Canadian sub.-killer 'shows the flag’

Press, 25 October 1982, Page 1

Canadian sub.-killer 'shows the flag’

Driving, rain and snow on the Port Hills did not deter queues of people waiting to look over a visiting Canadian warship yesterday afternoon. Braving the wintry weather, several thousand people took advantage of an open day aboard H.MIC.S. Yukon berthed at Lyttelton.

For her crew the weather meant one more day aboard and the cancellation of a trip to Mount Hutt ski-field and a baseball tournament at Wigram air base. Assurances that this was unseasonably cold weather were greeted with scepticism, for they had heard the same story two weeks ago at Brisbane. There, the Yukon had been “flying the flag” during the Commonwealth Games, said her information officer, Lieutenant Ken Polson.

Open days were enjoyed by the crew. They gave a chance to learn a little of the people of a country briefly visited.

The Yukon will leave Lyttelton today, after two nights in port One of four warships which form the first division Canadian Training Squadron, she and her sister ships have just completed a 10-day naval exercise with New Zealand and Australian vessels.

In transit from Brisbane mock battles were fought in the first joint exercise since 1978 of the three nations’ naval forces. The 2900-ton Yukon was commissioned in 1963 and is designed as an anti-sub-marine destroyer with allweather capability. Her home port Is Esquimau, in British Columbia. The ship’s usual exercises are restricted to the “triangle” between her home province, Hawaii, and California.

“We hope to prove that it is not that much more expensive travelling for exercises,” said Lieutenant Polson.

Joint exercises also provide the opportunity for allies to share their skills. An Australian is finishing his

officer training in the Yukon and about a dozen New Zealanders are hitching a ride back to Auckland where the ship will berth in three days, before sailing for Canada on November 2. The visitors have boosted crew numbers to more than 200. The Yukon with a length of 112.5 m and beam of 12.9 m, is armed with two triple-

barrel anti-submarine mortars and a twin 3in gun mounting fore and aft. The crew are housed in three-tier bunks. Food for 90 days can be stored on board. Commander Clifford Crow has been with the Yukon since May, 1981. He has had previous command experience of three submarines and two ships.