HMCS Champlain

There have been 2 units named Champlain in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Champlain (1st of the name) (D17/H24/H25/F50)

Initially named HMS Torbay, this “S” Class destroyer was originally commissioned in the Royal Navy in 1919. She was lent to the Royal Canadian Navy, which was awaiting the completion of new ships ordered to replenish its aging fleet. The transfer took place at Portsmouth, Great Britain, on March 1, 1928.

In May 1928, HMCS Champlain arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was utilized to provide reserve training on the east coast, serving most of her career there. She was paid off on November 25, 1936, and sold for scrap the following year.

• Builder: Thorneycroft, Southampton
• Launched: March 6, 1919
• Date of Canadian commission: March 1, 1928
• Date paid off: November 25, 1936
• Displacement: 1,087 tons
• Dimensions: 84.2 m x 7.2 m x 2.3 m
• Maximum speed: 30 knots
• Crew: 90
• Armament: three 4-inch (102 mm) guns, one 2-pound (0.9 kilos) gun, four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2 x II) and depth charges.

HMCS Champlain (2nd of the name)

In the mid 1980’s, a new phase of the Naval Reserve revitalization plan came to fruition with the inauguration of four new francophone units. HMCS Champlain was the first one and was activated in 1985 just as maritime activities were ending in the City of Chicoutimi, now Ville de Saguenay, Quebec. With its first promotion of sailors in 1986, HMCS Champlain was commissioned on August 15, 1986 and continued the maritime tradition within the city. The permanent buildings that house the unit at the present time were opened in April 1993. Throughout the years, HMCS Champlain has, by its active involvement within the Saguenay community, taken up the challenge of perpetuating with dignity the Saguenay maritime tradition.

Date commissioned: August 15, 1986

Crew: 95

Motto: “Préparer pour défendre” (Preparing for defend)