Canadian Naval Centennial 2010
Centennial Vignettes:
Admiral Kingsmill and the founding of the Canadian Navy
Lt Cdr Cornelius Burke MTB skipper
Lt
Cdr Fuller
"Pirate of the Adriatic"
Lts Atherton and Hearns HMCS CHILLIWACK
Okanagan based Naval biographies:
Centennial Virtual Sailpast:
Okanagan Naval Namesake Ships:
HMCS KALAMALKA (Vernon)
Canadian Naval Centennial Links
Okanagan Military Museum
OKANAGAN MILITARY UNITS
NAVAL SHIPS WITH OKANAGAN VALLEY NAMES
The Canadian Navy has a long tradition of naming ships after Canadian towns, cities and geographical features such as rivers. This tradition continues to this day with the modern city class frigates named after major Canadian cities. Although there are no current naval vessels in commission in the navy with Okanagan Valley related names there were two ships named after Okanagan Valley place names during WW II:
HMCS Kalamalka
Built by A.C. Benson Shipyard Ltd. of Vancouver, HMCS Kalamalka was commissioned in the Canadian Navy July 4, 1944. She was assigned to the Local Defence Force and was continuously employed on precautionary sweeps of the approaches to Esquimalt and Prince Rupert Harbour. Initially paid off in November 1945, she was reactivated and sent to Halifax where she served as a guard ship for the reserve fleet. Paid off again, she was restored to service in the summer and fall of 1952 and 1953 for use as a tender at St. John’s and was finally paid off on Oc. 23, 1953 and transferred to the Department of Indian Affairs.
Ship information:
Type Minesweeper Class Llewellyn Displacement 228 tonnes Length 119.3 Feet Armament 4 x. 50 cal machine guns Top Speed 12 Knots Pennant Number J395 Crew 23 (3 0fficers)
RCN at sea during WWIIThe allied maritime supply lines to the Aleutians and Alaska were especially important from the initiation of the war in the Pacific with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December, 1941. The threat posed by Japanese Imperial Forces in 1942-43 was especially great with the occupation of two Aleutian Islands, Attu and Kiska by Japanese forces. In addition, Japanese aircraft carriers and submarines presented the constant potential of attack on sea lanes and BC itself.
Pearl Harbour, 7 Dec. 1941
submarine with the range to
strike at Canada's west coast.Japanese carrier planes ranged
on deck with another carrier in the wake.The main Japanese threat to BC was removed by the victories of the United States Navy in major battles in the far-flung Pacific Campaign however a submarine threat remained throughout the war and HMCS Kelowna and the other ships of the RCN maintained their patrols against this danger throughout the war.
HMCS Kelowna
HMCS Kelowna was commissioned in the Canadian Navy at Prince Rupert on Feb.5, 1942. She was assigned to the Local Defence Force and was continuously employed on precautionary sweeps of the approaches to Esquimalt and Prince Rupert Harbour until being paid Oct. 22, 1945. She was sold for commercial purposes and first renamed Condor and later, in 1950, Hung Hsin. She subsequently disappeared from Lloyd’s Register.
Ship information:
Type Minesweeper Class Bangor Displacement 672 Tonnes Length 180 Feet Armament 1-4" Gun,
1-3" Gun,
2-20mmTop Speed 16 Knots Pennant Number J261 Crew 83 (6 Officers)
RCN warship in heavy seas during WWII
HMCS Okanagan, a Canadian O - class submarineIn the post-war era the Canadian Navy went through a series of changes as Canada's maritime defence policies adapted to the changing realities of the Cold War and Canada's role in NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The Canadian Navy had built the third largest navy in the world by the end of WW II and although the navy was drastically reduced in peacetime the tremendous expertise in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) developed during the war continued to serve the Canadian Navy well. Within NATO navies Canada specialized in this field of maritime warfare with the Canadian Navy pioneering major developments such as the incorporation of ASW helicopters on ASW specialized destroyer escorts with advanced sonar sensors.
HMCS Nipigon with Seaking helicopter hovering over flight deckSubmarines had historically played an important role in training Canadian ASW forces during WW II and the immediate post-war era using Royal Navy and ex-United States Navy submarines for this role. Submarines have a critical role in developing the combat readiness skills of the surface fleet in countering potential submarine threats. This important function was continued with the acquisition of three British subs in the 1960s. The post-war O class submarines took their class name from the first letters of their names. In the Royal Navy, the lead boat was Oberon. (Customarily, submarines are called “boats,” not “ships,” no matter what their size.) The Canadian boats were named after First Nations tribes.
A bow shot of HMCS Okanagan at seaBuilt at the Chatham Dockyard in England, the Okanagan was named after a tribe of the Interior BC Salish Nation. Commissioned into the Canadian Navy on 22 June 1968 the boat served in the Atlantic fleet based in Halifax until 14 September 1998. A special paying off ceremony (the term for bringing a ship's naval service to an end) including a celebration of 30 years of service in the navy was held soon after on the 28th September that year.
Submarine info:
Type Submarine Class Oberon Displacement 1,610 / 2,410 tons surfaced / submerged Length 295 x 29 x 18 feet Armament Mk.37 Mod 2 electric homing torpedoes 6x 21" tubes forward, 2x 21" "short" tubes - stern firing- with Mk.37 Mod 0 electric straight running torpedoes. Top Speed 2 x 3,680 hp V16 diesels, 2 x 3,000 hp electric motors, diesel-electric, 2 shafts, 6000 shp, 12/16 knots Pennant Number 74 Crew 68
