ship's bell A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it. Strikes Timing of shi ...

of ''Restigouche'', which was used for

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

of babies on board ship. The bell is currently held by the

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925. Members include people who served in the military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial or municipal police, Royal Canadian Air, Army and Sea Cade ...

, Lantzville, British Columbia. The bell contains christenings and marriages 1941–1979.

References

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

Canadian Navy of Yesterday & Today: Restigouche class destroyer escort

'' "Canada's Fabulous Submarine Killer...HMCS Restigouche" '', by Wayne Wittaker
March 1959 article in Popular Mechanics with cutaway illustration of ship {{DEFAULTSORT:Restigouche, Hmcs Restigouche-class destroyers Cold War destroyers of Canada Shipwrecks of the Mexican Pacific coast 1954 ships Ships built in Montreal