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HMCS Qu’APPELLE, a Canadian Navy training destroyer that belonged to the 4th Training Squadron based at Esquimalt, BC, is depicted as she passes the Duntze Head saluting stand at the entrance to the naval harbour on her way to sea. The training squadron ships sailed from Esquimalt for many years as they trained a generation of Canada’s naval officers and sailors in seamanship and navigation. For those who served in Canada’s navy in those years these ships were the first experience with the sea and life upon it.

Historical Note

THE CADILLACS

In the mid-1950’s the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) entered a new era with the commissioning of the first Canadian purpose designed and built anti-submarine Destroyer Escorts (DDEs). These ships reflected the RCN’s accumulated knowledge and expertise in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and incorporated the most up-to-date ASW weapons and sensors. This in a ship design that for its time represented the state of the art in naval architecture, habitability and propulsion technology. Hence, as the ships of this St.Laurent and follow on classes came into service they were known as the “Cadillacs”. They served in the Canadian fleet from the mid-fifties to well into the 1990s – the longest serving class of warships in our Navy’s history. In those years they underwent significant modifications that included the installation of flight decks and hangars for the large CH-124 Seaking helicopters, the Canadian designed “Beartrap” helicopter haul down system and many other adaptations in weapons and sensors.