Haida was a Canadian Royal Navy destroyer that served with distinction in World War 2 and the Korean War. It participated in numerous convoy escort missions and naval engagements in the Atlantic and Pacific, sinking several German ships. After decommissioning, Haida was preserved as a museum ship through the efforts of a dedicated group. It is now permanently docked and open to visitors in Hamilton, Ontario as a national historic site.

1. Haida worked with the Royal Navy in Arctic Russia that fall, providing convoy escort for relief of the
Spitsbergen garrison into Kola and Murmansk. On 10 January 1944, she was reassigned to the 10th
Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth and took part in the Operation Tunnel sweepsin the Bay of Biscay. Haida
was damagedby the GermanElbing-classtorpedoboatT-29 on the nightof 25–26 April but pressedthe
attack and sank T-29 in what was Haida 's first victory. It should be noted that despite the German
designationas'torpedoboat',theElbingswere essentiallyonaparwithmid-sizedAllieddestroyershaving
justslightlysmallerarmament.HaidatookpartinOperationHostilesweepson28–29 April incompanyof
HMCS Athabaskan. Athabaskan was torpedoed by another Elbing class vessel,T-24, with the loss of 128
crewwhile 83became prisonersof warandHaidarecovered44survivors.Haidaiscreditedwith attacking
yetanotherElbingthatnightwhenshe forcedT-27agroundandsetit afire withshelling;itwaslatersunk
byrocketsfiredfromBristolBeaufightersthefollowingday.Haidacontinuedthe OperationHostile sorties
in companyof sistershipHMCS Huron during the weeksleadinguptoOperationOverlord.On8–9 June,
Haidawas part of Task Force 26 whichiscreditedwithsinkingthe destroyersZH1andZ32 inthe Battle of
Ushant. On 24 June, Haida is credited with helping HMS Eskimo[4] and aircraft in sinking U-971. On 15
July,Haidaand twoothervesselswiththe 10thDestroyerFlotillainterceptedagroupof German shipsat
Lorient. The battle saw two trawlers UJ1420 and UJ1421 destroyed, one merchant ship sunk and two
others left afire. On 5–6 August, Haida 's now-famous luck continued while engaged in an Operation
Kineticsweep.A shell explodedinone of the turretsand started a fire,killingtwoand injuringeightbut
not seriously damaging the ship. Haida departed Western Europe on 22 September for Halifax, Nova
Scotia, arriving to a tumultuous welcome on 29 September. She returned to Scapa Flow in mid-January
1945 after refitting to receive new radar sensors. She was declared operational again on 19 March and
escorted aircraft carriers in minelaying operations off Granesund, Norway and assisted in attacks on
shipping in Trondheim from 24–28 March. On 7 April, Haida escorted seven anti-submarine warfare
vesselsfromGreenock,ScotlanddestinedforSovietuseatVaenga(renamedSeveromorskin 1951).Haida
experiencedoneof the lastRCN engagementsof the SecondWorldWarwhenshe escortedconvoyJW66
initsreturnto the UnitedKingdomfromVaenga.The convoywasattackedandHaidaandHuronreceived
near-missesfrom torpedoes fired by U-boats. In the skirmish, two U-boats were sunk, along with the
frigate HMS Goodall, and the convoy escapedin a snowstorm. Haida and Huron returned to Scapa Flow
on 6 May and wasassignedtorelief operationsatTrondheimfiord,Norwayon17 May. Haida, alongwith
Huron and Iroquois, left for Halifax on 4 June to refit as part of Canada's contribution to Operation
Downfall. They arrived on 10 June and Haida started a tropicalization refit but it was suspended after
Japan's surrender later that summer. Haida was paid off on 20 March 1946 with the massive
demobilization of the RCN World War II fleet. Haida was in mothballs for approximately 1 year but was
prepared forreactivation in 1947 and underwenta refitforupdated armamentand sensors.Whilein refit,
fire gutted the wheelhouseand boiler tubesburst later during speed trials. She returned to the fleet, still
carrying the famous pennant G63, in May 1947. Haida and her sister ship HMCS Nootka participated in
exercisesbetween theRCN'sAtlanticFleetand theUnited StatesNavyand RoyalNavy overthenextseveral
years. Haida was involved in assisting during the grounding of HMCS Magnificent off Port Mouton on 4
June 1949. That December, Haida was downgraded to a Depot and Accommodation Ship in Halifax. The
launch of theKorean Waron 25June1950saw Haida onceagain activated forwarduty.Shewasconverted
to a destroyer escort and began refit in July 1950 which saw various new armaments and sensors and
communicationssystems.Shewasrecommissioned on 15 March 1952 and carried the pennant DDE 215.
She departed Halifax on 27 September for Sasebo, Japan, arriving there on 12 November after passing
through the Panama Canal. Haida relieved Nootka on 18 November off the west coast of Korea and had

2. an uneventfulpatrol,returning to Sasebo to replenish on 29 November.Shepatrolled off theeastcoastof
Korea beginning on 4 December and took part with USSMoorein shelling of a railway yard in Songjin as
well as a coastal battery and North Korean troops. On 18–19 December, Haida attacked an enemy train
but missed the escaping locomotive which hid in a nearby tunnel, thus not joining the exclusive
"Trainbusters Club". Haida returned to patrol on 3 January 1953 and escorted aircraft carriers as well as
performing coastalbombardments.On 29 January,Haida entered the"TrainbustersClub"afterattacking
a train northof Riwon and also detonated a drifting anti-shipmineon herreturn to Yang do. Shedeparted
Sasebo on 12 June, heading west through the Suez Canal and arrived in Halifax on 22 July 1953. Haida
departed Halifax for a second Korean tour on 14 December 1953, passing through the Panama Canal.
Despite the cease fire, infractions by North Korea and China were occurring, thus the need for a naval
presence around South Korea. She departed the Korean theatre on 1 November 1954 and headed for
Halifax via theSuezCanalonceagain. FollowingtheKoreanoperations,Haida embarked on ColdWaranti-
submarinewarfaredutieswithotherNATOunitsin the North Atlanticand West Indies. Haida 'saging hull
and infrastructure proved troublesome and in January 1958 she went into refit for hull repairs and
protection for electronic equipment. Further refits in 1959 corrected various problems and she sailed for
the West Indies in January 1960; however,furtherequipmentfailuresculminating in the 3 April failure of
her steering gear forced her to return to Halifax. A hull survey in May found extensive corrosion and
cracking,forcing herinto drydockfortheremainderof theyear. Sheundertookfurtherrepairsin June–July
1961 after further cracking was found during operations in heavy seas that March. More cracks were
detected in March 1962 which forced a refit through February 1963. With the writing on the wall, Haida
undertookherlast assignment,a summer tour of the Great Lakes. She departed Halifax on 25 April 1963
with a mobile television studio on board.Sheundertookvariouspublictoursand weaponstraining during
the tour; one of the individuals to tour her was a civilian named Neil Bruce. Bruce foresaw that she was
destined for scrapping and formed HAIDA Inc. as a means of attempting to acquire her for preservation.
Haida returned to Halifax and wasplaced in Category Creserveatthenavy baseHMCSProtectorin Sydney.
Crown Assets announced Haida would be scrapped in 1964 as part of cutbacks to the RCN. HAIDA Inc.
placed a bid of $20,000 and won possession on the grounds of restoration. The RCN donated gear and
towed her to Halifax for cleanup and fitting out, then to the Marine Industries Limited shipyard at Sorel,
Quebec where she became civilian property. The Naval Reserve Division HMCS York provided a skeleton
crew for the Haida as she was towed to Toronto by two tugboats. She arrived on 25 August 1964 with
guest of honour Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf (Retired) who was her first commanding officer. Haida was
restored and reacquired the pennant G63 while docked at the foot of York Street. She opened as an
attraction in August 1965 at the pier on York Street. Initially the city of Toronto had planned to build a
"Serviceman's Memorial Park" near the Princes' Gates at nearby Exhibition Place to link with the Haida
preservation efforts. The organization HAIDA Inc. ran into financial difficulties during the late 1960s and
title to the ship wastransferred to the provincial government.In 1970, Haida wasmoved to a site at the
westend of the Toronto waterfrontwhereitsamusementparkOntario Placewaslocated.The vessel was
also used asa RoyalCanadian Sea Cadetstraining facility. In 2002, at theurging of Hamilton,Ontario MP
Sheila Copps, Parks Canada purchased Haida fromthe provincial government and towed her (with great
difficulty) fromherOntario Placedockto a shipyard atPortWellerfora $5 million refitto herhull.She was
taken to a newhomeon theHamilton waterfrontand arrived to an 11-Gun Salutefrom31RoyalCanadian
Sea CadetCorpsLion and her 12-pounderNavalField Gun on 30 August2003, the 60th anniversary of her
commissioning into the RCN. She is now a National Historic Site of Canada and is a museum ship on the
Hamilton waterfrontin frontof Hamilton's NavalReserve Division,HMCS Star.Haida has becomea focal

3. point of a revitalized waterfrontnearCatharineStreet North. In July 2006 Haida was "twinned"with the
Polish destroyerORPBłyskawica in a ceremony in Gdynia,Poland.Both shipsserved in the 10th Destroyer
Flotilla during the Second World War. The ceremony wasattended by formercrew membersof bothships
and the general public. The ship was visited in 2009 by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife,
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and on 29 June 2010, at Government House in Nova Scotia, Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh, presented to representatives of HMCS Haida the World Ship Trust Certificate.[