HMCS Iroquois

There have been 2 vessels named Iroquois in the Royal Canadian Navy. Both were named in honour of the Confederacy of First Nations people.

HMCS Iroquois (1st of the name) (G89 / 217)

Canada’s first Tribal Class destroyer to commission, Iroquois did so on November 30, 1942. She served in Gibraltar and Russian convoys duties until February 1944 when going to refit in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was involved in pre and post D Day operations. After escorting one more convoy to Russia in March 1945, she sailed to Oslo, escorting the Crown Prince Olaf to liberated Norway. Shortly afterward, she escorted the German cruisers Prinz Eugen and Nürnberg to Kiel, Germany, for their formal surrender. On June 4, 1945, she sailed to Canada and was paid off on February 22, 1946. On June 24, 1949, she was re-commissioned. She then completed 2 tours of duty in the Korean theatre. She was paid off at Halifax on October 24, 1962, and laid up at Sydney, Nova Scotia. She was broken up at Bilbao, Spain, in 1966.

HMCS Iroquois (2nd of the name) (280)

First of the Iroquois Class destroyers, she commissioned on July 29, 1972, in Sorel, Quebec. Several times in her first 20 years of service, Iroquois served as the flagship to the Canadian commodore assigned as the Commander, Standing Naval Force Atlantic. In 1983, while on fishery patrol, she answered a SOS from the Panamanian-registered Ho Ming 5, in danger of capsizing owing to shifting cargo.

In gale-force winds, all crew members of the cargo ship were rescued. Eighteen of her ship’s company were decorated for their bravery.

In 1993-1994, she served with the blockading force of ex-Yugoslavia. In 1996, in Grenada, she played host to the Canadian Prime Minister and a number of Caribbean Heads of States. In October 2001, she departed for the Arabian Sea to support a coalition against international terrorism. In 2006, she sailed as the Flag Ship of the Standing NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Maritime Group One. In April 2008, Iroquois sailed from Halifax for the Arabian Sea, as part of Canada's contribution to Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, the code-name for the campaign against terror. Iroquois continues to conduct operations in support of Canada’s domestic and international policies.

Motto: “Relentless in Chase”

Battle honours

  • Atlantic 1943
  • Arctic 1943-1945
  • Biscay 1943-1944
  • Norway 1945
  • Korea 1952-1953

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