HMCS Yukon (DDE 263)

HMCS Yukon (DDE 263) was a Mackenzie-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces.

She was the first Canadian naval unit to carry this name.

Yukon was laid down on 25 October 1959 at Burrard Dry Dock Ltd., North Vancouver and launched on 27 July 1961. She was commissioned into the RCN on 25 May 1963.

She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and served largely as a training ship with the RCN and later in the CF under Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC). She underwent the Destroyer Life Extension Project (DELEX) in 1983.

She was decommissioned from Maritime Command on 3 Dec 1993.

Yukon's hulk was purchased by the San Diego Oceans Foundation which towed her from CFB Esquimalt to San Diego, California in 2000. She was gutted and cleaned before being scuttled in 100 ft of water in the Pacific ocean off Mission Bay in San Diego as an artificial reef.

Ship's Bell
The ship's bell of HMCS Yukon is currently located in the Yukon Legislative Building. The Christening Bells Project at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum includes information from the ship's bell of HMCS Yukon, which was used for baptism of babies onboard ship.