HMCS Okanagan (S74)
HMCS Ojibwa, HMCS Okanagan and ex-HMS Olympus docked in Halifax
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History | |
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Canada | |
Name: | Okanagan |
Namesake: | Okanagan First Nations people |
Builder: | Chatham Dockyard, Chatham |
Laid down: | 25 March 1965 |
Launched: | 17 September 1966 |
Commissioned: | 22 June 1968 |
Decommissioned: | 14 September 1998 |
Motto: |
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Status: | Scrapped in 2011 |
Badge: | Blazon Or, issuing out of a base barry wavy of four azure and argent, a marine monster "Ogopogo" gules, langued of the second. the first Parliament of Upper Canada in 1792, both proper. |
General characteristics | |
Class & type: | Oberon-class submarine |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 295.25 ft (89.99 m) |
Beam: | 26.5 ft (8.1 m) |
Draught: | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
Propulsion: | 2 diesel electric engines |
Speed: |
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Range: | 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) |
Endurance: | 56 days |
Test depth: | 120 metres (390 ft)-180 metres (590 ft) |
Complement: | 69 |
Sensors and processing systems: |
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Electronic warfare & decoys: |
MEL Manta UAL or UA4 radar warning |
Armament: | 8 × 21 in (530 mm) tubes (6 bow, 2 stern), 18 torpedoes |
HMCS Okanagan (S74) was an Oberon-class submarine that served in the Canadian Forces (CF).
Design and construction
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The submarine, built at Chatham Dockyard in England, was laid down on 25 March 1965, and launched on 17 September 1966.[1] She was commissioned on 22 June 1968.[1] The submarine was named after the Okanagan First Nations people, and was assigned the pennant number 74.[1]
Operational history
In July 1973, Okanagan collided with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Grey Rover while exercising in British waters. There were no injuries to the submarine's complement.
Okanagan participated in the filming of the Japanese disaster film Fukkatsu no hi, released in 1980; one of her officers was given a small speaking role.
Actor McLean Stevenson mentioned on the 1 January 1982 edition of The Tonight Show that he had visited HMCS Okanagan, describing how the crew attached a wire coat hanger, which was connected to a lengthy wire, to the conning tower while in port in order to watch television below deck.[citation needed]
Decommissioning and fate
She was decommissioned from Maritime Command (MARCOM) on 14 September 1998. She had served her entire career with Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) in the North Atlantic.
In May 2005, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald announced that MARCOM was looking to sell Okanagan for scrap metal, along with three other Canadian Oberons laid up at CFB Halifax. MARCOM stated that the submarines were not in suitable condition to be used as museum ships and predicted that each submarine would sell for between C$50,000 and C$60,000.[2] Okanagan was towed to a scrapyard in Port Maitland, Ontario in August 2011.[3]