HMCS FRASER at sea. DND photo.
Click on thumbnails below to see larger image.
Photos by Sandy McClearn except where noted.
HMCS FRASER at sea. DND photo.
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FRASER was built on the West Coast,
and launched on February 19, 1953 at Vancouver. She was the sixth of the
ST. LAURENT class, and was commissioned on June 28, 1957. Her first eight
years were spent on patrol and training cruises all over the Pacific Ocean.
In 1965, she and several USN warships were subjected to a couple of blast
tests off Hawaii. These tests were meant to indicate how the ship would
behave in the event of nuclear attack, and she easily passed both tests.
Starting in July of 1965, FRASER became the last ship of her class to undergo
the conversion to a DDH. Transferred to the East Coast, she reentered service
in 1966 and in 1967 paid a visit to Washington to showcase the new Canadian
helicopter landing system, the Beartrap. In 1969, she represented Canada
at the Portsmouth Spithead Review for Queen Elizabeth. She briefly entered
Category 'C' reserve in 1973, but subsequently underwent a refit and returned
to service in the fall of 1974. In late 1980, she rescued 12 British seamen
in the North Sea. Between October of 1981 and May of 1982, she underwent
her DELEX refit, and became primarily a test ship for new equipment. In
1986 she was fitted with the SQR 19 towed array sonar as well as new towed
array sonar processors as part of the ETASS program. This combination of
sonar systems are now fitted to the new HALIFAX class frigates as the CANadian
Towed Array Sonar System (CANTASS). In 1987, she tested the SLQ 25 Nixie
towed torpedo decoy, which was also fitted to the HALIFAX class ships as
well as those of the IROQUOIS and ANNAPOLIS classes. Also tested was the
URN-20A TACAN (Tactical AirCraft Navigation) beacon, which was mounted
on a large black lattice mast between the funnels. In 1988 and through
to 1989, she was the first ship to operate a HELTAS (Helicopter Towed Array
Sonar) Sea King. In 1993 and 1994, she operated off Haiti as a part of
the United Nations' OPERATION FORWARD ACTION. On October 5, 1994, FRASER
made her final sailpast in Halifax after steaming over 900,000 miles during
her career. She was the last ST. LAURENT class destroyer to leave service.
After several attempts to turn FRASER into a museum in Kingston and
Hamilton fell through, she was handed over to the Artificial Reef Society
of Nova Scotia to be turned into a museum in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia,
where she is tied up at the Bridgewater Marine Terminal. She arrived at
her new destination on December 18, 1997.
Since her arrival, the members of the ARSNS have been hard at work
cleaning FRASER up and restoring the interior to as close to its former
appearance as possible, so that she will be able to be toured by members
of the public. |
