HMCS Ojibwa, the first of Canada’s Oberon-class
submarines, is nearing her final resting place.
An ultra-modern diesel-electric
submarine in her day, she was launched in February 1964. Originally the hull
was destined to be HMS Onyx, but was
transferred to the RCN, completed in HM Dockyard Chatham, England, and
commissioned Her Majesty's Canadian Submarine Ojibwa on September 23rd, 1965. Following workups, she spent
her career with Maritime Command Atlantic out of Halifax, but for a brief
sojourn in Esquimalt.
Ojibwa was paid off in
May, 1998, after nearly thirty-three years of service.
In the next few days the boat
will claim her last berth in Port Burwell, Ontario. She was scheduled to arrive
on November 14th via a special barge and tug, to be lifted
into place as part of the Museum of Naval History. For more details, see
https://www.facebook.com/MuseumNH.
According to the latest reports, Ojibwa
should be making her last landfall at dawn, Tuesday, November 20th. The site shows her updated position.
I never served in Ojibwa, but I feel a connection to her,
the last of the O’s to respond to the motion of the seas passing under her keel.
2 comments:
The Ojibway arrival in Port Burwell was smooth and silent, just as she must have been in her days on the water. I am looking forward to your book because how can anyone but a submariner describe the special relationship between submarines and the men who served in them or "respond to the motion of the seas passing under her keel."
Here's hoping it is up to the challenge!
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