HMCS Athabaskan (DDH 282)

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Career

Ordered:	mid 1960s
Laid down:	June 1, 1969
Launched:	November 27, 1970
Commissioned:	November 30, 1972
Decommissioned:	N/A
Fate:	N/A
Struck:	N/A
General characteristics
Displacement:	5120 tonnes
Length:	129.9 m
Beam:	15.7 m
Draught:	6.9 m
Propulsion:	two shafts, two Pratt & Whitney FT4-A2 gas turbines (37 megawatts at the shaft), two Allison 570-KF gas turbines (5.6 megawatts at the shaft)
Speed:	over 27 knots (50 km/h)
Range:	4500 nm (8300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	314
Armament:	one 29-cell VLS (Standard SM-2MR Block IIIA), one 76 mm/62 OTO Melara (Super Rapid) DP, 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, 1 20 mm Close-In Weapons Systems, two triple Mark-46 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes firing Mark-46 Mod 5 torpedoes.
Aircraft:	2 CH-124 Sea King helicopters
Motto:	We Fight as One
Battle Honours:	Arctic: 1943-1944, English Channel: 1944, Korea: 1950-1953, Persian Gulf: 1991
Badge:	Blazon On a field argent, a North American Indian clad in buckskin breeches, leggings and beaded moccasins, but bare to the waist except for a necklace of bear's claws and blue shells, and ear ornaments of the last. The Indian wears the full-feathered headdress and is mounted bareback upon an Indian pony being halted from the trot. The Indian holds a red bow and arrow in the "ready" position, the latter pointing down.

For other ships of the same name, see HMCS Athabaskan.

HMCS Athabaskan (DDG 282) is an Iroquois-class destroyer of the Canadian Navy, the third ship to bear that name. She is the current flagship of the Canadian fleet.

The Athabaskan is a member of the Iroquois class, commonly called "280's" or the "Tribal class" by Canadian Forces personnel. Athabaskan wears pennant 282 and was commissioned in November 1972.

In 1991, Athabaskan was part (along with the frigate HMCS Terra Nova and the supply ship HMCS Protecteur) of a three-ship force sent to the Persian Gulf for the conflict with Iraq over Kuwait. Upon arrival, Athabaskan's superior command-and-control capabilities turned her into the flagship for Coalition forces in the Central Gulf area, and she and her consorts took a very active role in boarding suspect vessels heading to or from Iraq in the Gulf. Later in in the campaign, the American Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton detonated two bottom-moored influence mines (MANTAs) at the north end of the Gulf and was seriously damaged. Although Athabaskan was not assigned to the area, the American captain requested she be sent in to escort the Princeton out of the minefield. This was because, unusual for a ship of her size, Athabaskan was able to operate two large Sikorsky Sea King helicopters, which could scout ahead for -- or even sweep -- mines and stay aloft longer than smaller ship-based helicopters. Athabaskan picked her way through the dangerous waters and escorted Princeton safely out (and winched over cases of beer -- which "dry" American vessels did not have -- as a gesture of sympathy). Athabaskan remained on station until after the war concluded.

On September 2, 2005, the ship was sent to the devastated U.S. Gulf Coast to assist disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

On January 11 2006, HMCS Athabaskan sailed from Halifax to become flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1)under operational command of Canadian Commodore Denis Rouleau. A change of command ceremony occurred in Kiel Germany on January 23, 2006. During the six month rotation, SNMG1 conducted various training exercises including Operation Brilliant Mariner and Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean. Athabaskan returned to Halifax on July 20, 2006 and passed on flagship status to HMCS Iroquois.