October 2019
HMCS Haidia, the last surviving Royal Canadian Navy Tribal-class destroyer, has been called the “Fightingest Ship in the Royal Canadian Navy;” a ship that sank the most enemy surface tonnage of any other ship in the Royal Canadian Navy.
Celebrated RCN Vice-Admiral Henry “Harry” DeWolf, CBE, DSO, DSC, CD, was the first commanding officer of HMCS Haida, from August 1943 to September 1944. VAdm DeWolf, known to many as Hard-Over-Harry, famously carved a notch on the bridge rail for every ship sunk
During her twenty-year service, from 1943-1963, covering two wars, HMCS Haida earned five battle honours, all but one from World War II.
The size of the Tribal-class destroyers allowed them to fight more like small cruisers than fleet destroyers, and had a complement of 14 officers and 245 ratings.
After being paid off on 30 April 1963, HMCS Haida was sent to the Point Edward Naval Base, HMCS Protector, in Sydney, Nova Scotia and the following year she was scheduled for scrapping.
A private organization, Haida, Inc., formed by RCN veteran Neil Bruce, succeeded in acquiring Haida for use as a museum ship.
On 25 August 1964, Haida arrived in Toronto, Ontario, towed by two tugboats and crewed by a reservists from Toronto’s Naval Reserve Division HMCS York and featuring guest of honour, Vice-Admiral (Ret’d) Harry DeWolf, the first Commanding Officer of HMCS Haida.
Berthed initially at the pier on York Street, and then at Ontario Place in 1970 under the ownership of the Ontario government, Haida became a popular tourist attraction, as well as being used for Royal Canadian Sea Cadet training.
In 2002, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Hamilton, Ontario, Member of Parliament Shelia Copps, arranged for Parks Canada to purchase HMCS Haida, which was initially towed to a shipyard in Port Weller for a $5 million re-fit, and then on to Hamilton.
Since 30 August 2003, the 60th anniversary of her commissioning into the RCN, HMCS Haida has been birthed at HMCS Star Naval Reserve Division, formerly the home of the Great Lakes Training Centre and the Commander of Naval Divisions.
HMCS Haida was designated a National Historic Site in 1984 and the ceremonial flagship of the Royal Canadian Navy in 2018. She remains a popular tourist attraction.
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- Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Tour guide demonstrating how to get into the crew hammock in the mess. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Tour guide demonstrating how to get into the crew hammock in the mess. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- The main forward 4 inch high angle guns. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- The main forward 4 inch high angle guns. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- 40 mm Bobbins on the port side. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Commander Harry G. DeWolf, Commanding Officer, on the bridge of the destroyer HMCS HAIDA, 5 May 1944. Photo: PO Guy Goulet.
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- Drawing of HMCS Haida. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
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- Battle honours. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
Sources: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/haida/culture/histoire-history, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Haida.
