Restigouche class destroyer

The "Restigouche" class destroyer was a class of destroyers that served the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from the late-1950s to the late-1990s.

The RCN began planning the sclass|St. Laurent|destroyer|1 in the late 1940s and originally intended to procure 14 vessels. Delays in design and construction saw the number of vessels for the "St. Laurent"-class halved to 7. The 7 remaining vessels were redesigned as the "Restigouche"-class, taking into account design improvements found during construction of the "St. Laurent"'s.

There were seven ships of the class commissioned between 1958 and 1959.

The most noticeable difference between the "St. Laurent" and "Restigouche" classes was that the latter had the bridge raised one full deck higher in order ot see over a new forward Vickers 3"/70 Mk.6 gun mount.

Improved Restigouche (IRE)

During the late 1960s, four ships of this class were refitted to what is known as the Improved Restigouche (IRE).

This refit involved replacing the aft 3"/50 gun with an octuple ASROC launcher. The old radar/communication mast was also replaced with a taller lattice mast. The stern was altered to accommodate a new variable depth sonar.

The three vessels that did not receive this refit were paid off into Category "C" Reserve soon afterward, during the manpower shortages of the early-to-mid 1970s when the newly-unified Canadian Forces experienced defence budget cuts. warship|HMCS|Chaudiere|DDE 235 was used as a parts hulk and donated her bow to warship|HMCS|Kootenay|DDE 258 after the latter was damaged in a collision. warship|HMCS|Columbia|DDE 260 became a dockside engineering training platform at CFB Esquimalt and warship|HMCS|St. Croix|DDE 256 had her weapons and propellers removed and her machinery spaces converted into classrooms.

Destroyer Life Extension Project (DELEX)

The four IRE vessels of the "Restigouche"-class that remained in active service with the CF were selected for the Destroyer Life Extension Project (DELEX) in the late 1970s. DELEX was commissioned to upgrade the ten newest "St. Laurent" and "Restigouche"-class ships with new electronics, machinery, and hull upgrades and repairs. The intent of DELEX was to extend the life of these ships for another 15 years of service while the "Halifax"-class frigates were being designed and built as part of the Canadian Patrol Frigate Program.

DELEX included the installation of a Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) known as the Automatic Data Link Plotting System (ADLIPS), as well as the Canadian Electronic Warfare System (CANEWS), and a new communication suite.

DELEX was very successful as it allowed older ships to participate in a modern electronic battle field using tactical data links between ships and aircraft.

The "Kootenay" suffered two mishaps during her career: In 1969 one of her gearboxes exploded, killing 7 crewmembers in one of the worst peacetime accidents in Canadian naval history. 20 years later, she collided with a freighter in 1989 and suffered bow damage and was repaired with parts removed from warship|HMCS|Chaudiere|DDE 235.

Gulf War refit

warship|HMCS|Terra Nova|DDE 259 was hastily and temporarily refitted in August 1990 as part of Operation FRICTION.

She was re-equipped with parts from the Halifax-class frigate program to act as a primary anti-ship strike and naval battery platform. Modifications were made in Halifax as well as while underway to the Persian Gulf and involved the installation of new weapons and subsequent electronics and sensors.

Among the new equipment for "Terra Nova" was an upgraded convert|3|in|mm|sing=on rapid fire gun, Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher (8 missiles), Vulcan Phalanx 20 mm Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), and modified torpedo tubes for the Mk.46 Mod 50 homing torpedo. The upgrade saw the removal of the ASROC system and the well for the Limbo ASW mortar, which were replaced by Harpoon and CIWS respectively. Two 40 mm Boffin anti-aircraft guns (with an improvised fire control system) in addition to Javelin point-defense Surface-to-Air missiles and .50 cal machine guns were also added for improved close-quarter fighting.

As such, "Terra Nova" became the first ever guided-missile destroyer ever to serve in the Canadian Navy. Recently released documents indicate that the rapid Gulf War modification plans were determined to date back to the early 1980s as part of an emergency re-armament plan devised in case of a conventional war with the Soviet Union and/or the Warsaw Pact.

hips

References

*Chumbley, Stephen and Gardner, Robert (Ed.) "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947-1995". Conway Maritime Press, 1995. ISBN 0-85177-605-1.
* [http://www.dawndreamer.ca/kootenay.jpgPhoto of HMCS "Kootenay" (pre IRE)]
* [http://www.dawndreamer.ca/My_Former_Ships.htm Ships Served on by Owner of Dawn Dreamer]
* [http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Kootenay1.htm 10 page account of explosion aboard HMCS "Kootenay"]
*Couhat, Jean Labayle, "Combat Fleets of the World 1978-79" Arms and Armour Press, 1978.
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/restigou/ RESTIGOUCHE Class DDE (escort destroyer) - Hazegray.org]
* Janes Fighting Ships 1963-64
* Friedman, Norman, "The Postwar Naval Revolution", Naval Institute Press, 1986. ISBN 0-87021-952-9.