H.M.C.S. HAIDA

Celebration to greet H.M.C.S. HAIDA in its new home
in Hamilton Harbour

On August 30, 2003, Parks Canada held a celebration to mark the arrival of H.M.C.S. HAIDA to this historic vessel's new home in Hamilton Harbour. This date marked the 60th anniversary of the her commissioning into the Royal Canadian Navy. The veterans parade, military marching bands, Royal Canadian Sea Cadets Corps demonstrations and a flypast by Second World War aircraft were greatly enjoyed by all who attended. Click the image on the left to view a flyer for this event in PDF format (64KB).

Click the thumbnails to the right for larger versions of the images.

Public tours of the ship, in it's new Hamilton home, will begin in the Spring of 2004. Hours of operation will be posted here when they are available. We also recommend checking the Friends of H.M.C.S. HAIDA web site.

Recent news on the ship

August 13, 2003: A map is available showing the route that the ship took when it arrived in Hamilton Harbour on August 30, 2003.

Since 1970, H.M.C.S. HAIDA has called Toronto's Ontario Place home, operating as a Sea Cadet training camp, Naval museum and maritime memorial. In mid-November of 2002, operations began to move the vessel from Toronto to Port Weller for repair, and then on to Hamilton and her new home.

The five lower photos on the right provide a quick view of some of the restoration work (click the images to open larger versions). For more photos and in-depth history of this ship and her recent journey, please see the Friends of H.M.C.S. HAIDA web site.

An overview of H.M.C.S. HAIDA

The following text has been provided by the Friends of H.M.C.S. HAIDA

(H.M.C.S. HAIDA) is the last remaining example of the 27 Tribal Class destroyers built for the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy between 1937 and 1945. It has been said that The Tribals were "magnificent in appearance, majestic in movement and menacing in disposition". Technologically, they represented the most advanced naval architecture, marine propulsion systems and weaponry of their time.

Once, H.M.C.S. HAIDA was a mighty fighting ship. Today, she is an irreplaceable historic artifact and her significance has been formally recognized by the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board. Not only is the ship historically significant, but she is a cultural asset representing a life style, however transient, of more than a generation of Canadians who served in Canada's Navy between 1943 and 1963. The thousands of men who sailed in H.M.C.S. HAIDA represented a total cross section of Canadian society during that period. No other ship was ever more deserving of the title, "The Fightingest Ship in the Royal Canadian Navy".

A Brief overview of H.M.C.S. HAIDA's significance

H.M.C.S. HAIDA is a Tribal Class destroyer, the last Tribal Class destroyer in the world. She is Canada's most famous warship, and is internationally recognized.
Sixteen Tribals were built for the Royal Navy (RN) in 1937. Eight were built for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) between 1942 and 1945, and three were built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1942 and 1944.
Thirteen of them, including one Canadian, were sunk during World War II. The remainder were scrapped between 1945 and 1965. HAIDA is the only one left.
Of more than 300 ships that comprised the RCN during Wold War II, only H.M.C.S. HAIDA, H.M.C.S SACKVILLE, and the CGS Acadia remain.
Eight Canadian destroyers participated in the Korean War. H.M.C.S. HAIDA is the sole survivor.
Technologically she represented the most advanced naval architecture, marine propulsion systems and naval weapons of her day.

Battle Honours:

Arctic 1943-1945
English Channel 1944
Normandy 1944
Biscay 1944
Korea 1952-1953

H.M.C.S. HAIDA history in brief

World War Two

Commissioned in August 1943, HAIDA began her fighting career escorting convoys into the Arctic. She helped ensure the safe arrival of 7 convoys of Allied supplies to Russia on the Murmansk run, and it was during her first few months of service that HAIDA helped lure the German battle cruiser SCHARNHORST out of hiding and into battle with H.M.S. DUKE OF YORK. SCHARNHORST was sunk on December 26, 1943, and HAIDA started her long list of victories.

In early 1944, she was assigned to the 10th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth, England. The mission was to crush the remaining surface strength of the German Navy before D-Day. The English Channel had to be cleared for the Allied ships to pass through on their way to invade Hitler's Europe.

One night in April, HAIDA and her Canadian sister ship, H.M.C.S. ATHABASKAN, surprised two German destroyers near the Isle of Ushant. A fierce battle ensued. When it was over, ATHABASKAN had been torpedoed and HAIDA had sunk one of the destroyers and damaged the other. In the early dawn, after the action had ended, HAIDA returned to rescue 48 survivors of the sunken ATHABASKAN but sadly she had to leave nearly 100 more behind as she fled daylight to avoid being sunk herself by the Luftwaffe. 128 lost their lives. During the following spring and summer, HAIDA avenged her sister ship by sinking more enemy vessels than any other ship in the Royal Canadian Navy, including four destroyers and a U-boat.

In 1945 HAIDA returned to duties in the Arctic and was involved in the liberation of Norway.

After World War Two

HAIDA came home to a roaring welcome in Halifax, and was being refitted for the war in the Pacific when Japan surrendered. She was placed in the Reserve Fleet until 1947 when she was recommissioned.

She hit the headlines again in 1949 when her crew were made Honorary Texans after rescuing 18 American flyers whose B-29 bomber had crashed 300 miles off Bermuda. (The rescued co-pilot was a Texan).

Korea

During the Korean War HAIDA was back in action. She did two tours of duty between 1952 and 1954. During the first tour she took part in the bombardment of Communist supply trains, as they traveled along the coastal railway, and became a member of the United Nations Train Busters Club.

NATO

HAIDA joined the RCN's Atlantic anti-submarine fleet in 1956 and served the rest of her active life as an Escort Destroyer.

The Great Lakes Connection

On her last cruise in 1963, HAIDA came into the Great Lakes on a training mission. During this time a group of businessmen were inspired by her history and sought to obtain her as a memorial to the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy. They were successful in their bid to purchase the ship and she arrived in Toronto the next summer and opened to the public on July 9, 1965.

Later, in 1970, the provincial government took over ownership of the ship and moved her to Ontario Place, where she floated, proudly and peacefully, until 2002 when Parks Canada acquired the vessel as part of the plan to revitalize the Hamilton waterfront.