HMCS Huron (DDG 281)

HMCS Huron (DDG 281) was an Iroquois-class destroyer that actively served the Canadian Forces from December 16, 1972 to October 23, 2000.

History
Huron was the second ship of her class which is sometimes referred to as the Tribal-class or simply as the 280-class. She was the second vessel to use the designation HMCS Huron.

Huron was laid down on 1 June 1969 at Builder: Marine Idustries of Sorel Quebec and was launched on 9 April 1971. She was officially commissioned into the CF on 16 December 1972 and carried the pennant number 281.

Huron completed a refit known as the Tribal Class Update and Modernization Project (TRUMP) on 25 November 1994. At this time her classification changed from Destroyer Helicopter (DDH) to Destroyer Guided Missile (DDG).

She was assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) and was homeported at CFB Esquimalt.

Service
Huron served on MARPAC missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Pacific Ocean and enforced Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone.

Huron was also deployed on missions throughout the Pacific and to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations.

Huron was deployed to the Persian Gulf in winter 1991 as part of Operation FRICTION, the CF's contribution to Operation DESERT STORM (the Gulf War) to replace her sister ship HMCS Athabaskan (DDG 282) as flagship of the Canadian Naval Task Group. Huron arrived after hostilities ceased and patrolled for several months before returning to Esquimalt.

Huron was deployed to the Adriatic Sea in 1993 in support of the United Nations naval embargo of the former Yugoslavia. In 1999 Huron intercepted a civilian ship smuggling illegal migrants off the coast of British Columbia.

Paying off and sinking
Despite being the most recently refitted Iroquois-class destroyer, defence cutbacks during the late 1990s saw Huron placed in mothball status due to a personnel shortage in 2000. In 2005 she was paid off from the CF and awaited disposal at Esquimalt.

In 2006 MARPAC decided to use Huron in what would become the first sink-exercise that Maritime Command (MARCOM) had ever conducted. The sink-ex was named Operation TRIDENT FURY and was planned to use a variety of MARPAC ships, US Navy and AIRCOM aircraft to bombard Huron with artillery, missiles, strafing fire, and finally be sunk by a torpedo launched from a submarine.



Huron was stripped of armaments and all environmentally harmful contaminants and fuel in winter 2006-2007. On 14 May 2007 Huron was towed to the MARPAC offshore weapons range west of Vancouver Island. Despite being damaged by a Sea Sparrow surface to air missile and several other weapons, it was naval gunfire from sister HMCS Algonquin (DDG 283) that was responsible for sinking the hulk of Huron. Ironically, the main gun used by Algonquin was originally installed on Huron, meaning that Huron was sunk by one of her own weapons. This sinking marked the first Canadian warship to be operationally sunk in Canadian waters.

The sinking was the subject of a 2007 History Television documentary "Sinking a Destroyer".

Ships' Bell
The Christening Bells Project at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum includes information from the ship's bell of HMCS Huron (2nd) 1972, which was used for baptism of babies onboard ship 1973 - 1997. The bell is currently held by the CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum, Esquimalt, BC.