CCGS Labrador

The builder used modified plans from the just-completed Wind-class icebreakers of the United States Coast Guard.[1] The ship was modified to include then state-of-the-art technology, becoming the first Royal Canadian Navy vessel to have central heating and ventilation, air conditioning and bunks instead of hammocks. The ship's hull was plated in rolled, high tensile steel 1 ⁵⁄₈ inches (41 mm) thick.[2]

The ship had a displacement of 6,490 long tons (6,590 t) and a tonnage of 3,823 gross register tons (GRT).[1][3] The vessel measured 82 metres (269 ft 0 in) long overall and 76.2 metres (250 ft 0 in) between perpendiculars with a beam of 19.5 metres (64 ft 0 in) and a draught of 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in).[4][5]

Labrador was equipped with Denny Brown gyro stabilizers, and full bridge control of the vessel's diesel engines. Labrador was the RCN's first fully diesel-electric vessel, with six 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW) engine/generators driving a 5,000 shaft horsepower (3,700 kW) motor on each shaft.[6] The vessel had a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) Labrador was equipped with starboard and port heeling tanks with 40,000 gallons per minute transfer capability, which facilitated icebreaking operations.[1][3] The ship was equipped with a hangar and flight deck capable of operating two Bell HTL 4 light helicopters or a Piasecki HUP II transport helicopter.[7] The icebreaker had a complement of 228.[1]

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the Canadian government made limited exploration within the vast Arctic coast it laid claim to, largely because it lacked the capacity to make forays into much of this remote terrain. Labrador was conceived as Canada's first modern, powerful icebreaking vessel, which could help meet national defence needs in the high Arctic but also explore the vast area and its rich resources.

Ordered in February 1949, Labrador was built in the Marine Industries LTD yards at Sorel, Quebec with the yard number 187.[4][3] The vessel was laid down on 18 November 1949 and launched on 14 December 1951, christened by Jeanne St. Laurent, the wife of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent.[4][6] The ship was commissioned on 8 July 1954.[1] On 10 July 1954 Labrador departed Sorel, Quebec, en route to her new homeport in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.[5] Whilst underway the vessel experienced engine troubles (lowered oil pressure), between Sorel and Quebec City, Quebec. Further difficulty was experienced in the Richelieu River, where she developed steering gear problems which were fixed. Labrador arrived at Halifax on 14 July 1954.[6]

Royal Canadian Navy service

Main article: Northwest Passage

Labrador set sail on her maiden voyage on 23 July 1954 from Halifax, bound for the Labrador Sea.[2] Over the next summer the vessel worked her way through Canada's Arctic archipelago from east to west, conducting hydrographic soundings, resupplying RCMP outposts and deploying assorted scientific and geological teams.[6] Her rendezvous with her American sister ships USCGC Northwind and USCGC Burton Island off the coast of Melville Island on 25 August 1954 marked the first time American and Canadian government ships had met in the Arctic from the east and west. Labrador had been sent to escort the American vessels through Canadian waters. The voyage had been kept secret, in case Labrador broke down. The three ships surveyed the Beaufort Sea together until the end of September 1954, at which point Labrador headed for the base of Canada's Pacific fleet at Esquimalt, British Columbia, arriving on 27 September. Labrador became the first warship to transit the Northwest Passage.[2] Upon sailing down the west coast of the United States, through the Panama Canal and back to Halifax on 21 November 1954; Labrador also became the first warship to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage.[1]

Map of Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line

In January 1955 Labrador underwent refit. The remainder of Labrador's early career involved considerable work on the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line) project. Beginning in June 1955, Labrador was sent to survey sites for the project. In August, Labrador escorted a 60-ship convoy.[8] In 1956, the icebreaker spent five and a half months performing hydrographic surveys in the eastern Arctic.[1] In 1957, the ship made port visits to Portsmouth, England, Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark.[1] Labrador was decommissioned on 22 November 1957 and transferred to civilian control in 1958.[1][9] This was done with the condition that should the Royal Canadian Navy wish to take the ship back, they could.[10] The decision was due to financial cutbacks a change of direction of the Royal Canadian Navy, with an intent to focus on anti-submarine warfare rather than Arctic research.[11][12]

• Boutiller, James A., ed. (1982). RCN in Retrospect, 1910–1968. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0-7748-0196-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Macpherson, Ken & Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Maginley, Charles D. (2003). The Canadian Coast Guard 1962–2002. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-55125-075-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Maginley, Charles D. & Collin, Bernard (2001). The Ships of Canada's Marine Services. St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing Limited. ISBN 1-55125-070-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Milner, Marc (2010). Canada's Navy: The First Century (Second ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-9604-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Moore, John, ed. (1981). Jane's Fighting Ships 1981–82. New York: Jane's Publishing Incorporated. ISBN 0-531-03977-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Pigott, Peter (2011). From Far and Wide: A Complete History of Canada's Arctic Sovereignty. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 9781554889877.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• HMCS Labrador History & Aircraft
• HMCS Labrador page at ReadyAyeReady
• HMCS Labrador Helicopter Accident
• HMCS Labrador Newspaper Clippings