HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236)

HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236) was a Restigouche-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces from 1959-1996.

She was the third ship in her class and the second vessel to carry the designation HMCS Gatineau.

Construction
Gatineau was laid down on 30 April 1953 at Davie Shipbuilding Ltd., Lauzon and launched on 3 June 1957. She was officially commissioned into the RCN on 17 February 1959 and carried the pennant number 236 as a destroyer escort.

Service career
Gatineau offered a 21 gun salute to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II on June 26, 1959, for the official Opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. CBC Television has archived a TV record of the ceremony including footage of the Gatineau.

Gatineau was selected by the Canadian Forces for the Improved Restigouche (IRE) program and completed this refit on 14 April 1971. She was also selected as one of 10 destroyers in the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) program and completed this refit on 12 November 1982.

Decommissioning
She was decommissioned from active service in the Canadian Forces on 24 May 1996 and was laid up at CFB Halifax's HMC Dockyard Annex in Dartmouth.

On September 18, 2009, the Department of National Defence called for bids for "the removal, dismantling and disposal" of HMCS Terra Nova (DDE 259) and HMCS Gatineau (DDE 236). The deadline for submissions for the work was October 8, 2009. On November 4, 2009, DND announced that Aecon Fabco had won the bid and would tow both vessels to their Pictou Shipyard in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

Gatineau departed Halifax Harbour on November 17, 2009, at 10:30am under tow by the tugboat Atlantic Elm and arrived in Pictou on November 19, 2009, at 9:30am.

As of June 15, 2010, Gatineau was sitting at dockside being stripped of insulation, etc. The gun turret was reportedly removed in Halifax prior to bringing her to Pictou. Dismantling of Terra Nova is well underway at this time with bow gone and much of the superstructure removed. Gatineau was scheduled to be dismantled in July 2010. [As viewed, photographed and reported 2010 June 15 by former crew-member Colin M Stevens of 1969 voyage Halifax to Victoria.]