- HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259)
HMCS "Terra Nova" (DDE 259) was a sclass|Restigouche|destroyer|1 that served in the
Royal Canadian Navy and later theCanadian Forces from 1959-1997.She was the sixth ship of her class and the first Canadian war ship to bear the name HMCS "Terra Nova". The ship honours the
Terra Nova River in Newfoundland as well as an earlier civilian ship the "Terra Nova", which gained fame during a scientific exploration voyage toAntarctica . Both the river and the Antarctic (symbolized by a penguin) are featured on the ship's badge."Terra Nova" was laid down on 11 June 1953 at Victoria Machinery Depot Ltd., Victoria and launched on 21 June 1955. She was commissioned into the RCN on 6 June 1959 with the
pennant number 259."Terra Nova" was selected by the Canadian Forces for the Improved Restigouche (IRE) project and completed this refit in 1968. She was also selected as one of 10 destroyers in the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) project and completed this refit on 9 November 1984.
Operation FRICTION
"Terra Nova" was selected in August 1990 for deployment with Operation FRICTION, the CF contribution to Operation DESERT STORM (the
Gulf War ). She had her Mk.112 ASROC octuple launcher and her Mk.NC10 Limbo ASW mortars removed and was fitted with 8 X Harpoon anti-ship missiles and a Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS)."Terra Nova" was deployed with the Canadian Naval Task Group, led by flag ship HMCS|Athabaskan|DDH 282|6 and the supply ship HMCS|Protecteur|AOR 509|6. The Task Group was assigned to the international coalition maritime interdiction force in the central
Persian Gulf which was comprised of a variety of coalition naval forces on station through the fall of 1990. After Operation DESERT STORM began in January, the Canadian Naval Task Group undertook escort duties for hospital ships and other vulnerable coalition naval vessels.Decommissioning
"Terra Nova" was decommissioned from active service in the CF on 11 July 1997.
After being paid off "Terra Nova" appeared, cast as an American destroyer, in the movie "".
In December 2007 there was discussion about sinking "Terra Nova" for a diving attraction in the
St. Lawrence River nearBrockville, Ontario .As of 2008 she remains laid up at
CFB Halifax .References
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/restigou/ Canadian Navy of Yesterday & Today: "Restigouche"-class destroyer escort]
* [http://www.readyayeready.com/cgi-bin/query/display.pl?index=1423 HMCS "Terra Nova" (DDE 259) - readyayeready.com]
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